Nevermind that some STDs kill you.

That has been discussed and should be frightening enough.

But to say that the curable ones are like a fricking cold...???

news alert: STDs CAUSE INFERTILITY!!!!!!

news alert #2: Genital Warts (HPV) has a MAJOR correlation with later development of CERVICAL CANCER!

So go ahead and f*** how you want to, but remember that you are possibly ruining your life, or someone else's.

It is very disheartening to see so many people, particularly men, in this thread so willing to put themselves and their partners at risk for discomfort, disease and death.

I hope every woman who reads this thread pays very close attention to these thoughts and attitudes. If you know someone who thinks sex without a condom is fine, make her read this. There is no d*** in the world good enough to die over. Plus, so many more things are a-symptomatic in men but have grave consequences in women (infertility, cervical cancer) When women refuse to put themselves at risk, men will decide to wrap it up. As long as there is some foolish girl out there willing to sleep with him bareback, the fool will do it.

And for the intelligent men, even if she is willing, I hope your innate self interest is strong enough to make you protect yourself as well.

Magic Johnson- don't believe the hype. Just because the disease is suppressed does not mean he is going to live forever.

Flu shot- Uh, if they are giving it to you before you get sick that is a vaccine NOT a CURE (and you WORK in an infirmary??)

Herpes from kissing- that is no joke. Seen people who thought it was cute to run around kissing all the boys or kissing all the girls at spring break and came back with more than a hickey.

The truth is, you can get STD's even if you wear condoms. You can get certian things from oral sex (mostly herpes), and as Kimmie pointed out you can get herpes from kissing (although most people --80-90% of the population-- already have had a cold sore).

Now, does this mean that we shouldn' have sex? I sure hope not.
The fact is, many diseases are hard to recognize, test for and control. The best thing to do is to be resposible for yourself. Be tested regurarly, and tell your partner what those tests say. And if you do catch something, do the best you can to to cope. Catching an STD doesn't mean you did anything wrong. I just hope we realize how much pain STD's can cause and focus more attention to educating ourselves about them and researching preventative measures and treatments.

anyway, it looks like many of you need to get something real off the internet and do some research. (cure for AIDS? wow. If there was, every scientist on the planet would be trying to get their hands on that, and the corresponding Nobel Prize. Logic, my friends. It's so easy.)
-M

I hope all people (not just women) pay close attention to the different attitudes displayed in this thread.

The point is you are never safe. Well, I shouldn't say that because you could always get tested with yoru partner and be safe (if you both are truly faithful).

It just really surprises me that I have read probably one of the most ignorant views about this entire subject in this thread.

Whatever. I listen to Ol' Dirty Bastard and he says to hit 'em up raw.

-Rudey
--Besides, Rudey's manhood prevents germs from coming in and keeps little Rudeys from spreading.

Exactly.

Just goes to show...you never know what mode of thinking your significant other goes by. If you need to know...ask...

I know this whole discussion has made me think more deeply about things. It's so scary to think of all that could happen by one innocent encounter. And who the heck wants to admit to a new partner,"by the way I have ______!" It's just not happening! I guess in a perfect world we'd have some conscience and tell people...but not everyone is that forthright.

Reading the threads back and forth its kind of neat to watch what people think.

STD's can be a serious concern, although not if you don't catch one.

I know guys that have slept with upwards of 50 women bare back that never caught anything and guys that have had a mere handful of partners that have received the joys of bacterial/viral infections.

So let me lay out it for you in an easy format.

If you catch a fatal disease such as AIDS, and you begin to deteriorate unto death from it, you will curse the day your father first kissed your mother and wish you had never started having sex to begin with.

If you have plantiful sex with no disease you will just be a happy camper. And if you fall somewhere in between and catch somthing curable or controllable you will just be relieved.

Most people would much rather get Herpes than AIDS. But hey, its up to you. Or rather it isn't, its just luck of the draw.

All you can do is try and mitigate the risk and the best way to do that is to have the male wear a condom.

For those making the point that kissing can open you up to risk and use the example of being a kissing whore during spring break, well there is truth to that but very lttle chance of something going wrong.

And if you think about it you have as much chance at catching a kissing disease being a Frat Rat, a stage that most freshmen and sophomore sorority girls seem to go through.

So carry some condoms with you and have as much sex as you want.

Not experiencing life because of fear is certainly a self dstructive way to apporach your one time at the wheel.

As part of the Sex Ed calsses I teach, one entire presentation is on STI's. We actually start out by having some kids volunteer and they draw a few cards that we bring with us. Some draw one card and some draw up to 7, and every card has either an STI/pregnancy or a "free" on it. This simplifies what james stated, it's basicly luck of the draw. Sure there are ways to try to prevent STI's but they happen it's a reality of being sexually active. One thing we have the kids do is throught the 50 mins presentation we repeat together... "Sex is risky business!"

Amen!!!!

The joy of handj.....oh I mean handshakes. :p:o:D

I have seen displays likethis before. I thought the major flaw of it was that the percentages were skewed.

The program is designed to impress upon the people how deadly or fraught with consequences sex can be.

In order to do that it takes extreme consequences and makes them statistically likely.

So a real accurate game would have very few cards in an entire deck labeled with some misfortune. A percentage less than 10. But to make the point the percentage becomes much higher which cretes an erroneous perception of risk.

Part of the problem is that the people that originally design the programs and run the agencies sometimes have an agenda different than just safe sex.

some of them have a lot of the same types of people working for them that promote abstinence more for religious or social reasons and the "safe sex" movement fits their agenda rather well.

not only can you get herpes from oral, you can also get gonorrhea of the mouth/throat. very gross.

another little known fact is that a high percentage of women have HPV already. it can be contracted very easily. condoms can't prevent this. most women don't even know they have it.

most women don't know they have other stuff either cuz they don't present with symptoms. so basically it's a good idea to get tested for everything, especially those things you don't have symptoms for. just food for thought.

shelley j
sigma k

I do believe that the deck is accurate. But we do tell them that 1 out of 4 sexually active teeens contracts an STI. So we give them the facts. I would never try to scare a kid out of having sex. It's a decision that everyone needs to make for themselves. I'm just there to inform them that sex can be risky and let them know about pregnancy and STI's.

questions
 

Is each card supposed to represent a different sexual partner who could potentially pass a disease?

So then 3/4 of the "sexually active" kids in the class would end the game perfectly healthy, even with drawing 3,4,5,6,7 cards? And no one would have aids, to be statistically accurate, since 1 in SEVERAL hundred Americans or something is HIV positive, unless there are actually several hundred cards in the deck?

do you also educate on how to prevent/lower the risk of contracting a STI and how to prevent pregnancy if they do choose to be sexually active?

shelley j
sigma k