4 STDs Every Teen Parent Should Know
“I think they know I’m sexually active, but we don’t talk about it. It’s a little weird so we just don’t talk about it” Sometimes it’s not that teens want to lie about having sex as much as they know you don’t always want to know they’re having sex. They understand that you‘re uncomfortable with the topic. However, if you really want to influence your teen’s sexual health and behavior, you have to stay involved.
Research has shown that parents who are involved with their sexually active teen decrease the risk of teen pregnancy. As difficult as it can be to imagine your teen is growing up, which can include being sexually active, banning dating or sex until they are older or married does little to prevent consequences that are a parent’s worst fear.
How do you start the conversation?
Hopefully the conversation started a kong time ago, but if not you can use something they said as a starting point, start the conversation yourself with a memory of something you saw in a movie or TV show, or simply mention it, “You know part of growing up is becoming aware of your sexuality, I know you’re going to have sex one day, I certainly hope it is later, but in the event that you think the time is now, there are some things that I want you to know.”
If you know your teen is sexually active, there are things that you should know that can help keep your teen safe.
1. Chlamydia
Chlamydia is the most common reported sexually transmitted disease in your teen’s age group. Testing is donr by peeing in a cup and the clinician will send it off to the lab.
2. HIV
This screen should be done if your teen has been sexually active for the past 18 months to 2 years. This is because the HIV test will only screen activity done six months ago and before. So screening after only six months of sexual activity screens for the time they weren’t sexually active.
3. Pap Smear
Your teen doesn’t need a pap smear until they have been sexually active for three years or they are 21 years old. This is different from a pelvic exam which can be done anytime your teen has complaints of vaginal discharge or irritation.
4. Herpes and Genital Warts
The most important thing to know about these STDs is that they can be spread through simple skin-to-skin contact. This means your teen doesn’t have to have intercourse to spread the disease they need only touch skin. They also don’t need to have lesions to spread the disease. Again, they only need skin-to-skin contact. They are diagnosed with visual inspection of any strange looking lesions.
These are the medical consequences of irresponsible sex, they’re the easy part of what should be an ongoing discussion in sexual health and activity. The real hard part is supporting the emotional part of sexual health and activity.
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