STD afflicts 1 in 4 US teenage girls

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This is now a sad fact, where promiscuity is taking its toll, and not on the adults, but on the teens. When science says, "nothing can happen without a cause," it has a basis for that premise.

The recent study on US teenage girls yielded just that: where there is 'free sex', there is free transmission of diseases; while it is said that 'the exercise of freedom makes us freer', it is the precedent act that makes us bolder to try again, and again, and again.

When the conscience is seared, and continuously seared, there comes a time when it already keeps mum and dies within us - until we realize the wrong that we have done.

A study reveals the seared conscience of the youth in the US, and other countries have the same social problem: where promiscuity rules, AIDS and other similar sexual diseases follow suit.

Here's is the report from AFP, lifted from ChannelNewsAsia.com:

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1 in 4 teenaged US girls has sexually-transmitted disease: study

CHICAGO - One in four teenaged girls in the United States has been infected with at least one sexually transmitted disease, according to a study released Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The first study to examine the combined national prevalence of common STDs among adolescent women in the United States estimates that at least 3.2 million teens aged 14 to 19 are currently infected.

Since the study only tested for the four most common sexually transmitted diseases, it is possible that the total prevalence among US teens is greater than the study's rate of 26 percent, the authors warned.

"Today's data demonstrate the significant health risk STDs pose to millions of young women in this country every year," said Kevin Fenton, director of the CDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention.

"Given that the health effects of STDs for women -- from infertility to cervical cancer -- are particularly severe, STD screening, vaccination and other prevention strategies for sexually active women are among our highest public health priorities."

Half of the 838 girls who participated in the study reported ever having sex and of those, 40 percent were infected with an STD.

African American girls were particularly at risk: 48 percent of all African American girls were infected with an STD compared to 20 percent of white teens tested.

The most common STD overall was human papillomavirus, or HPV, with an infection rate of 18.3 percent.

Chlamydia was discovered in 3.9 percent of the teens, trichomoniasis in 2.5 percent and herpes in 1.9 percent.

Infections rate rose to 50 percent among girls with three or more partners while 20 percent of those who had only had sex with one person had been infected.

"High STD infection rates among young women, particularly young African-American women, are clear signs that we must continue developing ways to reach those most at risk," said John Douglas, director of the CDC's Division of STD Prevention.

"STD screening and early treatment can prevent some of the most devastating effects of untreated STDs."

The CDC recommends HPV vaccination for all girls and women between the age of 11 and 26 and annual Chlamydia screening for sexually active women under the age of 25.

While most HPV infections will clear on their own, some will persist and can cause cervical cancer.

Two other studies released Tuesday found inadequate screening of high-risk teens.

The first study found that just 27 percent of young women seeking emergency contraception were screened for chlamydia or gonorrhea.

The second study revealed that only 38 percent of young women receiving contraceptive services associated with unprotected sex such as pregnancy tests were offered STD testing, counseling or treatment. - AFP/fa

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Lifted from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
1 in 4 teenaged US girls has sexually-transmitted disease: study
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Parents asked to leave kids alone in Facebook

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There were responses to the letter that was sent in by one teenager, who wanted to be left alone with his peers, insisting on his 'privacy online' while hanging around social networks.


I know, there comes a time when kids grow up, and an age group dictates in their growing up years that they wanted to be left alone and on their own - if not with their peers. This is the dangerous years, and while it is beneficial to let them off at times, letting and leaving them alone also spells disaster.


It is a balance, therefore.


For the responses to that kid's letter, read on below...

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Give teenagers space

Letter from Dennis Toh

I REFER to "Parents as Facebook friends? No thanks" (April 19). I am a lecturer with Temasek Polytechnic Business School and I share Tan Ren Yi's views.

Parents should not be overly concerned when their children are actively engaged on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

While technology has its flaws, we should leverage on the advantages that it brings to us.

