SHORT
COMMUNICATION 373
Safe-Sex
Message Needed
By
Roger Behra
Teenagers in America’s culture face
many problems as they live their daily lives. The last thing teens need is a
new problem that can cause very serious harm to their well-being as a teen and will
continue to be part of their lives during a complete lifetime. The new problem
is a self-inflicted one: the return to unsafe-sex. Teens as young as 16 showed
a big decrease in the practice of safe-sex that were doing well until 2003 when
the decrease became a reality.
The sharp decline in the practice of
safe-sex by teens as young 16 is a bad omen for teens in general. In 2014
today, 4 of every 10 new HIV (AIDS) infections occur in people younger than 30.
Nearly 5 out of 10 teens are sexually active. Many of the 50% of the sexually
active teens are young as 16, and with the 10% decline in the practice of
safe-sex, it’s a bad situation for all teens who are sexually active. The
parents of teen children must be having very sleepless nights with many more to
come.
There are three groups of teens
involved in sexual misbehavior: Blacks, Whites; Hispanics. Blacks practice more
safe-sex (65%). Whites are next with 59.5%. The worst practicing group is
Hispanics with 58.4%. The progress in getting teens to use condoms has
completely stalled.
Parents have to grave the bull by the
horns and sit down with their children and spell it out for them. They have to
tell their children that any sexual behavior regardless of age is gravely
immoral outside of marriage. Parents have to then mention all the possible bad side
effects of immoral sex while the emphasis is placed on AIDS (HIV). Teens have
to realize that anyone can be infected with AIDS and that infection stays with
them for their lifetime. Teens have to know that 50, 000 Americans a year
become infected with AIDS through immoral sexual behavior. Many people become
infected with AIDS and are unaware of it. A new sense of urgency has to be
generated ASAP.
R.
B.
2-6-14