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Educators lament lack of time teaching about STDs

But say kids get info they need; parents at heart of issue

Sunday, November 4, 2007

The Register-Mail

GALESBURG - What are high schools doing to teach teenagers about sexually transmitted diseases?

The answer from the four largest schools in Knox County - Galesburg, Knoxville, ROWVA and Abingdon - is a resounding "As much as we can."

All four high schools stress abstinence as "the only 100 percent guarantee to prevent STDs and unwanted pregnancy."

"We also give instruction on condom use," said Terri McKeague, a health and physical education teacher at Knoxville High School. "We are very thorough, not only about how to use them, but we let kids know where they are available."

Galesburg High School's department chair of health Trudy Coffman, Cindy Paulus, a health teacher from Abingdon, and ROWVA counselor Jenny Lair said their health programs introduce condom use.

"We talk about contraception, condoms and condom use," Paulus said. "We talk about condoms for men and women. We spend the majority of our first nine weeks in the class teaching kids sexual health."

Lair and McKeague said the Knox County Health Department's "RISK - Real Issues of a Sexual Kind" is one of the highlights of their health efforts.

"RISK" is presented by Knox County Health Department educator Erin Olson. It is a scripted conversation that puts high school students in roles.

"The kids get a chance to role play a character and see the issue through someone else's eyes," McKeague said. "But the important thing is I think kids get some answers to questions without having to raise them themselves in front of their classmates."

Family Planning has not had as much access to schools - especially over the course of the last five years.

"We are trying to change the limited contact we have had in the schools," Ashley German-Cooper said. "I think one of the changes in schools is that testing is much more emphasized. Speakers are not."

German-Cooper is Family Planning's education coordinator. She and Family Planning director Val Harding said teenagers are not aware of the programs the organization offers.

"Kids are not hearing about us in school," Harding said. "We are not part of the abstinence-only programs, so we have been left out to a certain extent."

Paulus and McKeague said they don't feel like they have enough time to devote to sexual health issues.

"I think it's frustrating to try and get everything in during the semester," McKeague said. "We have some really strong health educators in Knox County - in the schools and out in the public. I think we need more time to devote to the issues of sexual health."

Paulus said the nearly nine weeks she spends on sexual health come at a cost.

"We have 15 different areas mandated and 18 weeks to teach them in," Paulus said. "Another issue for us is that we don't have current videos. Health is still not a subject that is stressed like other subjects."

Despite the challenges, all four health teachers said they think high-school aged kids receive crucial information they need.

"I don't think we struggle with STDs and teen pregnancy because of a lack of information," Paulus said. "I think there's the issue of what role parents take. People have to talk to their kids in real terms. Kids aren't stupid, but they do lack experience and judgment. They do think they know everything."

McKeague said all children should know the expectations parents have for them.

"Youth are naive and live in the moment," she said. "It's something we try to talk about in class. It's hard to ask a kid to step back from a moment and think about the future.

"That's where parents come in. They have to constantly enforce and re-enforce their values and expectations at home."

"I believe that many kids do care and are making wise choices," Coffman said.

Chlamydia ...

- Is a common sexually transmitted disease caused by the bacterium, chlamydia trachomatis, which can damage a woman's reproductive organs. Even though symptoms of chlamydia are usually mild or absent, serious complications that cause irreversible damage, including infertility, can occur "silently" before a woman ever recognizes a problem. Chlamydia also can cause discharge from the penis of an infected male. - Is the most frequently reported bacterial sexually transmitted disease in the United States. In 2004, 929,462 chlamydial infections were reported to the Centers for Disease Control from 50 states and the District of Columbia. Under-reporting is substantial because most people with chlamydia are not aware of their infections and do not seek testing. Also, testing is not often done if patients are treated for their symptoms. An estimated 2.8 million Americans are infected with chlamydia each year. Women are frequently re-infected if their sex partners are not treated.

Source: National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Gonorrhea ...

- Is caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae, a bacterium that can grow and multiply easily in the warm, moist areas of the reproductive tract, including the cervix, uterus and fallopian tubes in women, and in the urethra in women and men. The bacterium can also grow in the mouth, throat, eyes and anus.

- Is a very common infectious disease. The CDC estimates more than 700,000 persons in the U.S. get new gonorrheal infections each year. Only about half of these infections are reported to the CDC. In 2004, 330,132 cases of gonorrhea were reported to CDC. In the period from 1975 to 1997, the national gonorrhea rate declined, following the implementation of the national gonorrhea control program in the mid-1970s. After a small increase in 1998, the gonorrhea rate has decreased slightly since 1999. In 2004, the rate of reported gonorrheal infections was 113.5 per 100,000 persons.

Source: National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

STD Infections in Knox County

2007 (through September)

- Chlamydia 174

- Gonorrhea 49

2006

- Chlamydia 211

(96 cases in 10-19 age group accounted for 45 percent.)

- Gonorrhea 99

(38 cases in 10-19 age group accounted for 38 percent.)

2005

- Chlamydia 206