For example, Facebook allows people to share positive thoughts and encouragement on a viral nature. Such positive doses of energy, when injected at the right time, can help us live better as individuals.

Parents should also question their motives of making friends with their kids on Facebook. Is it really a form of surveillance tool or genuinely a platform to communicate and understand them better?

Ren Yi has the right to choose his own friends, as we all do. Give teenagers and young adults some space to live their "social media lifestyle". Empowerment breeds contentment. And being contented as an individual will help this world a better place.

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It's about communication

Letter from Shobha Vadrevu

I REFER to "Parents as Facebook friends? No thanks".

This issue throws up an important point that is often missed whenever the Internet or any aspect of it is the subject of discussion: At the heart of the issue is usually a non-Web related factor.

In this case, it is that of communication between parents and children. If basic communication channels have been established, then parent-child interactions on Facebook will likely be framed by mutual respect and acceptance that each age group has a different way of conversing with friends.

This is true even for off-Facebook interactions. On the other hand, if basic communication is lacking, then Facebook becomes just another front for the tussle for the trust and respect between the two factions that is taking place in real life.

The feeling of being "stalked" by parents on Facebook does not pop up suddenly from Facebook alone.

Neither does the feeling that children are conducting their interactions inappropriately.

Activity on the Internet is similar to activity anywhere else - it is just that it is more intense, compacted as it is into particular sites in a shorter time frame, giving us the impression that (a) it is a whole new problem, and (b) we can take site-specific shortcuts to control it.

Neither is true.

It is only an old problem in a new sphere, and because of that, any steps to control it lie mostly outside of that sphere- - at the dinner table, in the car and on all those other occasions when parents and children can reach out to each other.

The Internet does bring with it some particular problems and issues that need to be specifically dealt with, but being your child's Facebook friend should be an extension of your friendship in real life.

If you are there to check up on your child, then perhaps you should look elsewhere for the problem.

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Taken from TODAY, Voices - Tuesday, 20-April-2010
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Parents in Facebook: Would Your Kids Like It?

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Social networks, such as Facebook, is one way of expression for a person, and one that is deemed to be social, and though it is known to be a public domain, it is still considered a private and personal one.

Which brings to question whether kids, especially teenagers, would want their parents to be in the same social network as them.

What would your kids say? Would they agree to you being 'online' with them, in the same network?

Read this article, and 'hear' what one youngster is saying. You may have your turn one of these days...

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Parents as Facebook friends? No thanks!

Family ties are important, but I need my personal space

by Tan Ren Yi

I am writing to share my views on whether families should be connected via social networking sites.

While some teenagers may think it is annoying to have their parents listed as friends on Facebook, others feel that it is a good way to create stronger family bonds and a path for parents to get to know their children's circle of friends.

Young children are often on Facebook, mainly to play games.

But teenagers use it to share aspects of their lives with friends of the same age group, and thus it would be awkward for parents and kids to be in the same social network.

What may seem fun to teenagers may be interpreted differently by an adult. And differences of opinion between a parent and a teenager can lead to conflict and arguments.

As for myself, I had deleted my parents as friends on Facebook. I felt that they had been stalking me and invading my privacy.

Personally, I do not mind if my parents want to know what kind of people I am mixing with, but not to the extent of belittling my friends, based on their own instincts.

Whenever my parents see pictures of my friends and me doing crazy and wild stuff, they would reprimand me and nag for the whole day over one picture. Their scoldings can really affect my mood the whole day.

Even though I know that family relationships are important, I truly wish that my parents understand that I need my personal space.

If my parents want to know what kind of friends I am mixing with, they can ask me, rather than use Facebook as a "surveillance" tool to watch over me.

I feel strongly that parents should not "spy" on their kids, but rather, educate their children on the dangers of the Internet and accept that they need to be allowed to connect with their friends on their own.

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Taken from TODAY, Voices - Monday, 19-April-2010:
Parents as Facebook friends? No thanks!
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