Scary Stats on Teens and Infectious Diseases

Okay girls. I've talked to you about achieving your goals, avoiding unhealthy relationships, how to get money for college and other very important things, but here's one that is of the UTMOST importance. Respect and love your bodies. Abstain from sex. Protect yourselves. And that goes for my teen mothers too.

The first national study - a part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey - on four of the most common sexual diseases revealed statistics that are shocking. Nearly fifty-percent of African American girls ages 14-19 are infected with one of the four most common STD's; human papillomavirus (HPV, which can cause cervical cancer), chlamydia, genital herpes, and trichomoniasis (a parasite). The report found that twenty percent of Caucasian girls are infected with at least one of these diseases. And among all infected women ages 14-19, fifteen percent had more than one disease. Looking at the larger picture, about 3.2 million teenage girls are infected with at least one of the diseases.

I know people tell you all sorts of things like "If he loves you, he'll wait" and "You're worth waiting for," and they're all true. Very true. But obviously, they're not sinking in. How about this? BE DIFFERENT. If nothing else encourages you to protect yourself, how about being different? Too many girls are giving in to sex and the things that guys are telling them, and they're putting their health and their futures at risk. By saying no, you're standing out from all the rest, and I guarantee you that guys will respect you for it. You want to be a different story.

And if you have a child already, that doesn't mean that you're "damaged goods." Your body is always your temple, and saying no to sex says a lot about you as a strong mother and woman.

At the very least, please protect yourselves, ladies.

I believe we can all defy the statistics whether they be statistics about teen mothers not amounting to anything, teenagers on the road to nowhere, or too many young girls walking around with serious STD's.

BE DIFFERENT.

To read more about this study, please click here.

Love you guys.