Young Girls, Sex, & STDs
It would be a good thing to think that our young daughters and nieces are not engaging in sex at a young age, but studies have shown that young women are indeed having sex as young as 12 years old.
Since we know that 12 is an extremely young age to be having sex, it can be safe to say that many of these girls that are having unprotected sex and many don’t know to be careful due to their inexperience.
What is a parent to do? How do they inform their daughters that not having sex before they are older and more mature is perhaps the best option when there is so much peer pressure? Also, how can a parent talk to their daughters about birth control and sexually transmitted diseases? It is not an easy subject to discuss, but is one that has to be handled. Statistics show that young women are being infected with STDs more often, so something has to be done.
The simple fact is, teens are having sex daily in America. Here is an article that ran in Time Magazine a few years ago. This article was sort of a wake up call to parents and teens. The link is: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993659,00.html.
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It IS amazing how young girls and boys are these days when they begin sexual activity. I hear a lot of parents poo-pooing the HPV vaccine, Gardasil, for their daughters because they do not consider their daughters to be sexually active. Unfortunatly this is the entire point that they are missing. Gardasil has been approved by the FDA for use in young girls as early as the age of 9. They need to be vaccinated BEFORE sexual activity is anywhere on their radar. The HPV vaccine is a PREVENTATIVE measure, not a curative treatment.
The National Cervical Cancer/HPV Coalition always recommends for parents to get informed regarding Gardasil and take the information to their childrens doctor(s) so they may collectivly make an educated decision as to whether the vaccine is right for their child. But they must also understand the longer they wait, the greater at risk their daughters are. The vaccine is currently in clinical trials for use in young men as well. We may hear something within 2009 about Merck placing approval before the FDA for the use in young men, probably in the 9 year old to 26 year old range as well. It is an amazing tool that will help keep sons and daughters healthy in one more area of their lives.
Thank you for your informative article.
Shaundra Hall
I really think it is very sick to think of a young girl that age having sex
I think it is sick to pretend that rape and incest do not exist.
HPV vaccine does not mean you have to have sex. It is a vaccine against a virus which causes cancer. You need to have it *before* you begin sexual activity. Therefore the earlier, the better.
Maybe if we tie our sons/daughter's hands behind their backs they won't be able to have sex, and when they turn 18 we can set them free. I'm almost serious; it would work.
Young teenagers and preteens think they are ready to have sex when their really not.My son went to school with a 11 year old who had gotten pregnant. She chose to sleep with her boyfriend and now she has to raise a baby WAY before she shouldve ever had to. And it's not just
girls who make bad decsisions, it's also boys. But what concerns me most it that boys will pressure girls a whole lot sooner than a girl would pressure a guy though.When a parent finds out their childis sexually active they will immediatly blame themselves. It may be the parents fault in some cases but nto all. A eleven year old is capable of making decsisons though theyu are not always good. Parents should resctrict the amount of time their child spends alone with the opposite sex. That would really help if your daughter is below 15. Another good way to discourage your child from becoming sexually active is to print full color pics of STD's and talk about the consequences of each STD. and the excruciating symptoms and odorous infections. I guarantee it will disgust your child into not having sex for a while.