Some of us may have heard the recent stats. At the national STD prevention conference held in March in Chicago, results from a recent study on STDs and young women conducted by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention were presented. The study revealed that an estimated 1 in 4 young women aged 14 to 19 were infected with one of the four most common STDs: HPV, Chlamydia, herpes and trichomoniasis. A press release followed, alerting the media of the startling figures of STDs among our adolescent girls. The study also addressed ways to intervene with young women during visits for birth control or emergency contraception to detect, treat and prevent STDs. From a public health perspective, this makes sense. This discussion helps medical professionals to test and treat those who are infected and pays attention to female sexuality and the sexual behavior of teenage girls, including STD rates. On the other hand, it seems most newsworthy when girls are revealed as being infected with STDs. This was the first study to look at STD rates in adolescent girls; the shock, it seems, is that American girls are sexual!

Suddenly, people seem surprised that teenagers are having sex. But we’ve known for a long time that teens are sexual but are not getting the information and services they need to protect their health.

Boys on the Side?

Nowhere in the press release of this study were teenage boys mentioned. In fact, not one intervention designed for young men was outlined. Where are the girls getting the STDs from, exactly? Ignoring the role of sexual partners fails not only our girls but our boys, too. Certainly, other studies have provided information about rates of infection among boys or of other specific populations — for example, gay men or women of color. But we consistently miss out on the opportunity to deal with these public health concerns within the larger context that allows them to continue.

When we look at pregnancy prevention, we often ignore the responsibility of men; contraception, then, is often considered a “woman’s issue.” Many clinics and health centers that dispense birth control require women to attend a birth control education class or watch an informative video. While this is certainly worthwhile — we know that when a woman understands the method of contraception, it’s more effective — men aren’t required to learn about birth control or attend classes. Although it might be difficult to implement a birth control class for men, intervening with only half the population around STDs and pregnancy only addresses half the problem.

Imagine It

If we’re going to look at sexuality in a more complete way, we cannot just focus on the statistics and behaviors of one specific population. We need a comprehensive approach that views sexuality as normal and healthy and helps men, women and transgendered people regardless of race or sexual orientation make healthy sexual decisions for themselves and their partners. How can we do this?

Imagine this: What if we were more open with teenagers in our schools about sexuality and sexual behaviors and required that all young people be required to learn about pregnancy and STD prevention? We could provide STD screenings in schools and target young people who are sexually active with testing, treatment and condoms. We could provide sex education that takes sexuality and STDs seriously. Condom use and other viable risk reduction strategies could actually become the accepted norm!

We could require a reproductive health care visit for all adolescents by age 14 or, better yet, recommend yearly reproductive health care visits for all teenagers. If testing isn’t indicated, education could take place. Routine reproductive health care could become as commonplace as dental care.

And we don’t have to start from scratch. We could model our sexual education programs after those in European countries that actually work where young people are taught that sexuality is a healthy, normal part of life. The outcome? Their youth start having sex at about the same time as U.S. teens but have fewer sexual partners and lower rates of pregnancy, abortion and STDs.

Educated Youth Make Educated Decisions

If we expect to help our youth (and ourselves) live healthy sexual lives, we need to start interventions with all youth at earlier ages instead of waiting for studies that reveal high rates of STDs. You can help!

Encourage your elected officials to oppose Title V Abstinence Only Until Marriage funding. Many states have already rejected these federal funds, knowing that the abstinence-only-until-marriage approach is not sex education but moral fantasy. Help make Illinois the next state to reject Title V! Take action at www.icah.org/policy.html.

We also want to thank JM for pointing out that some women use a menstrual cup during sex to keep it clean during sex. We did neglect to mention this cool alternative to tampons and pads. Thanks!