More teenagers getting HIV
-
FOUR years is all it has taken for the number of teenagers with sexually-transmitted infections (STIs) to more than double.
The latest figures show 678 of those aged between 10 and 19 sought help for STIs last year, against 256 in 2001.
These teens are also a growing proportion of all STI patients: 3.8 per cent in 2001 and 6.1 per cent last year.
More of them are also becoming infected with the Aids virus.
In the 20 years between 1985 and 2004, 18 teens were diagnosed as HIV positive - about one new case every year.
Last year alone, four boys aged between 17 and 19 tested positive for HIV. They all had sex with men. The eight teens who tested HIV positive in the last three years were all gay.
Counsellors who work with teens say they are now sexually active at a younger age. They are also having unprotected sex - and with multiple partners at that.
On the flip side, they are also more aware about getting tested for disease.
Ms Theresa Soon, the assistant manager of the Department of Sexually-Transmitted Infections Control (DSC) clinic, told The Straits Times that the teens who show up at the clinic have had an average of four sex partners.
She added that the bulk of them just 'live for the present', and some view abortion lightly. And more of these teens first get to know each other online and then meet specifically for sex.
Polytechnic student Michelle (not her real name), 19, told The Straits Times she lost her virginity at 15 as 'everybody was doing it'.
She said: 'I took sex too lightly. It's like it is a must to have sex in a relationship.'
She had an abortion at 17 and is pregnant again, but is keeping the baby.
Teenagers seem split between those who have sex and those who abstain.
Nur Faatihah Mohd Dahri, 16, said: 'Some of my friends say sex is no big deal, but I cover my ears and try to remember what my parents taught me.'
She said her parents had explained why she should not have sex at a tender age, and told her about STIs.
Alarmed by the rising STI tide among teens, the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware) will pilot a sex education programme for teens next month which aims to plug gaps in the schools' sex education programme.
Teens who took part in an Aware focus group discussion said sex education in school emphasised morality over practical tips on how to protect themselves, said Ms Khoo Hoon Eng, the adviser to Aware's Women and HIV subcommittee.
The focus group discussion also brought to light the fact that many teens do not use protection, and are more worried about pregnancy than STIs.
Aware's programme will therefore focus on giving them the skills to resist peer pressure to have sex, and how to protect themselves if they do engage in it.
A group of 10 young gay people have also set up an online platform to provide support for others like them and to spread the word on abstinence and safe sex.
The 19-year-old editor of People Like You and Me (Plume), who declined to be named, said gay teens often feel under pressure to conform to what they perceive as the norms in the mostly-adult gay community.
Plume's editor said: 'Many gay male teens feel the pressure to have sex when they don't want to, because they have no alternative viewpoint other than what is already out there. And that's where Plume steps in to say: 'Hey look, just because you're gay doesn't mean you have to conform.''
Straits Times, Sep 23 -
Of course lah, anal sex is the easiest to transmit HIV
-
is this the effect of globalisation? So IMF and WB must give $ to help lah -
good article to bring up..
-
zomg @ horny deviant kids
-
huh..you have re-appeared again...Originally posted by sgboy2004:is this the effect of globalisation? So IMF and WB must give $ to help lah
-
It's a result of choice, you make choices, and you just gotta live with the consequances of the choices u made. I know this sounds almost unfeeling but one cannot blame the lack of education, I mean the words almost shout out at every instance:'Practice Safe Sex!' and still people are riding their luck.
-
live with the consequences....and don't complain that they cannot afford anti-HIV drugs..Originally posted by Quincey:It's a result of choice, you make choices, and you just gotta live with the consequances of the choices u made. I know this sounds almost unfeeling but one cannot blame the lack of education, I mean the words almost shout out at every instance:'Practice Safe Sex!' and still people are riding their luck. -
Internet and video phones are the reasons
Thanks to easy video streaming/downloads.
Thanks to easy home-made videos.
Now every youngsters want to a Tammy or porn-star. haha -
Herpes....HERPES!!!!!!
-
It is small consolation but they get downgraded to PES F I think...
-
Maybe it's a good idea to migrate to a conservative Muslim country before your kids hit 12 yrs old.
I have an American friend who migrated to Kuwait and loves it there because there's no distraction of TV, alcohol. drugs, and most importantly PEER PRESSURE. -
Sigh... when will these kids ever learn....
All it takes is one single mistake for a lifetime of regret. If you don't get HIV, you may still get another STD. If you don't get an STD, the girl may still end up pregnant - leading to abortions, dumping of babies and what not.
Sigh... I feel like an old hag saying all that. And I'm only 23.
I've got a real-life story to tell. A friend of mine was a highly promiscuous fella who slept with multiple partners until one day he got gonorrhoea. When he urinated, pus would flow out together with the urine.
Needless to say, he was so scared out of his wits that he gave up that old lifestyle of his. He shook his head and said to me, 'Never again. I learnt my lesson the hard way.'
I told him straight in the face that he actually got off quite easy. As disgusting and scary gonorrhoea is, it's curable as long as you seek treatment early.
But when it comes to AIDS - there is no second chance. -
Don't these statistics just show you how highly "educated" we are?
-
no wonder teenagers are so skinny