I heard this story yesterday and more about it today. One in four girls between the ages of 14-18 has at least one STD. Are you kidding me? That's ridiculous and gross...look out boys.

On the radio they posed the question: whose fault is it? Are parents not having "the talk" with their kids anymore? Is it the media, music, etc.?  What do you think the problem is?

I think it's a combination of things. I don't think that it's necessarily not having 'the talk' (I never got the talk) because generally kids hear about it one way or the other. Even as members of the church, we learn how important sexual purity is (even if they don't go into the anatomy of it all). But, I think parents could be more open with their kids about the dangers of sex (and all sex acts) and they need to have it while their kids are younger (as disturbing as that is).

The media also plays a part. We all know the shows, movies, music, etc that's out there; it's influential and appealing because they display all the pleasure, but none of the risks, which I think is why a lot of kids are having sex younger and younger...they don't understand the risks (try explaining chlymdia to a 10 year old). We can blame the media all we want, but they aren't going to change. So let's move on.

My opinion: I put a lot of the responsibility on parents, not for not having 'the talk', but for allowing their children to be in situations they should not be in. Since when is it ok for high school kids to be going to college parties? Since when is it ok for kids to be staying out until 2am? Parents need to man-up and lay down the law. If we can keep our children out of questionable situations (the best we can), I guarantee that STD rate would fall. Ask where they're going on a Saturday night and give them a curfew! Why do they allow their 14 year old to date a 19 year old? Hello, anything wrong with that picture? And it's not uncommon. What do these parents think is going on?!

It's easy: know where your kids are going and who they will be with. You don't like it? They don't go. They throw a fit? Take away the car (or whatever). Hey, I know this isn't easy. I'm 1 of 5 kids and only 2 of us are active in the church. My folks tried hard to get my sister to stop dating the drug dealer from school (boy, does she regret that one now). The thing is, I think there are many parents who are scared that their kids will 'be mad' at them or 'hate' them. It's called....(drumroll) tough love. A lot of parents are making it way too easy for their children to do whatever they want (be out to 2am), go wherever they want (a questionable party), and be with whomever they want (older boys). I'm not saying this is all parents, but I bet it's the majority of the parents of that 25% (3 million) of girls with an STD.

I understand this is also partially culturally and socioeconomically related. How is a single parent with 2 jobs supposed to know where their kids are all the time? I don't have the answer for that, but I do think we could all be doing a better job if we made protecting our children from STDs a priority.

Bottom line: parents of our country need to be smarter and tougher with their kids.

I'll ask again, what do you think the cause of this outrageous statistic is?

Tags: Sexual Purity Responsibility Parenting