Teen Sex: The Silent Epidemic That's Killing Our Kids

Sweeping the world, this silent epidemic is largely ignored by most Western governments—except for misguided programs that often make this devastating problem even worse. Most parents have little idea how bad this epidemic is, much less how to fight it—yet solid biblical solutions exist.

by John Miller

The SARS outbreak makes daily headlines. Governments and the international medical community have mobilized to keep this disease from further spreading around the globe and causing an even greater epidemic.

But a silent epidemic more lethal and widespread is lurking closer to home—at your very doorstep. This epidemic spreads to another 8,000 American teenagers, and thousands more around the world, every day.

To put it in perspective, this epidemic infects as many American teens daily as the total number of recognized SARS cases reported in the first four months since that disease was first recognized in February of this year.

You would think that a problem of this magnitude would shout from the headlines each day, mobilizing the medical community and U.S. government to declare war on it. But no. Most of the population remains unaware of its magnitude, the victims maintain their silence, and government agencies and institutions dealing with the problem keep barking up the wrong tree. Sadly, those who are most likely to experience the ravages of this epidemic are among those most ignorant of its growing threat.

Sexual freedom's terrible cost

The truth of the matter is damning: The Western world, and the United States in particular, has flaunted its so-called "sexual freedom" for decades. The results are disastrous, but as a nation we have not yet found the courage to admit just how wrong we were.

If you think your kids are not at risk, think again. A recent book by Meg Meeker, M.D., doctor of adolescent medicine, makes a compelling case based on solid medical research and firsthand clinical experience. Our teens are at risk, she says, and without substantive action casualties will continue to mount. Consider these facts from her 2002 book Epidemic: How Teen Sex Is Killing Our Kids:

Nearly one in four sexually active teens has at least one sexually transmitted disease (p. 13).
One in 5 children over 12 tests positive for herpes type 2 (p. 13).
A British study found that early half of girls become infected with a sexually transmitted disease during their first sexual
Herpes has skyrocketed 500 percent
For most sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), especially viruses spread from skin-to-skin contact, condoms offer little or no protection (pp. 104-105).
One in five teens believe oral sex is "safe sex" (p. 144).
In June 2002 a 13-year-old sixth-grade girl who made good grades and led the cheerleading squad was strangled to death by a married man—one of many sexual partners she had met on the Internet (p. 163).

Read the full article at www.gnmagazine.org/issues/gn47/teensex.htm

Related Information on UCG Sites:

Sidebar: How Mass Media Sells Sex
Table of Contents that includes "Teen Sex: The Silent Epidemic That's Killing Our Kids"
Other Articles by John Miller

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_The Media's Alternative Gospel

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