Sexual Health in Oklahoma City

[dismayed]

It's a topic that people don't seem to like to talk about. It is rarely mentioned in our local media. But Oklahoma City has for at least the last 15 years consistently scored very poorly in the area of sexual health. At one time official CDC rankings placed us as the city with the 9th highest STD rate in the country. Although I wasn't able to find that data by Googling anymore, I did find this article from Men's Health:

Safe Sex In Your City? - Men's Health


In it, we received a score of "F" and are listed as the city with the 11th highest STD ranking, just above San Fransisco. What is scary about that is that these are unadjusted figures... so we have higher rates than most places that are far larger cities than us. And there are certainly cities with far more singles than us, such as Austin.

The reason I'm posting about this is because, as I said at the beginning of this post, our ranking has been horrible for as long as I can remember and nothing seems to be being done by anyone to change it.

So what's the answer?

[bandnerd]

Abstinence-only education is the cause. Education about how to use condoms and other STD-prevention methods is the answer. We push it on our kids at school a lot. And I mean, a lot. Other than that, you can only educate so much. People have to make that decision for themselves.

[edcrunk]

Abstinence-only education is the cause. Education about how to use condoms and other STD-prevention methods is the answer. We push it on our kids at school a lot. And I mean, a lot. Other than that, you can only educate so much. People have to make that decision for themselves.

THAT'S RIDICULOUS!!

i'm sure there are a variety of causes. when i went thru sex ed in school... they barely mentioned abstinence. i was taught all about condoms and still went on to have unsafe sex with multiple ladies in okc and dallas. so am i the exception to the rule???

most people that have std's don't even realize it... (hell, i should probably go to get checked out).

i can tell you this, the christian kids that do stay abstinate and follow the principles put forth in the scriptures... those kids don't have to anything to worry about.

[oneforone]

In my opinion slowing down sexual activity will eliminate a whole mess of problems.

However, your not going to stop people from having sex. We need to be teaching the reality of sex.

Such as:

Babies/kids are not like pets. Do not have them until you can at least support yourself and have health insurance.

Do not sleep with anyone until you know for a fact their clean. Otherwise you may spending the rest of your life having a conversation that starts off with, "Honey, before we have sex I have to tell you I have _________."

If you have something and you do not tell your partner you can be prosecuted by law.

Plain, simple, strait to the point.

[BradR]

When I was in school we didn't even have a "Sex Ed" class. We did have a one hour seminar discussing the benefits of abstinence and why we should do it, followed by giving all the students a little marble with "True Love Waits" on it....

[bandnerd]

ed--it's my opinion, you don't have to say it's ridiculous. I just call 'em like I see 'em. Some of the most sexually active kids I have seen in my life, when I was in school and now as a teacher, are the "christian" kids, especially those who have parents who work at the church.

In my opinion, you can tell kids all day long not to have sex. But some of them are going to find something to do to fill the oodles of free time that they all seem to have.

[Midtowner]

BN -- didn't you tell me that one of your friends from college had convinced a girl she could avoid pregnancy by jumping up and down on the bed after sex?

-- abstinence only, I'll betcha.

[bandnerd]

It wasn't that ridiculous...not jumping up and down but something of that ilk.

Brad--we also did not have sex ed at my school. There were two boys in my 7th grade class who impregnated two 8th grade girls. There were pregnancies and disease all over the place, but everyone just stuck their heads in the sand.

Granted, some education at home would certainly help, but when you have parents like mine who didn't talk to you (for whatever reason) about sex, it doesn't hurt to cover the bases at school.

[PennyQuilts]

Swear to god - I am just about ready to bring "shame" back as a means of social control. Never thought I'd see the day when I came even close to that... You can tell kids till the cows come home about STDs and babies and economic results and disrupted educational opportunities and it will go in one ear and out the other. You can tell them to wait for Mr. Right (due on the horizon in about 10 years) and God and being pure and respecting yourself and you'll get just about the same result.

An immediate Scarlet "A" (or perhaps a Scarlet "S" for sucker) and giggles that she was so stupid to have fallen for a dumb line would have better results because the kids would see the ramifications NOW instead of maybe, someday, down the road.

Sigh. Those days are gone. In the meantime, poor idiots are dealing with STDs and babies having babies and child support and no child support ...

[Karried]

poor idiots are dealing with STDs and babies having babies and child support and no child support ...

yep, a vicious cycle of ignorance. That's what I'm attributing the high rate of STD's to, ... poverty, lack of education, doing what mama did.....barefoot and pregnant.

I think parents just need to be so involved with their kids...they need to do family things, activities, whatever it takes to find a connection and the lines of communication open. Keep them busy so they can't get into trouble.

I think kids also emulate a lot of their parents or significant adult's behaviors and attitudes.

I also believe in knowledge and education.... you can't keep them in the dark and try to protect them from wanting to have sex.

