The Greatest Generation

The Journal Star ran an article the other day pointing out the dangers STDs pose to the sexually active among us. The statistics are pretty dreary.

• More than half of all people will have an STD at some point in their lifetime.
• Estimates show as many as one in four Americans has genital herpes.
• Each year, almost 3 million new cases of chlamydia are diagnosed, many in adolescents and young adults.

The article did point out that "The only sure way to avoid STDs is to abstain from any sexual contact or be in a long-term, mutually monogamous relationship with a partner who has been tested and is known to not have an STD." Thurman Hoskins Jr, of the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department, contradicted this point, however, stating that "If you're having sex, you're at risk."

Really? I know a lot of people who are having sex that aren't at risk. They're called married people. I know a lot of money, energy, and controversy have been spent debating what is known as "Abstinence Only" sex ed. While I agree with the content, I think the label is a bit misleading. If you're trying to prevent the spread of STDs, abstinence is one way to go, but so is monogamy. If a person has sex with only one person, and that person only has sex with them (as in marriage), viola! No risk of STDs!

In fact, consider this. You want to rid the world of STDs forever? There is a way, but it doesn't come in pill form. If we could somehow produce a single generation of 100% monogamous people, then STDs would die out with the generation preceding our puritanical prudes. That's it. Of course, this would take an incredible amount of self-control and restraint. But, it would work.

I guess the thing that bothers me more than anything about articles like this is the hopeless tone they take. The foundational premise is that kids are going to be kids, and it's no use telling anyone not to have sex. Balderdash. We spend millions on TV ads telling kids not to smoke. We hire celebrities to tell them not to drink, start forest fires, or ride in a car without a seat-belt. Why can't we tell them to not have sex with anyone but their spouse?

Alas, I suppose that would be us forcing our beliefs on them, which is the only *sin* we are allowed to condemn these days.