Teen sex
With a rise in STDs among teenagers, will abstinence or prevention be the answer?
By Matt Miller
Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are reaching epidemic levels in Iowa and across the country, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The statistics are alarming — nearly 19 million new STDs occur each year in the United States, and health officials believe the surge among teenagers is to blame. Nearly half of those STDs were found in young people ages 15 to 24. A 2008 report by the CDC indicates that one in four teenage girls in the United States has an STD. And that’s not the whole story. These statistics only represent the number of reported cases; the numbers may be much higher.
So what is being done to fight the spread of these infectious, sometimes deadly, diseases? It’s a question with conversational answers — prevention vs. abstinence — among health officials who are at the forefront of the STD battle.
“The best way to fight the spread of STDs in teenagers is through education and safe sex,” said Jenna Carlson, an educator for Planned Parenthood of the Heartland. “The more you know about safe sex, the better.”
Ruth Ann Eccles, executive director for Equipping Youth, believes STDs among teenagers is preventable through abstinence.
“It’s a difficult time to grow up sexually,” Eccles said. “Society is so sexualized. It’s all around us, it’s readily available and everyone is jumping on the bandwagon. The most alarming concern is that media educators and legislators are looking at education and reducing the risk. Prevention isn’t about reducing; it’s about avoiding the risk and waiting for sex.”
A harmful trend
STDs, also known as sexually transmitted infection (STI) or venereal disease, are a group of infections that can be caused by person-to-person contact. There are three types of STDs: parasitic, bacterial and viral. Parasitic and bacterial STDs can be cured by medicine, but some viral STDs, like herpes, are incurable. Common STDs among teenagers include Chlamydia, gonorrhea, herpes, human papiloma virus (HPV), syphilis and trichomal vaginitis. Left untreated, STDs such as these can lead to serious and even deadly complications including kidney problems, pelvic inflammation, infertility, infant mortality and disease and increased susceptibility to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
According to a 2009 Iowa Department of Public Health report, 9,406 cases of Chlamydia were reported, in which 3,231 were found in the age 15 to 19 category; 34 percent of those cases tested positive. There were 80 reported cases in the 10 to 14 age bracket. Also in 2009, 1,658 cases of gonorrhea were reported, in which 509 cases were found in the 15 to 19 age bracket; 31 percent tested positive. A total reported for the number of cases for Chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis was 11,129, in which 3,742 cases were found in the age 15 to 19 bracket. Moreover, 4,351 cases were found in the 20 to 24 age bracket.
“These numbers are staggering and have virtually been the same or just a little below for the past couple years, but it’s still a big concern,” Carlson said. “People need to get tested and start talking about it. There’s a perception out there that STDs are dirty, but that doesn’t mean we can’t address the issue.”
Health officials believe a number of potential explanations such as biology, sociology, technology, psychology, poverty and culture may play a part in the prevalent number of STDs. Officials also believe more cases are being reported with campaigns and STD Awareness Month in April.
“Many of the STDs do not have symptoms, so people don’t know they have one until they’re tested,” Carlson said. “We are seeing a lot more guys coming in and being tested, too. There are fears that being tested is painful, that it’s going to burn, but a simple urine test can find out.”
Carlson is among an increasing number of local educators, advocates and medical professionals who believe the best way to fight the spread of STDs is to talk to them and teach youth to use protection. Carlson travels the state talking to students in middle school, high school and college about making healthy relationship choices, such as safe sex practices.
“As an educator, my responsibilities include a variety of settings,” Carlson said. “Besides sex, we talk about many topics pertaining to healthy relationships.”
Currently, Planned Parenthood of the Heartland has 23 health centers in Iowa and Nebraska, including locations in Ankeny, Ames, Newton and four in Des Moines. In 2008, Planned Parenthood of the Heartland screened 12,654 teenagers with approximately 300 youth testing positive. In 2009, 563 teenagers tested positive for a STD and so far in 2010, 397 tests have tested positive. Health officials believe if they stay on track, 529 teenagers will test positive for an STD in 2010.
“STDs are happening at an alarming rate, but testing needs to happen,” Carlson said. “People need to care enough to stop in and get checked out.”
Educational opportunities
Besides the services that Planned Parenthood of the Heartland offers, there are other opportunities for teenagers to receive advice and education they need to make healthy choices. One of those places is the Young Women’s Resource Center (YWRC), 705 E. 2nd St. Founded in 1978, the center just east of the Des Moines River is where young women can find answers to their questions and seek help as they experience life’s challenges. One of the components of the YWRC is the R3 Group (Rights, Respect and Responsibility), which meets Wednesday afternoons. Approximately 15 young women, from area high schools, ages 15 to 19, participate in the youth activist group that provides peer education on pregnancy prevention, STDs, HIV and healthy relationships.
