ABSTINENCE ONLY

EDUCATION AND STD RATES

By: Katie Reid

THE STD RATES IN UTAH

A few month ago news came out of skyrocketing sexually transmitted
diseases in Utah.
The rates have gone up over 700% in women alone and 400% all
together.
We know Utah is facing a truly frightening epidemic but the question is
why, and what can we do to fix it?

CHLAMYDIA AND GONORRHEA

Two STDs that are currently a major threat to Utah are chlamydia and gonorrhea.
Chlamydia can permanently damage a womans reproductive system, so much so
that she may not be able to have children later on. This STD can be transmitted
through vaginal, anal, or oral sex. Most people dont have symptoms and if they do,
they may not appear for weeks making this disease dangerous and easy to spread.
(CDC, chlamydia)
Gonorrhea is very common especially young adults between the ages of 15-24. It is
transmitted the same as chlamydia and can be given to an infant during childbirth.
Men are more likely to have symptoms such as burning sensation while urinating.
Women are less likely to have symptoms, when they do have symptoms they are
often mistaken for other problems such as bladder infection. (CDC, gonorrhea)
Chlamydia and gonorrhea are only two diseases that are currently affecting young
adults in this STD epidemic.

CONNECTION BETWEEN
EDUCATION AND STDS?
Is there a connection between the abstinence only education young adults in Utah
receive and the STD rates amongst young people? I talked to my own sexual
education teacher Robert Ferneau and he stated he believes there is. Ferneau has
been teaching sex ed for twenty years at the same high school in Utah so I find his
opinion to be rather credible.
Adolescents are not learning the correct information to keep their bodies safe, if they
do in fact decide to have sex. Ferneau also told me that teenagers often think
pregnancy is the worst that can happen if they have sex. If a girl uses birth control
pills, depo shots, or a birth control patch she is not in fact protected from STDs.
Parents may often believe they are helping their child by getting them prescribed
birth control pills, but their child is still at risk for STDs.
Comprehensive sex education supports abstinence, but also gives the students
information they need to protect themselves from STDs, if they do choose to have
sex.

PROTECTION AGAINST STDS

Why are so many people contracting STDs? What are they doing wrong?
The first and obvious way to prevent contracting an STD is staying abstinent. This
includes not partaking in oral sex. However many young people become sexually active
before marriage so how do they keep themselves safe?
According to WebMD using a condom every time one has sex and keeping the condom
on for the entire sex act is an option to keep your body safe. It is not 100% effective,
but it is better than using no protection at all. Other options include monogamous
relationships and getting tested often. http://www.webmd.com/sexrelationships/understanding-stds-prevention
As someone who took sexual education courses in the state of Utah I can personally say
I was not taught any of this information. It is prohibited for teachers in Utah to teach
about contraception so I only learned this, when I did my own research. Suppose I
hadnt done the research I would not know any of this valuable information. Many
sexually active adolescents are not doing the research and are having sex uneducated.

WHAT YOUTH NEED TO BE

TAUGHT
The students in Utah need to be taught how to protect themselves. Schools try to use STDs as a way
to scare adolescents away from sex. They use gruesome pictures and facts about STDs in hopes the
students will now choose abstinence.
The fact is students still have sex. The program does not scare youth away from sex, it just keeps
them from knowing how to protect themselves.
Youth need to be taught what condoms are, how to use them, and why. They need to be taught that
birth control pills, shots, or patches will prevent contracting an STD. They need to if they choose to
have sex that having a monogamous relationship will lower their risk.
Students need to be informed on the epidemic in Utah happening right now. They need to know the
rates are high so they stay more careful. They need to know where to get tested and why they
should. They need to be taught what to do if they contract an STD and how to discuss it with their
parents.
There is so much information students are missing out on regarding STDs. The information they give
in abstinence only classes is not a sufficient amount to help youth make wiser choices and get the
sexually transmitted disease rates down in Utah. https://www.plannedparenthood.org/teens/going-tothe-doctor/stds

A LETTER TO THE UTAH STATE

BOARD OF EDUCATION
Dear Utah State Board of Education,
My name is Katie Reid. I am twenty years old and was raised in Layton Utah from when I was born until the age of eighteen. I attended
school at East Layton Elementary School, Central Davis Jr. High, and Layton High School. I have taken multiple classes regarding sex
during my time in the Davis School District. I took sex ed. in my eight grade health class, teen living in ninth grade, intro. to health
sciences in tenth grade, child development, and medical anatomy in eleventh grade. All the named classes discussed sex or had a
specific section dedicated to sexual education. I am writing you a letter because I feel as though my fellow classmates and I were
robbed of useful information.
As you may now Utah is currently facing a sexually transmitted disease epidemic. It is my belief that this epidemic comes from the
lack of useful education. I know that students are not learning about how to protect themselves from STDs because I experienced
these classes. If you read the actual permission slip it is stated that the teacher cannot discuss any contraception even if a student
personally asks the teacher a question. Students are having sex. It is incredibly ignorant to believe they are not. If you take the time to
look at the statistics the majority of those affected by sexually transmitted diseases are between the ages of 15 and 24. If students are
really delaying when they are having sex how are the majority of STD cases in Utah high school students.
The students in Utah need to be taught how to protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases. If this epidemic is to be
diminished in anyway, people need to be educated. People can die if they do not know they have STDs and unfortunately for women,
many of these diseases dont show symptoms specifically in women. Should we let this go on, or should we teach students how to
protect themselves? By not teaching young men and women how to keep themselves from contracting an STD we are contributing to
the epidemic and putting more young people at risk every day. To believe that abstinence only education is actually convincing
students away from sex by scaring them is incredibly ignorant.
I interviewed my old health teacher years after being taught sex ed. by him. He believes that the education doesnt work. If the
teachers dont believe what they are teaching doesnt work then why would you? This is a man who works with these kids everyday
face to face. He only wishes he could teach students how to protect themselves and that is wrong. You too should be concerned for the
future of youth in Utah. Abstinence only education is not working and Utah has the STD rates to prove it. Please consider bringing
comprehensive sexual education into Utah. Please give time to thinking about protecting the students in the state that choose to have

WORKS CITED
"Chlamydia - CDC Fact Sheet."Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16 Dec. 2014.
Web. 22 Nov. 2015
Catalfamo, Kelly. "Gonorrhea Infection Rate up More than 700 Percent for
Utah Women, Almost 300 Percent for Men."The Salt Lake Tribune. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2015