Health

U.S. Girls in Need of Sex Education

by Barbara McPherson | November 29, 2009 at 11:12 am

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A report published in the journal Pediatrics has pointed out the need for girls in the U.S. to get extensive sex education. The author of the study Dr. Sami L. Gottlieb has called for sex education in order to prevent the rampant spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)

For the study, Gottlieb's team collected data on 838 teen girls aged 14 to 19. Using samples provided by the teens, the researchers looked for Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, Trichomonas vaginalis, herpes simplex virus type 2 and human papillomavirus (HPV).

The study authors found that 24.1 percent of the girls had one of these STDs and among girls who were sexually experienced, 37.7 percent had an STD. HPV was the most common infection (18.3 percent), followed by chlamydia (3.9 percent).

It may be an easy answer to say that these girls, aged 14 to 19, are engaged in promiscuous behavior, but the study also found that girls who had only one sexual partner had an infection rate of over 19%. This would indicate that the male partners of these girls have high STD infection rates as well.
The STDs in the study can cause lifelong problems. Chlamydia can cause sterility and heart disease, HPV is closely associated with cervical cancer.

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Barry ORegan

at 11:20 on November 29th, 2009

Giggidty, Giggidity

Barbara McPherson

at 09:57 on November 30th, 2009

When I was still a classroom teacher, I found that many parents in my area would withdraw their children, grade 10 level, while the section on human anatomy etc. was being taught. We did have a large number of fundamentalist Christians in the area. So the education is offered by the SD. They don't have to listen to it.