Question:
i've been rolling this thought through my head for the last couple months now. and i started talking to some of my clothes friends, those infect with an std and those who aren't. and it seemed to be a common issue. we have a problem in our public school systems. with this new law of zero tolerance and how in the sex ed classes the end all be all is teaching abstinence. in the world we live in now kids are having sex as young as middle schoolers.

granted i'm not that old... 20 in august. but i'm not too bold to say that we dont have a problem. std statistics aren't lowering as quickly as they should. with all the new found information we have about std/sti's you'd think far less people would be stricken by these diseases/viruses. but that's not the case. why? because we dont teach it! i find it a shame that i didnt know ANYTHING about H until it was too late and i was infected by it.

for example i'm sure a lot of you have seen the commercials for "one less", the hpv vaccination. i dare you... go up to someone randomly. ask them if they've seen the commercial... they'll probably say yes. ok now, ask them what hpv is. i bet you anything they'll say that they have NO IDEA. we're propagandaning something that no one knows about. how is that helping society. for those of you who dont know what it is. it's genital warts. and both men and woman can be affected by it. for most woman they clear on their own or with the help of a cream. for men though, just like H, they are infected forever and most likely will have reoccuring contagious warts.

with those friends i was talking to i'm starting a movement. starting in fall i will be gathering pamphlets and starting a petition and going to local public colleges IE. community colleges, UC's, and CSU's. my goal is to gather names supporting STD awareness to young people. too many people are being affected by these viruses and diseases and not knowing what they are or the hard cold statistics to go along with them. after gathering these petitions i will be going to the state of California. and proposing a law amendment. putting this issue on every states backburner is setting our country up for an std ridden nation.

so basically i want to know how many of you agree with this? how much luck do you think i will have? be honest. or maybe if some of you would like to start this in your states (considering school boards are different for each state)... maybe we can work as a nation. not as individual states. throw your opinions at me! thanks guysss

Answer:
haha. ignore any of my spelling grammar errors. i didnt read this before i posted. haha. and there's no edit button. so screw it. you get the jist of it. :]

Answer:
Once you hit (100?) posts you can edit.

Sounds like a very honorable life calling. You will change people's lives for generations. Imagine that... the chain reaction of what you would be bettering in people's lives. Preventing a rejection, saving a marriage, saving a baby from the ravages of disease, changing generations...

You have identified a niche that needs to be filled. Maybe you can get a private donor to fund a machine to educate people (Bill Gates and Paul Allen and Warren Buffet give loads to address health issues). Public funds might be too tight and constricting. And parenting... between the too strict and the too lenient, both sides could use facts and educating. Truth is the best form of protection. Tell kids what Herpes does to their genitals, to their life, to their options for future sex, show them pictures of what hsv and hpv do to their gentials. Tell them that hsv isn't tested during a standard std screening, and is in some ways one of the most insidious diseases to have. Hell, I might want to come in and show them an HSV+ me, and tell them all of the reasons why HSV sucks. In words they will understand of course.

You might want to go to the local Planned Parenthood Clinic and grab some of their materials. They are always playing a video there in the waiting room of std's in the US vs in other countries. Sweden for example has far fewer std rates and abortions. Of course Sweden spends more of their tax dollars on education and health than on bombs. You might have better luck once the current US administration is out of office.

Answer:
thanks sooo much for the encouraging words. everything you said is exactly what i've been thinking. if i have to come out and shout that i have hsv, if that saves just one person from going through what i've gone through, hell it's worth it. if i can lower that statistic from 1 in 5 to 1 in 6. i think i will have accomplished what i was put here for. and i think you are right about our current administration. their priorities are all fucked up. instead of worrying about what's going on in our own country they are worried about something going on, on the other side of the world.

this whole idea brings a smile to my face ear to ear. i can't wait to see how i can change the world. this is my goal, in life. i look at my virus as a blessing more then a horrible thing that ruined my life.

Answer:
The whole std/herpes problem starts with lack of education.
I watched a tv programme the other day about a girl being born with HIV, and rather than hiding away, she is now 16, she was doing what you propose to do, and going round educating schools, she was amazing, yes she got grief from people who were basically ignorant and felt it would never happen to them, but didn't we all think the same??

It should be part of the cirriculum, that is a must.
My son has just left school, he barely touched on the subject of sexual health, it is me who has sat him down and discussed it and guess what?
he never thinks it will happen to him!!!(little does he know his mom is walking around with genital herpes)

So i think what you are proposing to do is fantastic and a really noble thing to do.

Good Luck

Answer:
my cbildren's school does teach them about abstinence, but also about stds, pregnancy, etc.

Answer:
that's what they might tell you... but odds are they dont really. when i was in middle school and had my "sex ed" 1 day lecture thing. they explained pregnancy, but not really the symptoms. they explained what happens in the body but if they explained the symptoms better and actually tell kids that the pull out method DOES NOT WORK, i think less kids would get pregnant. i'm on a teen forum where young people can come to me and ask about pregnancy and what not. if the kids aren't getting pregnant, odds are they are already having pregnancy scares!

and when they tried teaching us about std's... they basically focused on hiv/aids. guess what though... aids isn't a huge problem in our society. yea it should be non-existant. but they dont focus enough on other std's. they tell you they are out there but they dont tell you what to look for. what the statistics of them getting it is while not wearing a condom during sex.

you should ask your son what they tell him. or take a look at the brochures they might give him. odds are, they dont go into enough detail.

Answer:
Jesskasubercool - I've posted about sex ed on this forum before and got a cool reception.

this is an excerpt from one of my previous messages. "in the US it is usually not the schools who refuse to teach everything in sex ed it is that the legislatures get opposition from parents and often religious groups who want to control what is taught.

"There is a huge push from many of the right wing conservative groups for abstinence education and they discourage teaching kids about condoms. Their impetus is that if we teach kids about sex we are encouraging them to be promiscuous which is totally crazy because kids will have sex whether or not we teach them the facts.

"This is particularly frightening because so many kids now think that oral sex is safe sex or not sex at all. The other scary thing is that many parents just assume that the kids are learning what they need in school when in reality they really need to sit down with their kids and face the embarrassment and tell them the facts. Or parents are ignorant of the fact that their kids are sexuallly active."

In California the education code is permissive, which means that many things can be done but they aren't going to be mandated. I'm not an expert on that section of law but I can tell you that it isn't an easy fight to undertake.

I do encourage you to take it on. I think starting at the level of postsecondary ed is a start. I think at a secondary level it will be difficult and almost impossible at the middle or elementary school levels.

PM me if you want to discuss this further I have ideas as well just a little different direction.

I appreciate your resolve and your determination.

Answer:
I cannot understand the mentality of parents who oppose the teaching of sexual health,my niece who is about to go to secondary school had to have written consent to attend these lessons, unfortunately a lot of the parents refused.

In our secondary education system they send them home with a doll,that has to be monitored 24/7 and records all the data of how the doll has been treated!!

It amazes me that they give this doll out as a substitute baby but do not go indepth about avoiding pregnancy and only talk about HIV.

It just goes to show that there is no good closing the gate once the horse has bolted.