Although it is nice to think teenagers do not have sex it is also naive. Considering the fact that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention supplied information showing that one in four girls has one of the four most common sexually transmitted diseases one can see that obviously teenagers do have sex. There have been major efforts to convince the government that it is extremely important that they make the human papilloma virus vaccination mandatory for admission to school nationwide. As for right now, the attempts have slowed down.
The government's glasses are so fogged up by Medicare and Medicaid issues that they can barely see the definite and growing need of STD vaccinations in teenage girls. My argument is that this needs to be a priority on the governments list. They should make this mandatory, because if it is not, then it will not get done. If teens do not start getting vaccinated then it is likely that by the time they are adults there will be an STD rate of fifty percent, since normally humans do not stop having intercourse when they become an adult.
What about the people who cannot afford to have their child vaccinated? I believe it should be government funded. There are plenty of issues that the government finds important enough to fund, I strongly believe that this is a very important issue. We are talking about twenty-five percent of the women in our future generation having HPV, chlamydia, trichomoniasis or genital herpes. It is time that the government makes the law stating that in order to be admitted into school it is mandatory that one has the HPV vaccination and it will be paid for by the government. It will cost a lot of money to prevent the STD, but it will cost a lot more to treat the STD.
Friday, March 28, 2008
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The Act of Inaction
In a recent article on http://americanpledge.blogspot.com/ an article titled "Only 25 percent of teenage girls has an STD" the blogger discussed the importance of not only sex education, but making the human papilloma vaccination mandatory. This article is one that I view as important in not only opening our eyes to the seriousness of sexual diseases in our country, but also how naive we can be as human beings.
Many people view sex as something that is taboo and a subject that should not be talked about. But, what kind of logic is this? The statistics are out there, 1 in every 4 teen girls has an STD. Can we actually read reports like this put out by respectable organizations like the CDC and believe that abstinence is working?
It is well known that religion is one of the biggest proponents in teaching strictly abstinence in schools, more specifically the Christian and Catholic religions. What happened to the practicing of the separation of church and state in this country? Why are we so afraid to touch on the subject of sex with teenagers? Are we to actually believe that if we teach our kids that God says it is bad to have sex out of wedlock that they are not going to engage in it? Not only do parents need to make their children fell comfortable talking about this subject, but our schools should be doing the same. Too many teenagers are feeling alienated by their families only leading them to not fully understand what they are getting themselves into. Our government needs to come to the realization that the act of taking no action does not resolve anything, and the stats of teenagers infected with STD's will only increase if that is our only source of action.
I’m glad to see this topic come up. This is one of those things I haven’t totally made my mind up on and so to take the time to give it more thought is certainly time well spent.
When I first heard about this vaccine I thought it was great. I still do. Though the research for this drug was more in response to cancer prevention than the STD aspect, anytime there is scientific advancement in eliminating diseases... well, who can say that’s a bad thing.
When the debate started over making the vaccination mandatory, I balked. I think somewhere in my possibly cracked mind mandatory=undemocratic. I understand the mandatory vaccinations that schools currently require. In contrast to the HPV vaccine, though, they protect against illnesses that are transmitted by casual contact. And I wholeheartedly agree that teenagers are having sex and denying it is foolish, HPV isn’t something that a student walking around is going to spread to just anyone.
And yet, there is almost certainly no harm in giving this vaccine to girls and young women. While there has been no lifetime testing, 99% of me is sure it’s safe.
And so, I’m conflicted.
I guess my only hang-up is that while I think vaccination is probably a really, really good idea, a girl who was not vaccinated and has HPV isn’t exposing everyone she comes into contact with. When entering into a sexual relationship those individuals are choosing to take the risk of getting HPV along with all the other risks of sex. The guy who uses the water fountain after the kid with measles isn’t necessarily choosing to take any risk.
I agree with the commenter who brings up education. I think sex education should certainly be better – especially in regions where only abstinence is taught. I think on top of that though, there needs to be more public education about the disease and advantages of the vaccine. Something other than commercials for the drug.
So for now, while I’m still somewhat debating with myself on the subject, I think more education should be mandatory and then let the young women or their parents make the decision about the vaccine.
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