Whatever happened to good ol' No Sex Till Marriage. Its the 100% sure way of not catching any STI, Sex education must stress on abstinence. Sex is a grown up thing, certainly not childs play ...i am not suprised that some girls would have thought that HPV vaccination = immune to other STI's.

I am all for NO SEX if NOT MARRIED.

BloneSmartChick,

And there would be no crime if nobody broke the law. Human nature is what it is. You can try to pretend it doesn't exist, you can try to fight it, or you can try to work with it. If some girls will wait til marriage, then that is great. But, and let's be realistic here, most girls and boys won't. If you tell them not to, they will anyway. If you educate them about doing it smartly, some of them may just follow that advise. And actually, there is a lot of data on this. Abstinence only education is about as useful as no education. Except that no education doesn't cost a thing.

Not everyone will marry.. not everyone wants to marry.. some are not allowed to marry (gay people) People are sexual beings, and unfortunately, we aren't born with users manuals. Kids need to be educated about sex, stds, birth control, disease control, hygiene. Maybe if we taught them to love and respect their bodies, and that masturbation is a good thing, a lot of grief could be avoided.

Look, i totally believe that sex is good but hasn't history taught us that when sex is used outside of marriage, bad things happen like sti's, broken hearts, self loathing etc etc.

Its not the school system's responsibility to teach about sex, its the parents responsibility. Parents should strongly advise kids to go the no sex till marriage route. If the kids dont listen , then thats their problem ... and they will have to deal with the consequences one day

masturbation may be "safe" but doesn't mean that its right. Its still sex, just in a different un-natural way.

love and respect my body=respect me enough to wait for me till you put a ring on my finger on our wedding day.

Blonde...please watch a few episodes of Maury Povich.

A gal with a shot claimed great power. Said she'd remain fresh, just like a flower.

Feeling safe on the pill, and a shot Gardisil.

My tool now displays cauliflower.

Stop preaching about sex before marriage, it is very annoying. I agree with ledgeroo, not everyone will get married....that doesn't mean that they have to stay virgins forever.

I say, if a boyfriend and girlfriend have BOTH decided that they want to have sex, that they BOTH feel that they are ready, then why should they let marriage certificates, vows, and a couple of rings stand between them?!?! MORE POWER to them, if they can overcome society's view of what they're "supposed" to do, and make their OWN decisions.

And no, sex ed should NOT focus on abstinence.......because then, kids won't learn about STIs, and STDs, and birth control. They stopped teaching that stupid "abstinence only" sex ed for a reason: these are things they NEED TO KNOW, SmartBlondeChick.

I think I'm gonna go buy that one book "The Purity Myth".

Oh, and one thing that really irks me about your comment: love and respect my body=respect me enough to wait for me till you put a ring on my finger on our wedding day.

So you're trying to say that youth who have sex outside of marriage have no self respect? That is NOT true. That is such a LOADED statement. What if a young girl got raped....does that mean she has no respect for her body? No. Seriously, just because a young couple are sexually active, and are not married, that doesn't mean that they have no respect for their bodies.

I'm actually surprised that you haven't caught hell for that comment.....

Isis, I simply believe that since sex is so precious it should be treated as such and marriage is the only place where sex is perfect. The scope of My statement obviously does not pertain to those who got raped/sexually molested etc.... i really don't know why you threw that into the mix. (rolling my eyes)

Yes, if one chooses to have sex outside the safety of marriage, one may set themselves up for unnecessary heartbreak. Let me speak for myself ... love and respect my body=respect me enough to wait for me till you put a ring on my finger on our wedding day.

if a boyfriend and girlfriend decide to have sex....fine let them go at it, but there isn't a condom for ones heart. If a guy is not willing to wait till commitment ...he aint worth my tears...

I never really thought of sex as being that important, and it really puzzles me that other people take something so simple and make it so complicated. It's like driving a car- as long as you take precautions it's relatively safe. We teach children to wear their seat belts, so why wouldn't we tell teenagers to use condoms? Wouldn't the doctor who administers the shot explain to the girls what it does and that they can still get other STDs?

