via the
Washington Post:
D.C. school officials are planning to offer tests for sexually transmitted diseases to all high school students in the coming school year, expanding a pilot program that uncovered a significant number of infected children....
STDs are of particular concern to AIDS activists because they increase the risk of contracting HIV. The testing program was hailed in a report being released Wednesday by the D.C. Appleseed Center for Law and Justice as a positive step in the city's effort to arrest its growing AIDS rate, which is the highest in the nation and is considered an epidemic. Half of the city's cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea are among adolescents.
The program, which has been discussed by the D.C. school board, requires students to attend a lecture about STDs, but they can opt out of providing a urine sample for the test. All 50 states and the District allow minors older than 12 to be screened for STDs without parental consent.
Chad Ferguson, deputy chief of youth engagement for the D.C. schools, said the tests are administered by taking groups of 15 to 20 students at a time to the restroom area. The students are given paper bags containing urine collection cups and enter bathroom stalls. Once they get in the stalls, they can choose whether or not to provide urine samples. All the students return the paper bags, so other students do not necessarily know who did or did not provide a sample. Students provide a password and then call in a week later to get their result and treatment, if necessary.
I was the girl kicking and screaming at mandatory random drug tests in high school sports (I resent the implication that I clearly must be taking at least six intravenous drugs until I prove otherwise - all you're gonna find is coffee leftovers, guys), but this sounds like a pretty good way to get kids tested and treated if they need to. I also like the anonymity of it - if they decide not to take the test, no big deal. And the price is right.
I also did not know that minors older than 12 can be screened without consent. 12 is reaaaaaally young...
Have you ever been tested for STDs? If this were offered at your school, would you partake?
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Comments (26)
12 year-old kids at this century and at this kind of place, they're all the same as 16-18 year-old kids.
And shoot, my ex-bf lives in DC.No & I have no need to.
Hah, I like the idea. :D I don't need one though, but if someone accused me of having one, I'd do it. ;D
i think it's a good idea. you don't have to if you don't want to, but its the perfect way to get tested without having to make a special effort (which teens hate). it also is so convenient... if i was still in high school and sexually active i don't see why i wouldn't do it. all high schools should do that.
I like the idea. Kids are having sex younger and younger these days and not all of them are smart about it. After the fact a lot of kids don't want to get tested because the cost and embarrassment. With this they'll not only get a free exam but it would be done anonymously too. Anything to encourage and help keep people (especially kids) safe and healthy is good in my book.
i've never been screened for STDs, but if this was offered in my school, yeah i would get tested.
Its a really great idea
I think it's a good idea. Can you picture how many 12 years are having sex and not using protection or having sex with different partners?
No, I've never been tested for STDs. I don't need to. I'm a virgin. :) A virgin to everything. Lol.
xo
Oh man that would be perfect for the high school I went to! Some many people had STDs that I knew, and they all seemed to be friends haha. But I think I would if it was offered through my school
Sounds like a good idea.
Yes, twice.
i guess this is necessary, but it's a sad sign of the times.
I wouldn't need it, but yeah, that's good for people who think they might have it. It's weird though, thinking about 13 year-olds having sex (Ireally didn't understand it until I was.... a junior in high schoolo. my school was private and strict. ha!)
Maaaaaaaan...the kids at my middle school & high school were so fast & nasty I was afraid to use the bathrooms at school.
Wow, this is intriguing, great idea though !
It's simple and confidential, If I had that in high school I probably would've used it .. not that I needed! But if I did, hah .
props D.C !!
Um, good. Because I live just outside of DC, and it is no secret that 11 and 12 year olds are diagnosed with sexually transmitted HIV/AIDS among other diseases. Now how about we try teaching kids what condoms are now with a decent sex-ed reform?
I think all athletes should be screened anyway. When you mix sweat and blood and sometimes saliva in with innocent kids... time to play safe. Imagine getting herpes from a wrestling match... eff that.
@Agent@lovelyish - I live just outside of DC as well, and I totally agree. Abstinence only teaching is dangerous territory and flat out wreckless.
well i mean at least if its a requirement, they can at least know earlier? you know.
It's a good idea. If it's not forced.
I've never been tested. I don't have sex so, no point.
they had this at my highschool.
We had a nurse and nurse practitioner for this stuff too. It's where all the students got their birth control~~
i wish they had this at my hs... things would have been easier! i've gone with friends to take tests so they wouldn't be alone. what an experience, hhah
i've been tested before, and i've even lined up for the free HIV/AIDS testing that my college would have during sexual awareness week in order to increase knowledge of HIV/AIDS among college and university students. i've never gotten any bad news (nor have i ever thought i would get any) but i think it's something that was a good thing for me to do. it's important to me to be able to "man up" to those kinds of situations, and i also find that it's really gratifying if one of my friends is concerned about whether or not to get tested and i can console him/her and tell them it's no big deal, and share my experience if it's something they want to know about (i've been in that situation a few times).
I don't think I'd need to. I wasn't sexually active in high school, and any partners I've had since have been guys I've been in a relationship with...and none of them were cheaters, so I think I'm pretty safe
. But that's me. I wouldn't balk at the idea of offering tests to kids. I think it's good for them to be able to get tested...just in case. Then they can seek medical attention as needed, because I'm pretty sure most of those kids would just let it go and ignore it. And that never leads to good things.
-Katie
i've never had to test for an STI, but my school offers that. Well, not my school, because idk, but they have their own clinic in the basement open to anybody between the ages of 13 and 21. You don't have to go to the school, and you don't even have to be a resident of the city. And it's open until July something, and opens again in August. =]
and if i ever have any trouble with STI's or anything that'll probably be the first place I go haha.
They did this every year at my old high school before I became home schooled. I never took the test because I'm not having sex so I know I don't have anything. But people I knew often did.
I think that's a great idea. I would take it if it were offered --not that I think I have any STDs, but if it's free, then why not double check? Especially since one of my very irrational fears is of somehow contracting an STD via a non-sexual route, haha.