Sexually transmitted diseases in teenagers are on the rise! Sadly 1 in every 4 sexually active teen becomes infected with a std every year. The most common stds in teenagers are chlamydia, gonorrhea, genital warts and herpes. Chlamydia & gonorrhea are more common in teenagers than adults these days! Teenagers should abstain from sex because they don't know the risks they're taking when they're having it, especially unprotected! Having sex unprotected leads to sexually transmitted diseases, HIV, AIDS and unplanned pregnancies. If a person must have sex they could at least use a condom because it'll protect them from so much!
     Take for example my friend, she had sex about 5 times but she had it with 5 different people & it was unprotected everytime! Then one day she realized something was wrong "down there" and went to see the doctor. It turns out she had gonorrhea. She had to get treatment and deal with the fact that everyone at school knew she had it and called her a whore. When she finally got the STD rumors to go down, everything was fine. But she still fooled around with people without a condom. Now she has cervical cancer & she's only 15. My mom is a nurse and she said the surgery is only 1 day but if she doesn't have it soon enough she may not be able to have kids! That would kill my friend because she wants to get married & have 3 kid when she's older. I told her she needs to have the surgery but i don't think she has yet & her biospy was bad. I know her family doesn't have that much money but her health relies on this surgery! She told me she doesn't know who gave her gonorrhea or cervical cancer but wishes she had protected herself. Now I pray she'll get the surgery before her body gets messed up really badly.
Now most people would blame her & say she should know to use a condom and its her own fault but even so they shouldn't look down on her. Instead more people should spread the word about abstaining and protection! Also even if it scares or disgusts people, schools should take the children to hospitals and show them what people look like with HIV and AIDS. Then they could see how women cry because they can't have children or men when they can't reproduce. Most kids think if I do it I'm sure my partner is clean & they don't have anything but you need to ask! It may seem weird at first but you're protecting yourself & yur partner from a long road of pain & sadness. Also if your partner seems shady about it or won't use a condom, they probably have something and you shouldn't be with that person.
Ways that teens can protect themselves from STD's:
Abstience! We're really to young and immature to handle the effects of having sex, emotionally and physhically. Also every state has consent laws of when you can have sex & most are 16. So if you're caught or someone tells, you could face charges.
Condoms! Use a condom, they're supposedly comfortable and don't affect the sex at all. And for something so small, it really could change your life.
Sex education! As I said before schools should educate their students more about STDs, HIV & AIDS and show them what happens to the affected people. Even if it helps 5 students, that's five less students with a disease then before!
Help spread the word about STD, HIV & AIDS prevention!