SHARE talks about sex--and consequences
by Kristen Power, Outpost contributor
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In recent months reports have flooded the news with perplexing statistics concerning American teenagers and sex. Some numbers are up, some are down and experts can't explain why.
In September 1998, the Centers for Disease Control reported that the percentage of teenagers 15 to 19 who have participated in sexual intercourse has dropped for the first time this decade. But at the same time, the rate of teenagers with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) is on the rise. At least 25 percent of sexually active teens contract an STD, CDC statistics show.
In Washoe County, public school officials have taken notice of such statistics. The Washoe County School District's SHARE (Sexuality, Health and Responsibility Education) program has put new emphasis on helping teens avoid STDs, said Denis Graham, interim curriculum coordinator for the district.
"I don't think we leave any stone unturned when it comes to educating our young people about sexually transmitted diseases," Graham said.
The program, started 10 years ago, teaches students about the full range of sexuality and health. Students in grades four through eight and in both the ninth and 12th grades are given information about sexual health and anatomy, pregnancy, contraception, sexually transmitted diseases, responsibility and abstinence
The program is vital in Washoe County, which outpaces the national average in the rate of certain STDs
While Washoe County doesn't keep statistics on the rate of STD infections among just teenagers, it does track STD cases for the general population. Steve Kutz, community and clinical health nursing supervisor for the Washoe County District Health Department, says the county is well above the national average for chlamydia infections and only just below the national average for syphilis and gonorrhea.
The SHARE program reaches about 98 percent of the district's students and begins educating students early. The first exposure to sex education is in the fourth grade. Weeklong classes, one hour each day, are continued on a yearly basis through the ninth grade. One final, three-hour sex education class occurs in 12th grade as a last opportunity to catch students on their way out of the school system.
The lessons in the SHARE program are progressive so that what is learned in the fourth grade is a stepping stone for what is learned in the fifth, and so on.
"The program is developmental," Graham says. "We start small and build."
What SHARE teaches (top)
In elementary school, students begin with anatomy and changes that their bodies will go through. In middle school, students can learn more about those things and also get the first formal introduction to STDs, pregnancy and contraception.
Classes in ninth grade teach more about STDs, including a video explaining symptoms, treatment and prevention. The ninth-grade class also emphasizes contraception, AIDS, pregnancy and sexual health. Twelfth-grade instruction reiterates lessons learned in prior years and allows students to get one more formal exposure to sex education.
Sex education in 10th and 11th grades is skipped. According to Centers for Disease Control statistics, this may prove dangerous when it comes to teenage sexual behavior.
The CDC's 1997 Youth Risk Behavior Survey reports a large jump in sexual activity for teens between ninth and 12th grades. In Nevada, 29 percent of ninth graders reported that they had participated in sexual intercourse. That number jumped to 66 percent of students in the 12th grade.
But Graham said the SHARE program can't expand.
"Ideally, in my view, (SHARE) should be offered in all four grades (at the high school level)," Graham said. "But because of limited resources, we are unable to do that, so choices had to be made."
Graham said the money the school district collects from property taxes and the state legislature isn't enough to provide for the additional teachers needed to institute a larger program.
But students who've gone through the program think the education they receive in SHARE is sufficient.
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Percentage of students who have ever had sexual intercourse, Nevada statistic. Illustration by Kristen Power |
Chad Wise*, an 18-year-old senior at Galena High School, said he learned a lot from the sex education he's received in school.
"I learned the most about sex from the (SHARE) teacher," Wise said.
He said he feels knowledgeable about STDs, HIV, AIDS, contraception and pregnancy and that proper education about STDs reduces the chance of getting one. Wise's only suggestion is that more emphasis be placed on discussions about incurable STDs like herpes and the human papilloma virus (HPV).
Although Wise said he has learned all about safe sex and responsibility in SHARE, he has different ideas about protection in real-life situations. Wise said he believes most of the students in his school are having sex and they're not worrying about STDs, even though SHARE classes teach that contraception isn't fool-proof and abstinence is the only sure-fire protection.