Blondie

If a guy is not willing to wait till commitment ...he aint worth my tears..

It isn't always the guy that is the one hot to trot. Some "girls" think that if the guy isn't interested in the deed he isn't interested in anything at all or lacks experience so must be immature.

@Elpea, I think sex is important in the physical and emotional sense....but even then, it can be blown out of proportion, so I see where you're coming from.

@trust_verify, I also agree with you.....either sex can play that game.

@Blondie, you say there is no condom for the heart......that is WHY an unmarried couple need to BOTH be sure that they are physically and MENTALLY prepared for sex.

Being emotionally prepared to have sex with somebody has nothing to do with marriage.

Because they are 11- 12 yr old girls who hopefully are not yet sexually active. Docs push these vaccines.

They likely WILL be sexually active at some point. Nearly EVEYONE who is sexually active has, will have, or has had HPV and men cannot be tested for it and often show no symptoms. THEY should be required to get a vaccine, since they're carriers. This disease affects everyone; everyone should be vaccinated.

Isn't that a song? "There was a little girl. Who had a little wart. Right in the middle of her cervix. And when she was bad; she was VERY VERY bad."

1stGen, read the article again. Yes the vaccine is given to 11-12 year old girls, but the girls surveyed were 17-21. And one of the questions was whether a condom was used during their last intercourse.

Right, miscreant. Let's remember the vaccinations are being given to girls who are as young as 12. Many of them are still fairly ignorant about sex, std's and safe sex. They won't have sex ed in school for several years yet (my girls got those lessons in 10th grade as 15 year olds.) So it's up to the clinicians administering the shots, and us parents to educate our children. My girls know the value and the limitations of the HPV shots. It's not about little girls being sluts, it's about little girls being young. They need to be educated. In school, at the doctor's office, and at home.

I totally agree about education.. but you listed home last.. interesting.. I think first and foremost, kids should be educated at home.. hygiene, phys. fitness, reading, discipline, all these things should first and foremost start in the home. Not outsourced ...

I have it in reverse order as to how it happens in our family: home first, doctor second, school third. But I do think in many families, much is left to the schools. And I am convinced my pediatrician is exceptional in the attention she gives my daughters.

CMlawyer, your girls had sex ed in 10th grade? Holy crap, that's scary. Got mine in either 5th or 6th grade, and my older sister had it twice since we moved schools during her later elementary years. Never heard of it occurring so late. :( It's a good thing your girls have a dad with a good head on his shoulders. :)

5th grade, then again in 7th, and again in high school. By the 10th grade, some kids have already had babies themselves - too late.

lolwut-3168979

You must be in a progressive, not religious, school system. Generally sex ed is part of health class and that is typically sandwiched in with 10th grade gym. That they even cover the names of the STI/STD is a miracle in some schools even.

Good grief - I thought I was raised in a conservative state. In 5th grade, girls discussed female puberty and what to expect. In 7th, we discussed the basics of sex and condom use. And in 10th or 11th, depending on our class schedules, we discussed other contraception options and STD's in more detail, including symptoms and possible future effects (PID leading to infertility, etc.).

I guess we weren't so sheltered after all.

LOL sandy.... the students were discussing the topics but the schools sure weren't involved. Had they been the teacher would have been run out of town wearing tar and feathers lit on fire even. There were at least three girls who probably wish sex ed was part of the curriculum by 9th grade as they had the STD called pregnancy. Granted that was years ago but not much has changed.

Part of the problem in this specific article is that the parents probably haven't had sex ed. They are embarrassed to discuss the topics mainly because they don't know the facts themselves, including that STD can be passed orally.

The teachers were visibly uncomfortable discussing the topics, but they did it anyway. It probably didn't help that we had no female health/PE teachers - the girls were mostly taught by middle-aged men. The first few classes were given by the female school nurse, who seemed a bit more comfortable. Parents could opt their kids out of the classes, but I don't know anyone whose parents did.

