Interesting Findings About Sex in America
So, for those who don't know, I'm taking Human Sexuality as a part of my Psychology Major. It's taught by a brilliant professor named Dr. Jennifer Siciliani (doctorate in Experimental Psychology, Masters in Human Neuropsychology - accredited for several experimental breakthroughs in her field.)
She held a seminar today that I attended for extra credit, talking about sex in America for "Sexual Safety Week." Although I can't quote the numbers exactly, I wanted to relay what I learned to others, and keep the gist of the information here for my future reference.
First of all, ~95% of Americans have had, or still have, STI's (Sexually Transmitted Infections - renamed from STDs - which implied "dis ease" even though most STIs are astymptomatic.) More specifically, ~95% of Americans are carriers of, or have been infected with, a strain of HPV. Even virgins. There is a vaccine available, but if you're ~28 years old and ask to be tested for HPV, it's already too late. Many strains of it aren't a big deal, but there are approximately 6 strains that are always *always* found in women who are diagnosed with cervical cancer. The vaccine covers 4 of these 6 strains. Even though a lot of strains aren't a big deal, when you stack one stain onto another strain, it morphs into a stronger virus than it was before. Many strains of the virus never go away - they just have periods of dormancy. Even though it's commonly called "genital warts," many people who have the infection do not develop that particular symptom.
Scientists still aren't entirely sure how HPV spreads, but they believe that it's carried on the skin to membranous tissue.
At the turn of the 1900s, sex and sexology were legitimate studies in America. Many books were written by doctors, and the general public responded with a thirst for knowledge regarding the formerly-taboo subject. Mind you, most of the early 1900s literature on sex was wrong (claiming that masturbation could lead to mental illness and death, for example), but there was still a sexual "boom" as far as education goes.
This all stopped in the early 1980s, when the fear from the AIDS epidemic created Abstinence Only programs. These programs have been encouraged by our federal government ever since, with the government ponying up MILLIONS of dollars to states and schools who agree to teach AO. What this means is... No real teaching about STIs. No real teaching about safe sexual practices. Just telling kids "No!"
Yet, this doesn't take into account that many children stumble across porn in one form or another by the time they hit adolescence, especially with the internet. Television, magazines, and billboards sell sex to them daily, and when puberty hits, they start to notice and process these images more. So, at around that time (or even earlier), they have an innate interest in sex, but all the knowledge they are equipped with are sexual images of the media and hearsay. This leads them to believe that sex is all about beautiful women - with no "real" consequences whatsoever. The sexy model on the billboard doesn't have an STI, after all.
Meanwhile, teachers are telling kids "No!"... Which inspires most kids to run out and "see what all the fuss is about." Saying "No" without any explanation as to why primarily sparks curiosity more than anything else. Any statistic will back up that schools with AO programs do not have a difference in teen pregnancy rates and teen STIs than schools without.
How much do you think the American government is dumping in to these failed programs?
JUST shy of $300 million dollars annually! (Like ~$297 million, after you do up all the math.)
Wouldn't THAT help the recession, if, you know, that money were to go toward anything else. AO has not worked since the early 80s, and 20 years is a pretty good gauge to know if something is working or not.
But here's a surprising tidbit about what the catholic church was doing in their schools during our generation's youth... And this was backed up by students who were sitting in on the seminar (who offered the stories without initiation from the presenter)... While all of the public schools were teaching AO, they actually WERE teaching children about STIs and contraceptives. This probably doesn't apply to every catholic school, but more than one student told their account of it.
That was far better than my high school, which really didn't say much (if anything at all) about STIs. They also did the whole to-do with "1 in every 5 condoms do not work!" and claimed that abstinence was the ONLY true way to avoid pregnancy. This was, of course, in the place of teaching us how to use condoms correctly or other contraceptives.
I especially wish I would have known about HPV, so I could have gotten the vaccine as soon as it was made available. This isn't really a "better late than never" situation, since now it's too late. And if these programs are still in place when our children are in school, it may be too late for a majority of them, too. That really sucks, especially for women.
Most girls don't know that they should get yearly exams after the age of 16. Again, most STIs are asymptomatic (which means they don't have any symptoms.) Females could have so much Badness going on up there, and never even know about it. Even Syphilis's only starting warning is a "flu-like symptom, which goes away." After a while, it does start to eat away at more vital things, however, like your nervous system and your brain. Those things don't repair themselves after damaged, usually.
And just so men don't feel left out, testicular cancer is the number 1 malignant cancer in men ages 25-34. If caught early with self examination, it's very treatable. But most men don't even know how to do a proper self-examination for it, so more's the pity.
There are many other things I've been learning in this class that I sincerely wish I would have known sooner, but that would take too long to type out. It's just that... learning about these "taboo" subjects could save a person's life. And the American government is purposefully keeping teens in the dark.
