Protect Yourself By Being Sexually Aware

By Melvin L. Magadia

In this day and age when the curiosity of the youth is at a high, sexual awareness should be imparted. Recent figures from the Center for Disease Control revealed that young people aged 15 to 24 years old accounted for almost half of all STD cases. This places a greater burden on parents and healthcare providers to educate the young about sexual health and the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases.

April is celebrated as National STD Awareness and Prevention Month. Now more than ever, the call for STD prevention is more resounding with around 19 million people diagnosed with sexually transmitted diseases half of them less than 25 years old. Parents and other adults have a big role in raising STD awareness among the young. Here are the different agencies that have a role in spreading awareness and what they can do:

Schools

• The school administrator can set a specific day or week for STD awareness. Throughout the week, they can place posters and promotional awareness ribbons. For STD, the colors are orange, green, blue, purple & yellow.

• Invite a resource speaker to talk about sexually transmitted diseases. During the symposium, you can distribute educational materials about STDs to the students to help increase their awareness.

Local Health Agencies

• Conduct an STD awareness campaign in your locality. As you go along with the campaign, you can pin promotional buttons on your shirts or bags. You can also distribute literature such as pamphlets or brochures. Put them on a promotional tote bag (See samples) with the message “Protect Yourself, Be Aware.” This way, you are also promoting STD awareness.

• Promote the importance of undergoing STD testing. You can bring along doctors, nurses, and other health care workers to conduct a free screening on those who volunteered to have themselves tested.

Parents

• Talk to your kids about choosing the right partner. Sex education starts from the home. Properly guide your kids to the right path. To do this, you need to be properly educated yourself. You can list down information on promotional spiral notebooks so that you know the facts.

• You need to have an open mind when discussing these matters with your kids. Make the conversation as light and free flowing as possible. You can do this while drinking coffee over a promotional ceramic mug.

Raising awareness about sexually transmitted diseases is everyone’s campaign. Together we can all do our share in lowering the statistics and living in an STD-free environment.

Image Attribution: http://home.moravian.edu/students/f/sttaf01/portfolio/css/pg7/index.html

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