“Myths and Realities” about STDs/HIV Infection .pdf >>

What Students Want to Know

Questions on AIDS
How old do you have to be to get AIDS?
Does birth control protect from HIV?
I thought that HIV/AIDS is air born and transmitted by sex but there are cases that come from unexplained source. What’s the new information of those unexplained sources?
If one partner has AIDS, will it be definite that the other will receive AIDS from sex?
How is HIV 100% stopped by condoms and the like.
Can you get AIDS with oral sex?
Can you get AIDSs from anal sex?

Questions on Condoms and “Safe Sex”
What types of contraception work and don’t work?
When you have sex and the condom breaks, are you going to get pregnant?
Is it important to use a condom on a 13 or 14 year old girl?
Are condoms 98% effective?
How well do condoms protect someone from STDs?
Is oral sex risky sex?
Is fingering safe – STDs?

What Parents Can Say
Why doesn’t the Catholic Church support the “safe sex” message?
#1 Share the wisdom behind the teachings. (see Parents’ Answers, “God & Sex”)
#2 Refute safe sex message.

• Sexuality as gift.
  
  
• Reflection of God as lover and creator
  
  
• Using the gift of sexuality as God intends to make a gift of self to one’s spouse that is permanent and life-giving.
  
  
• Understanding and appreciation of fertility

How conception occurs? Ask your teen...

• How long does the egg last? 12-24 hours
  
  
• How long can sperm survive and fertilize the egg? 3-5 days
  
  
• Can have intercourse on Saturday and get pregnant of Wednesday.
  
  
• Ask number of sperm in a teaspoon – sperm are the smallest human cells – 300-500 million.
  
  
• Ask number of sperm to make each one of us – one – Think God is pro-life? Think that he created our bodies to be able to make babies?
  
  
• How fast can sperm enter a woman’s uterus after intercourse – 90 seconds. No form of washing out sperm can be effective.
  
  
• Explain Pre-Ejaculate Fluid/Cum – designed by God to have intercourse be more comfortable. Every erect penis prepares for intercourse by releasing pre-ejaculate fluid which contains sperm and can also contain STDs/HIV infection.
  
  
• Any direct body contact with an erect penis can potentially result in pregnancy or STDs/HIV infection.

How the gift of fertility can be lost.

• “Safe Sex” isn’t safe (see Teaching Tools, “The Full Picture”)
  
  
• Explain the differences in statistics - “Statistics are like bikinis, what they reveal is interesting but what they cover up is vital.”
  
  
• Pregnancy vs. STDs/HIV prevention
  
  
• Theoretical vs. User Effectiveness rates for birth control methods
  
  
• Age specific failure rates 15-19 yr. old vs. 15-44 year old statistics

• Ask what failure rate is.
  
  
• Ask if failure rate is for pregnancy, STDs/HIV infection or both.
  
  
• Show that failure rates only include the times that a pregnancy occurred but that a condom failure at any time of the cycle can cause a STDs/HIV infection.
  Infections are NOT included in failure rates.

• Ask, “What is the most popular method of pregnancy protection in the U.S.?”
  Sterilization - 35.3% (tubal ligation - 24.8% and vasectomy - 10.5%)
  Oral Contraceptives - 27.7%
  Condoms - 11.3%
  
  
• Ask how many pregnancies in the United States are unplanned - almost 60%
  
  
• Ask how many women who had an abortion were using a method of birth control at the time that they got pregnant - 50%
  
  
• Ask why these statistics are saying about birth control methods. If the pill and condom were so effective, why are so many couples choosing such a permanent, expensive, invasive method?????
  
  
• Review birth control methods and how they can fail. State you are not recommending or promoting any method but want to help teen understand the church’s teachings, health concerns and potential causes of failure for each method.

Review the Man’s & Woman’s Rates of Infection from One Act of Intercourse With An Infected Partner (use Teaching Tools, Man’ & Woman’s Rate…)
Using the blank form of STDs/HIV Risk – Let teen guess the percentages.

• Ask why there is a difference in the male-female statistics.

– Man is exposed only at the time of contact with the woman.
– Note that uncircumcised males have a higher rate of infection because of the ability for germs to linger under the foreskin.
– Infected sperm have 3-5 days to find an entry in the woman’s body and cause infection.

Mary Lee O’Connell, CRNP - 8/04