Oh, and did I mention that out of all the developed countries in the WORLD, America ranks #3 in STI infections? Maybe if we spent $300 million more in AO programs, surely that would work!
She held a seminar today that I attended for extra credit, talking about sex in America for "Sexual Safety Week." Although I can't quote the numbers exactly, I wanted to relay what I learned to others, and keep the gist of the information here for my future reference.
First of all, ~95% of Americans have had, or still have, STI's (Sexually Transmitted Infections - renamed from STDs - which implied "dis ease" even though most STIs are astymptomatic.) More specifically, ~95% of Americans are carriers of, or have been infected with, a strain of HPV. Even virgins. There is a vaccine available, but if you're ~28 years old and ask to be tested for HPV, it's already too late. Many strains of it aren't a big deal, but there are approximately 6 strains that are always *always* found in women who are diagnosed with cervical cancer. The vaccine covers 4 of these 6 strains. Even though a lot of strains aren't a big deal, when you stack one stain onto another strain, it morphs into a stronger virus than it was before. Many strains of the virus never go away - they just have periods of dormancy. Even though it's commonly called "genital warts," many people who have the infection do not develop that particular symptom.
Scientists still aren't entirely sure how HPV spreads, but they believe that it's carried on the skin to membranous tissue.
At the turn of the 1900s, sex and sexology were legitimate studies in America. Many books were written by doctors, and the general public responded with a thirst for knowledge regarding the formerly-taboo subject. Mind you, most of the early 1900s literature on sex was wrong (claiming that masturbation could lead to mental illness and death, for example), but there was still a sexual "boom" as far as education goes.
This all stopped in the early 1980s, when the fear from the AIDS epidemic created Abstinence Only programs. These programs have been encouraged by our federal government ever since, with the government ponying up MILLIONS of dollars to states and schools who agree to teach AO. What this means is... No real teaching about STIs. No real teaching about safe sexual practices. Just telling kids "No!"
Yet, this doesn't take into account that many children stumble across porn in one form or another by the time they hit adolescence, especially with the internet. Television, magazines, and billboards sell sex to them daily, and when puberty hits, they start to notice and process these images more. So, at around that time (or even earlier), they have an innate interest in sex, but all the knowledge they are equipped with are sexual images of the media and hearsay. This leads them to believe that sex is all about beautiful women - with no "real" consequences whatsoever. The sexy model on the billboard doesn't have an STI, after all.
Meanwhile, teachers are telling kids "No!"... Which inspires most kids to run out and "see what all the fuss is about." Saying "No" without any explanation as to why primarily sparks curiosity more than anything else. Any statistic will back up that schools with AO programs do not have a difference in teen pregnancy rates and teen STIs than schools without.
How much do you think the American government is dumping in to these failed programs?
JUST shy of $300 million dollars annually! (Like ~$297 million, after you do up all the math.)
Wouldn't THAT help the recession, if, you know, that money were to go toward anything else. AO has not worked since the early 80s, and 20 years is a pretty good gauge to know if something is working or not.
But here's a surprising tidbit about what the catholic church was doing in their schools during our generation's youth... And this was backed up by students who were sitting in on the seminar (who offered the stories without initiation from the presenter)... While all of the public schools were teaching AO, they actually WERE teaching children about STIs and contraceptives. This probably doesn't apply to every catholic school, but more than one student told their account of it.
That was far better than my high school, which really didn't say much (if anything at all) about STIs. They also did the whole to-do with "1 in every 5 condoms do not work!" and claimed that abstinence was the ONLY true way to avoid pregnancy. This was, of course, in the place of teaching us how to use condoms correctly or other contraceptives.
I especially wish I would have known about HPV, so I could have gotten the vaccine as soon as it was made available. This isn't really a "better late than never" situation, since now it's too late. And if these programs are still in place when our children are in school, it may be too late for a majority of them, too. That really sucks, especially for women.
Most girls don't know that they should get yearly exams after the age of 16. Again, most STIs are asymptomatic (which means they don't have any symptoms.) Females could have so much Badness going on up there, and never even know about it. Even Syphilis's only starting warning is a "flu-like symptom, which goes away." After a while, it does start to eat away at more vital things, however, like your nervous system and your brain. Those things don't repair themselves after damaged, usually.
And just so men don't feel left out, testicular cancer is the number 1 malignant cancer in men ages 25-34. If caught early with self examination, it's very treatable. But most men don't even know how to do a proper self-examination for it, so more's the pity.
There are many other things I've been learning in this class that I sincerely wish I would have known sooner, but that would take too long to type out. It's just that... learning about these "taboo" subjects could save a person's life. And the American government is purposefully keeping teens in the dark.
Oh, and did I mention that out of all the developed countries in the WORLD, America ranks #3 in STI infections? Maybe if we spent $300 million more in AO programs, surely that would work!