• Sexually transmitted diseases affect more than 12 million Americans each year, many of whom are teenagers or young adults
  
  
• The more partners you have, the higher your chance of being exposed to HIV or other STDs. This is because it is difficult to know whether a person is infected, or has had sex with people who are more likely to be infected due to intravenous drug use or other risk factors.
  
  
• Sometimes, early in infection, there may be no symptoms, or symptoms may be confused with other illnesses.
  
  
• You cannot tell by looking at someone whether he or she is infected with HIV or another STD.
  
  
• Using drugs and alcohol increases your chances of getting STDs because these substances can interfere with your judgment and your ability to use a condom properly
  
  
• Intravenous drug use puts a person at higher risk for HIV and hepatitis B because IV drug users usually share needles.
  
  
• If you have had unprotected sex, you may have a STD and not know it.
  
  
• If your partner has had unprotected sex, your partner may have a STD and not know it.
  
  
• If left untreated, STDs can lead to long-term consequences, like infertility, long-term pain or cancer.
  
  
• If you think you have a STD, there is something you can do about it. The only way to know for sure is to be tested.
  

Family Planning Centers located throughout Pennsylvania offer free and confidential services to teens under age 18, including STD testing and treatment.

click here to find the location nearest you. or call 1-866-SAFETEENS for more information on where you can be tested.

Call a Family Planning Center if you have any of these STD symptoms:

• Discharge from vagina, penis or rectum
  
• Pain or burning during urination or intercourse
  
• Pain in the abdomen (women), testicles (men), or buttocks and legs (both)
  
• Blisters, open sores, warts, rash, or swelling in the genital or anal areas or mouth
  
• Persistent flu-like symptoms--including fever, headache, aching muscles, or swollen glands-which may precede STD symptoms.
  

How do I Protect Myself from STD's

Abstinence is the only 100% effective way to avoid an unwanted pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases. Abstinence is a personal decision to refrain from all sexual intercourse: vaginal, anal, or oral. It is possible to get a STD even without having intercourse (penis in the vagina, mouth or anus) through skin-to-skin contact.

If you have sex, choose only one partner who you know well and trust -someone who only has sex with you. This is called "mutual monogamy." Limiting your number of sex partners helps reduce your risk of getting a STD. But remember, just because you and your partner may be monogamous with each other, the risk of getting an STD is increased by the number of previous sexual partners either partner has had.

Important: Use latex condoms correctly for any type of sex (vaginal, oral or anal) from start to finish.


How can I learn more?

Visit you local Family Planning Center. In addition to testing and treatment for STDs, Family Planning Centers can provide you with information and education on how to avoid an STD in the first place.

Family Planning Centers located throughout Pennsylvania provide services that are always confidential and non-judgmental, and free to teens under age 18, including:

• Free or low cost contraceptive products
  
• Access to Emergency Contraception (the morning after pill)
  
• Education on the various methods of birth control
  
• Testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)
  
• Partner treatment
  
• Pregnancy testing
  
• Complete gynecological exams
  
• Breast and cervical cancer screening
  
• Human sexuality education
  
• Referrals to other healthcare professionals

How do I find a Family Planning Center?

click here for an interactive map to find the Family Planning Center nearest you, or call 1-866-SAFETEENS to get the address, phone number and hours of operation of your local Family Planning Center.

What can I expect on my first visit?

It is normal to feel a little anxious before your first visit to a Family Planning Center, but that should not prevent you from making this important first step toward protecting your health and your future. The professional staff is trained to meet your needs and will do everything they can to make you feel comfortable while providing excellent health care services. Remember, everything is confidential! And the services are all free if you are under age 18.

Facts on Abstinence

(From the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy)

Those who have done it, often wish they had waited.
A majority of both girls and boys who are sexually active wish they had waited. Seven in ten sexually experience teens (71%) say they wish they had waited until they wereolder to have sex. Sixty-four percent of teens also said the advice they'd give a younger sibling or friend would be: "Don't have sex until you're at least out of high school, but, if you do, be sure to protect yourself against pregnancy and STDs."

A focus group conducted by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy revealed the following statements from teens:

“It's just easy not to [have sex] because there are so many things that could happen.You could get diseases. You could get pregnant. Guys aren't going to really want to marry someone who has a kid. They want to be the first one. It's just so much easier not to do it. Just wait.”