"They don't think they can get STDs when they're in high school because it's all the same kids (that everyone else is having sex with)," Wise said. If those teens do contract an STD, "they think that they can just get medicine to get rid of it because gonorrhea and chlamydia are the most talked about."
Galena senior Gillian Moss*, 17, agreed that most students think word of mouth will protect them.
"It's known in our school who has what," Moss said.
The thinking is that as long as others haven't had sex with those people or the people they've had sex with, the risk of contracting an STD is eliminated, she said.
But any person can have an STD without knowing it, said Planned Parenthood education program manager Wes Reid. The lack of symptoms in many STDs like chlamydia is a key reason for the increase in the number of infections each year, he said.
Moss didn't attend the full SHARE program because she transferred to Galena in the 10th grade, but she said her knowledge of sex education is still sufficient.
"I think what they lacked telling me in high school, I've learned for myself," she said.
Moss said teachers in the school programs seem to be paranoid about what they can and can't tell students, meaning access to pertinent information is denied. Discussions with friends and television shows like "Oprah" have filled in the gaps that school sex education classes have left, she said.
SHARE in the real world (top)
But even though students say they've learned enough from sex education courses and other sources, the number of reported cases of sexually transmitted diseases in their age group is still on the rise.
Although Graham said longer sessions of sex education would be repetitious, instructors see a problem getting students to use the information they learn in the SHARE classes. And officials are uncertain why teenagers don't use all of the information they receive, he said.
While he can't explain the contradictory statistics, Graham has insights into the problem.
"I suspect it has to do with one of the phenomenon that is a part of the outlook of many adolescents, and that is that they're invincible," Graham said.
Reid blamed the problem on another issue.
"It's hard to make the connection between someone coming into your classroom for an hour a day for a week out of the year to the day-to-day reality," Reid said.
Even if students do learn to protect themselves against most STDs, they are still susceptible, Reid said.
Other educational forums (top)
But others say school isn't the only place where sex education needs to be taught.
"I think schools can't be responsible for teaching our kids everything," Kutz said. "I think parents need to have some responsibility for teaching their children too."
The rate of parental approval for children to participate in school sex education, at least 98 percent, shows that parents are interested in having their children learn about the birds and the bees. But some may not know how much education their children receive; so they may not be able to determine whether their child knows enough.
"There is no perfect method of birth control. There is no perfect method of protection (against STDs)," Reid said. "Abstinence is fool-proof if you practice it well."
Many people choose not to practice abstinence, so programs are created to help those people make wiser decisions, he said.
Some school districts attempt to help students practice safer sex by passing out condoms at school. A recent Los Angeles Times article reported that in New York City schools' condom-availability programs have increased awareness about safe sex without increasing the incidence of sexual activity.
In the attempt to allow greater accessibility to birth control options, Planned Parenthood has changed its policy in the past year to allow women to obtain birth control without having a pelvic exam, often a barrier to women in obtaining birth control, Reid said.
But organization officials hope that if women become aware enough to use birth control, they will also become aware enough to have exams and get tested for STDs.
All the experts agree that parents and children alike need to use all the available information when discussing sex and STDs. Kutz recommends parents call the SHARE program to learn how to supplement the lessons in those classes. He also mentioned using the public library, the Internet and pamphlets and brochures to get the most information possible.
Reid agreed: "Hopefully, we are empowering our clients to be more proactive and informed."
He sees regular sexual health exams as a big step in the right direction.
"Anyone who is sexually active, even if they've been diligent about protecting themselves, should be getting clinical checkups regularly," Reid said.
Such check-ups should take place at least annually, if not more often, he said.
However, all the experts seemed to agree that prevention is the main goal. And parents and educators must work together to get that message across.
*Editor's note: The names of the teens quoted in this story have been changed at their request.
Posted Nov. 12, 1998
Copyright 1998 Nevada Oupost