2008 Woodie Awards
Teens often overlook importance of STD tests
Ebony Marbury
Issue date: 3/19/08 Section: Features
For high school senior Danielle Robinson from Peabody High School in East Liberty, getting tested for sexually transmitted diseases was not a priority in her day-to-day life.
For junior Alana McCoy from Schenely High School in Oakland, the lack of resources was the reason she never got tested for STDs.
Jessica Fulton from Steel Valley High School in Munhall, Pa., said she was completely oblivious to what STDs were and how to prevent them.
These are a few high school students who say that STDs are becoming the latest trend in high schools because of a lack of awareness.
According to studies at the Center for Disease Control, one in four teenage girls nationwide has a sexually transmitted disease. The most common disease is HPV, Human papillomavirus, a virus that causes cervical cancer. Nearly 50 percent of black girls studied had at least one STD. Twenty percent of whites and Mexican-American teens had at least one STD and with fewer than 7 percent that reported cases, Asian-Americans are least likely to have a STD
Sexually transmitted diseases remain a major public health challenge in the United States. While significant progress has been made in preventing, diagnosing and treating certain STDs, the CDC estimates that over 19 million new infections occur each year, almost half of them among young people ages 15 to 24.
"I can say that I believed that STDs only happened to people who were promiscuous, and so it was not a priority of mine to get tested," Robinson said.
Robinson, is like so many other young women who do not believe that it can happen to them. Racial and ethnic minorities continue to be disproportionately affected by sexually transmitted diseases in the United States.
These disparities may be in part because racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to seek care in public health clinics that report STDs more completely than a private provider.
Some other contributing factors include limited access to quality health care, poverty and higher prevalence of disease in these populations.
For junior Alana McCoy from Schenely High School in Oakland, the lack of resources was the reason she never got tested for STDs.
Jessica Fulton from Steel Valley High School in Munhall, Pa., said she was completely oblivious to what STDs were and how to prevent them.
These are a few high school students who say that STDs are becoming the latest trend in high schools because of a lack of awareness.
According to studies at the Center for Disease Control, one in four teenage girls nationwide has a sexually transmitted disease. The most common disease is HPV, Human papillomavirus, a virus that causes cervical cancer. Nearly 50 percent of black girls studied had at least one STD. Twenty percent of whites and Mexican-American teens had at least one STD and with fewer than 7 percent that reported cases, Asian-Americans are least likely to have a STD
Sexually transmitted diseases remain a major public health challenge in the United States. While significant progress has been made in preventing, diagnosing and treating certain STDs, the CDC estimates that over 19 million new infections occur each year, almost half of them among young people ages 15 to 24.
"I can say that I believed that STDs only happened to people who were promiscuous, and so it was not a priority of mine to get tested," Robinson said.
Robinson, is like so many other young women who do not believe that it can happen to them. Racial and ethnic minorities continue to be disproportionately affected by sexually transmitted diseases in the United States.
These disparities may be in part because racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to seek care in public health clinics that report STDs more completely than a private provider.
Some other contributing factors include limited access to quality health care, poverty and higher prevalence of disease in these populations.
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