And I think we were probably an exception on the religious thing. Our town was once in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most churches per capita - no joke. But I don't remember a push for abstinence-only sex ed or anything like it. And our teen pregnancy rate was fairly low. I can only recall maybe 4 or 5 girls who were pregnant before they graduated. I suppose we mixed our religion with a healthy dose of pragmatism.

hmmmm we had two women for health class.. 10th grade. One was rumored to be gay or sleeping with the football and in charge of the cheerleader team. The other, whom I had (coed class mind you) would turn on the censored film turn out the lights and proceed to blush so bright we could see her in the dark. The kicker is I would swear they showed the exact same film a few years later aboard the Navy ship... This is a canker sore .... CENSORED.... was showing on the screen. This is how to put on a condom .... CENSORED.... Bad enough when 15/16 year olds have to watch a visually censored education film even dumber when the US Military showing 18-40 year olds pulls the same BS.

DianeK

I would suggest ALL patients discuss ALL vaccines with their MEDICAL CARE PROFESSIONAL. Part of that discussion would be adverse reactions. All vaccines have the potential of adverse reactions. I've read the site you link. Please we can save many lives by education is correct. Don't fan the flames of hysteria. More women die each year from preventable cancer than do from the vaccine. (About 11000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year and 4000+ women die)

Discussed it with our pediatrician and since my girls had decided they were going to wait to be sexually active, he did not consider it worth the risk to give them the shot. He said autoimmune diseases run in my family and that put them in a high risk catagory for having side effects as most of the serious side effects have been girls who have autoimmune diseases themselves or genetic autoimmune diseases are in their families.

Unfortunately, there are probably many health professionals who will probably push it for all girls without weighing the risks or benefits. Honest discussion between teens, parents, and health professionals is vital, and this study is one more proof that is not happening.

You can get HPV through oral sex, as well. In fact, HPV is now a major cause of head and neck cancers.

And where did you get your medical degree? Whether it has been discounted now or not, I don't know, but those were indeed the early reports on causes of side effects. As to my daughters, you don't know them, so don't judge. They are both over 21 now. They have never given me cause to doubt their honesty with us. One insists she is still waiting for marriage, the other is a newlywed who married a young man within our faith who says he waited, also.

In March of this year, the New York Times, reported that 28% of young people from 15 to 24 reported they were still virgins. This was up from 22% in 2003. So abstinance, and waiting longer among those who are not abstinant is growing. I am not blind to the fact that there are many promiscuous teens and young adults, but some are indeed waiting until mariage, and a growing number are waiting longer or waiting until they are in a serious relationship.

I thought so too- that is almost 1 out of 4. I'd call that a 'sizeable' percentage

Instead of the shivering, abused, all alone animals commercials, they should have one that portrays the loneliness of abused sluts. 67% of American sluts are battered. And to think, I have been eating mine plain for all these years.

I think there are a lot of people misinformed about vaccines and and infectious diseases in general. I hear lots of times "I have a cold, but don't worry, I can't give it to you because I'm on an antibiotic." Or "I shouldn't be able to get strep throat - I had my flu shot."

Sigh.

Figures the same lack of understanding and logic would apply to STD's.

http://www.snipeme.com/archive.php?year=2006&rant=hpv_vaccine

http://www.snipeme.com/archive.php?year=2006&rant=hpv_vaccine

your information is not accurate, stan. the vaccine protects against only a small number of strains of HPV (there are over 100). of these, only a handful cause cervical cancer, and the vaccine prevents about 80% of those particular strains.

It also wears off after only 3-5 years, so those 11 yr. olds getting vaccinated will have it wear off right as they enter high school.

It would make so much more sense to vaccinate at 16, given that's the average age of first sex for girls in this country. That way, the girls would be protected when they actually need it most instead of having it wear off then.

Statistics/averages are great but there are many pregnant 11-13 year old girls out there. Also while 17 may be the average vaginal intercourse that does not mean other sexual contact is not happening which is just as likely to transmit HPV and other STI/STD.

The parents are really the problem. I mean really, if you have kids, TALK TO THEM. Don't rely on schools to teach them such important life skills.

Course I am making some wild assumptions on the intelligence of their parents here too.

I find it funny and ironic that the person stating that sluts aren't intelligent, spelled "intelligent" wrong.

Ergo, by her own definition, she must be a SLUT.