1 in 4 Teen Girls Has an STD
CNN reports at least 1 in 4 teen girls ages 14 to 19 in America has a sexually transmitted disease.
Who has an STD?
- 50% of black teen girls
- 20% of white teen girls
- 20% of Mexican-American teen girls
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted the research. It is heartbreaking to realize that so many teen girls have made the moral mistake of sex before marriage and are suffering because of it.
According to The Barna Group and LifeWay Research, 1 in 2 teens in America attend church. But sadly some of these church-going teens are also included in the statistic of STD carriers. So it brings up one of the age old questions of youth ministry:
How can we get the message of abstinence to stick?
For Discussion:
- Are there any youth ministry methods or success stories that you think effectively get teens to practice abstinence?
Tony Chimento Said,
March 11, 2008 @ 3:06 pm
As a youth pastor, one of the most effective things we did was bring in people who were dealing with the fallout of teen pregnancy / STD’s / abortion. To hear them tell about the reality of the consequenses seemed to create a huge impact.
Richard H Said,
March 11, 2008 @ 5:14 pm
It’s also a matter of getting the men not to inflict their lust on young women. We have an epidemic of teen pregnancy in our local high school, but from what’s I’ve heard from folks who work with them, many of the cases come from older men taking advantage of (i.e., raping) these girls. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was also a cause of many STD infections.
Kent Shaffer Said,
March 11, 2008 @ 5:54 pm
Good point, Richard.
It reminds of a previous post that mentions “1 in 5 girls will be sexually molested before her 18th birthday.” See: http://churchrelevance.com/the-importance-of-church-security-keeping-kids-and-youth-safe/
Paul Deveaux Said,
March 11, 2008 @ 7:09 pm
I remember talking about sexual activity among teenage girls with a friend of mine who is a high school girls soccer coach. He mentioned to me that the single most common factor in a girl refraining from sexual activity is participation in team sports. I did a quick google search and found two studies that back this up.
It might be worth looking into what team sports are giving girls that youth group is not and make adjustments. My speculation is that it has great deal to do with self esteem, accomplishing a common goal, and being of value to a community (team). One could also point to the close same-gender relationships that team sports foster as well.
Seth Said,
March 11, 2008 @ 9:56 pm
Teach them what it means to love God: mind, body, heart, soul. Before if we’re just trying to appeal to reason and morals with something that is highly emotional, we can only expect so much. Along the same lines as team sports, get teens more involved in the real world in a way that matters so they have something else to live for and have more responsibility. That also relates to the teen peer culture. Teens spend a large majority of their time with their peers. It’s really hard to not be affected by the values of a subculture when you spend so much of your life living in it.
Matt Farina Said,
March 12, 2008 @ 7:20 am
I’ve read other statistics that say 1 in 3 people in America between 13 and 70 has an incurable STD. I’ve read that the statistics for church going youth and secular youth are about the same when it comes to sexual habits. This seems to be an extension of that.
The first thing this tells me is that what the church at large is doing in America, basically, doesn’t work.
The sports ideas are neat to me but they lack one important element… God. I wonder how we approach this in a God pleasing effective way.
David Said,
March 12, 2008 @ 9:55 am
Kids are worried about pregnancy.
The idea of disease is secondary. It is part of being “bulletproof”.
The study is interesting in that presumably they are taking precautions for pregnancy (non-intercourse sex, the pill, or condoms). I wonder if this leads to an increase in contracting STDs.
Joe Wickman Said,
March 12, 2008 @ 11:16 am
Hold up.
I think the first thing we need to do is actually scrutinize this “facts” a little bit. With a sample size of only 838 teenage girls in this study, it’s TOTALLY off-base to say that, “1 in 4 Teenage Girls has an STD”. It’s just bad science.
So…
Where was the study conducted?
Who was represented in it?
How were they selected?
Why is the Associated Press immediately jumping from data, through correlation, right to assigning causation for this “epidemic” by blaming abstinence-only sex-ed programs? That seems a little too convenient to me.
We need to ask some hard questions before blindly assuming that 838 teens with an STD infection rate of 26% accurately represent 3 million American teenage girls.
Kent Shaffer Said,
March 12, 2008 @ 11:29 am
Joe,
Consider the source of the research. CDC does good work. They know how to conduct quality research.
As with any research, there will be some margin of error, but in the hands of a competent research group, an 838 sample is satisfactory.
Deep Dark Secret Said,
March 16, 2008 @ 5:53 pm
As shocking and suprising as this statistic may be to many of us, this statistic has been on the CDC for some time. The number for adults suffering with STD’s is actually not much different than that of teens: 1 in 5.
As the founder DeepDarkSecret.org, an organization devoted to building awareness of the STD epidemic in the United States and offer comfort and hope to those suffering, the response to our documentary short film has validated this statistic even within the church.
Please visit the site and use it as a resource to minister to those in your congregations who are suffering in silence with a deep dark secret.