“I choose not to have sex because I'm scared. I'm scared I might get pregnant or I might get HIV.”

“I think a lot of their own personal morals have to do with that, like maybe thereligion that they're in, or maybe what they've been taught from their parents, ortheir background. I can understand how people can choose to have sex, obviously, but I can also understand how people choose not to.”

“For girls, if you're sleeping with somebody and then the whole school finds out. Ihave seen friends that have their reputation messed up and you can't heal from it. It's like a scar.”

“A lot of guys find it really respectable when they find out she's not what theythought. It's ‘Oh, wow! That girl looks good! I betcha she's gonna 'put out' today.’ And they try to talk to her. Then, when they finally get to know her, and they findsomething interesting besides the look, they're like, ‘Wow! That's really cool.’ That's the type of girl that guys want. They say they wanna 'get laid,' but you talkto a lot of guys, and they'll tell you, in the end they want a girl that isn't likethat.”

“I saw what [having sex] did to other girls' lives. It's something that I wouldn't want to have happen to myself. I want to have it in my own time. My mom has alwaysbeen frank and honest with me. She was very open and said, ‘These are the consequences. This is what happens. And if you really feel like doing it, please useprotection. It's your choice, but if you don't really want to ruin your life, you need to think about it first.’"

“I hAdvice To Friends About Sex't want to throw away. I want to go to college, and then maybe after college, I'll think about that. But right now, I don't want to do it because I know that I could ruin my chance of going to college and all that, so I know that I don't want to.”

Advice To Friends About Sex

From the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy – Responses from the Weekly On-line Survey:

“If I had to give advice, it would be to just wait. And if you can't, please use protection, every time.”

“Don't confuse love with sex.”

“It can happen to anybody. Take it from me. I am 19 and have a 9-month-old boy at home. I was always the one with high morals, good grades, and high involvement in sports and clubs. I waited a year to have sex with my boyfriend but I was not as knowledgeable as I should have been. Talk it over with your parents and partner.”

“No matter what happens, if you get pregnant, it is your own fault. Don't try to give the blame to someone else. If you think you are mature enough to have sex, be mature enough to deal with the consequences that come with it.”

“Being pregnant is the easy part, having the child is not.”

“I'm sure sex is great and everything, but there's something about casual sex that makes me uneasy. I love myself and my body too much to just give it away to someonewho wants to use it. Likewise, my guilty conscience keeps me from using someone else'sbody just to make myself feel good. Although I'm not saying I'll definitely wait until marriage, I want to be very selective about giving myself to someone else. I want someone I truly love and who truly loves me. The thought of sex without love leaves me feeling cold and empty.”

“Not having sex at all is the best and only sure-proof way of not getting pregnant. It's also moral and not as stressful!”

“Sex doesn't make anyone anything (except maybe pregnant or sick). If a boy wears protection, talks honestly about sex to his partner, keeps his mouth shut around his buddies about "last night," treats a girl with respect before and after sex and isn't in the relationship just for sex--then he's a man.”

“Kids need to stay busy with many activities. It's no wonder kids who don't have anything to do after school resort to drugs, sex, and other vices.”

“If you are going to do it, protect yourself. Too many things are going around in today's world to take a chance.”

“I think it's the right thing for a guy to stay a virgin throughout his teens, because it shows that he's clean, pure and honest to himself and his girlfriend. It also shows that he's waiting for the right girl and for the right time.”

“For me, I haven't found anybody worth what I have. I feel that what a woman has is special--it's a gift, you know? It's the most precious gift we have, so why should we give it up to just anybody?”

“If you're with a guy that you've been with a long time and [sex] comes up in your relationship, talking about it and letting each other know how you honest-to-god feel about it, will help you stay away from it. If you really talk about it, if you share with each other all the consequences, all the feelings, all the pain, the pleasure, whatever.it influences you not to do it.”

“I don't think it would be fair to the kid, because I think that another reason to wait is to be fair to the kid. Because I think they deserve a good childhood being with both the mother and the father. They won't be as good parents as they could be when you are 20, 30, or whatever.”

“You [should] always carry protection on you. That's how you plan for [sex]. I always carry something, you know, with you that will protect you.”

Reprint © 2002, The National Campaign To Prevent Teen Pregnancy.

http://www.teenpregnancy.org


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