“The YWRC is here to provide an educational haven for young women to support one another in different aspects of life,” said Caron Weldin, prevention program specialist at the YWRC. “And sex education is a big part of what we discuss. I believe sexually transmitted diseases are sweeping across the nation, but places like this are helping to curb it.”
The YWRC aims to serve 200 youth in parts of Dallas, Polk and Warren counties by using eight curriculums from the Resource Center for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention. Weldin says some of the evidence-based programs the YWRC uses are “Be Proud! Be Responsible,” “Becoming a Responsible Teen” and “Making Proud Choices!”
Besides weekly meetings at the YWRC, the young women also are trained as peer educators and role models to provide education to middle and high school groups in the Des Moines Public School District.
“The girls have a lot of fun mentoring to the younger youth and telling them of what they have learned,” Weldin said. “It’s an eye-opening experience for all involved.”
In October, the young women attended the annual “Eyes Open Iowa” conference at Drake University. Keynote speaker, James Wagoner, president for Advocates for Youth, stressed how sex education begins in schools with kids as young as kindergarten with instruction for their protection on “safe touching” and strangers.
“It was an awesome experience for the young women involved with the conference,” Weldin said. “There is a lack of sexual education right now in society, so it was important for the girls to attend.”
Abstinence-only education
While there are plenty of safe sex organizations convinced the best way to fight the spread of STDs is through safe sex, there are still numerous vocal groups who believe abstinence is the answer. One of these organizations is Equipping Youth, a nonprofit organization in Cedar Rapids that promotes character education through its Powerful Choices abstinence program. Eccles began the series 12 years ago when she and others noticed an increase in teenage pregnancy in the Cedar Rapids area.
“I wrote the series for teachers so they can teach their students to make choices for the future,” Eccles said. “That decision, to have sex, can have lifelong implications.”
Currently the three-part Powerful Choices curriculum is used in middle schools in and around Lynn County.
“People are encouraged to experiment, view pornography and do this and that,” Eccles said. “It’s wrong. When people mess around with each other and touch people in certain areas, it spreads the disease.”
Equipping Youth strives for better sex education in schools and believes not all parents know and understand what is actually taking place in the classroom.
“The parents of the children should be aware of what’s being taught,” Eccles said. “They would be very surprised.”
Recent controversy arose this past summer and grabbed news headlines when parents said a Planned Parenthood sex education class at a local high school in Shenandoah became too graphic. Reports indicate parents were horrified and outraged as their children were instructed on graphic sexual acts, including how to perform female exams and an instructor using a 3-D male sex organ to explain how to use a condom.
Currently, Iowa has one of the most comprehensive sex education policies in the United States. Iowa Code 279.50 states, “Each school board shall provide instruction in human growth and development including instruction regarding human sexuality, self-esteem, stress management, interpersonal relationships, domestic abuse, and acquired immune deficiency syndrome as required in section 256.11, in grades one through twelve. Each school board shall annually provide to a parent or guardian of any pupil enrolled in the school district, information about the human growth and development curriculum used in the pupil’s grade level and the procedure for inspecting the instructional materials prior to their use in the classroom. A pupil shall not be required to take instruction in human growth and development if the pupil’s parent or guardian files with the appropriate principal a written request that the pupil be excused from the instruction. Notification that the written request may be made shall be included in the information provided by the school district.”
“I disagree with the state law. I believe the schools should be run by communities and by the parents and the elected officials,” Eccles said. “The school board should make the decisions.”
An unknown future
What does the future hold for sex education for today’s teenagers and future generations? Will STDs continue to rise? Time will hold the answers. But one thing is clear among educators, medical professionals and advocates, to reduce the impact of STDs, it is important to increase the knowledge about STDs and make STD testing a routine among teenagers.
“Teenagers believe they will never get an STD, but it happens, and it happens often,” Carlson said. “We want people to make their own decisions, but when they do, we want them to be safe about it.”
Still, Eccles believes sex after marriage is best.
“People who are promoting the condomization of Iowa’s children will have a hard fight in the future,” Eccles said. “Officials need to look at it in more than one philosophical view. Those who believe in abstinence can feel the pendulum beginning to swing the other way.” CV