You can't pretend that they don't want to do so... they do! Perpetuating the species and all that, that 'survival instinct' is very powerful at this age.... so you have to assume that at some point, they will engage is sexual activities and you have to prepare them for the possible outcomes of such unprotected activities.. for goodness sakes, if your 17 year old daughter is out dating for any length of time, get her on the pill and buy her condoms to give to her boyfriend... and boys, buy them condoms. There must be a million pamphlets available for parents who don't feel comfortable talking about it.

Either that or start buying formula, diapers and Herpes Simplex cream.

[venture]

It is amazing how many public religious officials or even politicians are so passive on this. A lot of my friends here went to Falls Creek church camp as kids. The stories I've heard of how "pure" kids were acting there just makes ya shake your head.

I went to a christian school from preschool up through high school. There was plenty of bumping and grinding in the hallways there. In my high school class...several pregnant girls.

Like others have said...it all comes down to home life and the "adults" just preaching to not have sex and all will be okay. Normally they are doing this while ignoring the fact their kids already lost their virginity by 15 and are off doing whatever as much as they can. I agree with Karrie...get them the things they need to protect themselves.

[Ash_Fox]

Hi. I'm currently a high school student and will be a senior at Harding Charter Prep this next school year. In responce to this whole post, I would like to say that, in the two schools that I have been to (Bishop Kelly in Boise, ID and Harding) Sex Ed was not offered. I do know that they give a talk about sex, but the problem I see is that, by the time the talks are given, it's already too late and a majority of the students have already submitted to sexual activity. It is my opinion as a student that schools aren't doing enough. I also believe that parents do need to be involved more. The most I hear from my parents is, "Don't have sex. It's wrong." I understand that it is and don't plan on having sex anytime soon, but if other people are only hearing that, and don't care about whether they have sex or not, it doesn't seem like the parents are doing their part. Now, I understand how people would be upset if their kids got pregnant or the parent found out their kid was kaving sex, but if they don't do enough to help influence them, or to really help them understand why they shouldn't until they are older, I think that the parents have to blame themselves as well. What goes on in the house does have a strong effect on the children there, too.

End rant...

[PennyQuilts]

Excellent rant, kiddo. Rant away!!

[bandnerd]

Ash--

While we can't do anything about the middle schools not teaching kids about sex, we are planning on offering "the sex talk" earlier in the year, as well as perhaps a drug talk, since it's something we haven't really dealt with yet.

But yes, so much of it falls on the parents. I won't lie...I learned a lot about sex from "Skinemax" in high school. I knew it wasn't something I was supposed to be doing, and I was a rare good kid that actually understood why I wasn't supposed to do things.

Good lord, if I ever have a kid, that kid's gonna be scarred with all the info I'm going to give it. I know too much now as a teacher.

[oneforone]

Ash--

While we can't do anything about the middle schools not teaching kids about sex, we are planning on offering "the sex talk" earlier in the year, as well as perhaps a drug talk, since it's something we haven't really dealt with yet.

But yes, so much of it falls on the parents. I won't lie...I learned a lot about sex from "Skinemax" in high school. I knew it wasn't something I was supposed to be doing, and I was a rare good kid that actually understood why I wasn't supposed to do things.

Good lord, if I ever have a kid, that kid's gonna be scarred with all the info I'm going to give it. I know too much now as a teacher.

I would rather see a kid armed to teeth with infomation from Mom and Dad then a kid who is getting infromation from the web, the media or from an idiot friend that is full of crap.

Most of problems we have today stem from parents not stepping up and educating their kids on the do's and don'ts of life. I have never known anyone that followed the rule of Just say No or Don't Do That.

Parents in general need wake up and focus on their kids. I get so tired of people saying "Why don't they teach that in school?" It is not the school's responsibilty. The school is there to train kids to provide for themselves once school has completed. The parents are the ones that teach discipline, common sense and survival skills.

[bandnerd]

Thank you, oneforone. I don't understand the trend now of being your child's "friend" instead of the parent. These parents give kids everything they want, often bankrupting themselves, or at the very least, building up bad credit, they get pissy with teachers when their kids aren't performing academically (because no one makes them do their homework, duh) and then wonder why their kids get in so much trouble.

[Ash_Fox]

Even I don't understand those parents. As my father puts it, "If I'm not pissing you off, I'm failing to do my job." I see so many people who text or call their parents during school when the parent knows they're not supposed to be doing that, I see parents catering to their children, I see all kinds of things and then hear from kids, "Oh, my parent(s) can take care of that" whenever something bad happens. One of these days these kids are going to be on their own and if mummy is always there now, what are they going to learn when that time comes? Personally, those parents slightly sicken me. A parent is suposed to do what they think is best for their kid no matter how a kid is going to react to it. It's their job to inform kids on the hard facts of life, not the schools. If people are relying on schools to do everything for them, then that shows a sign of laziness on the parents part for not wanting to do it. I really don't mean to offend, but come on. If a parent is so lazy that they can't tell their kid facts about somthing that may one day be a major factor in that child's life, what is that saying? What are people like that really teaching their kids?