Transcript ADOLESCENT SEXUAL BEHAVIOUR

ADOLESCENT SEXUAL
BEHAVIOUR
A PRESENTATION BY
Dr Kathleen Allen-Ferdinand
“What I don’t know can’t hurt me!”
• No longer true
• What you don’t know can KILL you
• Technology has changed the way we think
and relate to one another
• Influence of peers has increased
• Influence of parents has decreased
What are some of the concerns of
young people?
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Experiencing low self esteem
Early sexual activity
Conflicting and incorrect information
Lack of direction & guidance
Poor facilities or opportunities to seek
counsel on sexual issues or to express
feelings, insecurities and needs.
SEX-why all the fuss?
The ultimate sales tool:
• Clothes
• Cars
• Drinks (especially alcohol)
• Food
• Nail polish/make-up
• Pharmaceutical drugs
These give very little useful
information-that is NOT their aim!
Role of health & family life education and in
fact the role as a parent, adult and health
care provider is to provide:
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Accurate information
Honest communication
Non-judgmental counsel
Respect and support
SEXUALITY-What is it?
NOT just SEX!
Includes:
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Our bodies & how they work
Whether we are a man or a woman
Our sexual preferences
Our value system, which includes views on life,
love and relationships with other human beings
How Do Our Bodies Work?
5 steps to a healthy body:
• Good nutrition (foods high in fibre, low in
fats and refined carbohydrates) +/Multivitamins
• Water
• Exercise
• Rest
• Appropriate screenings
MAN/WOMAN-Are we
different?
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YES! (Mars/Venus?)
Physical appearance
Hormonal production
Muscle mass:body fat ratio
Reproductive responsibilities
Socialization different
SEXUAL PREFERENCES
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Hetero-sexual
Homo-sexual
Bi-sexual
Masturbation
Paediophilia
• Necrophilia
• Bestiality
“normal”
“normal”/illegal in some countries
“normal”/illegal in some countries
“normal”/old wives tales
Unacceptable in most
countries/illegal/mentally ill?
Illegal/mentally ill?
Illegal/mentally ill?
VALUE SYSTEM
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Parents & grandparents
Religion/The Church
Culture/ Social structure
School/Educational levels
Youth groups/Peers
MEDIA
Role models
Does this discussion start at college?
Childhood:
• Using correct terms for body parts
• These are NOT “dirty” words
• Asking questions and giving age
appropriate answers
• Encourage conversation generally
especially about difficult topics e.g. sex &
drug use
TMI
Too Much Information?
• No such thing
• Knowing about sex will not make you start
or stop having sex
• The more accurate the information that you
have, the better you are able to handle the
pressures of growing up
Risks of early sexual activity
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Pregnancy
Sexually transmitted infections
Cancer of the cervix
Loss of self esteem
Reduction in the human potential
Rape, Molestation & the cycle of Violence
Teenage Pregnancy
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</= 19 years of age
Accounts for about 22% live births in
SKN
Does not take into account:
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Teenagers having sex & using contraception
Teenagers having sex and terminating the
pregnancies
Factors contributing to teenage
pregnancy
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Peer pressure to have sex
Loss of credibility of “Value system”
Poor parenting/monitoring
Lack of access to and knowledge of contraception
Poor life/negotiating skills
Invulnerability of adolescence (“it won’t happen to me”)
Delayed gratification not taught/learned
Recognition that teenagers have a marketable tool
Need for $
Social acceptance
Teenage Pregnancy-the teenager
Not ready/immature:
Physically: traumatic birth & complications
Emotionally: poor coping skills & complications
Loss of youth….resentment
Difficulty adjusting to adulthood
Financially: neglect/need other sources of
income…may not have the skills to
earn….?do what you can
Teenage Pregnancy: the family
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Embarrassment
Feeling of failure
Sadness at loss of potential of child
Adjustment to young adult in household
Extra baby-sitting duties
Something for ‘grandma’ to do and someone to
dote on who will look after ‘grandma’ in old age
• Extra $ to the household
Teenage Pregnancy-community
• Unfair burden on social services (“child
month march”/foster care/counseling
services)
• Justice department-child support
• Shifting of income ‘curve’ to the left
• Skills gap…social security burden
• Having to deal with anti-social behaviour
Teenage Pregnancy-the foetus
• May not get to develop into baby (TOP)
• May not be given best antenatal support
• May develop pre-natal complications
Teenage Pregnancy-Newborn
After the novelty wears off…..
• Regular positive stimulation may be
missing
• Passed from sitter to sitter
• Left alone
• Taken into town/music festival/the park
• Poorly skilled child caring for child
Avoiding the pitfalls-Options
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Abstinence
Masturbation
Condoms
Other forms of birth control
?One mutually monogamous partner
Birth control
Hormonal
• Depot injection
• Oral contraceptive pill
Non-hormonal
• Condom
• IUCD
• diaphragm
What does STI (or STD) mean?
Sexually Transmitted Infection (Disease)
There are nine common STIs. These are
caused by one of 4 organisms:
1. Bacteria
2. Viruses
3. Protozoa
4. Parasites
Chlamydia (“NSU”)
• One of the most common
• 80% of women and 50% men infected with chlamydia
have NO symptoms
• If symptoms appear, they do so within 1 – 4 weeks after
exposure
• Women: vaginal discharge +/-odor, spotting, abdominal
pain (=/-fever & nausea), burning sensation when
urinating.
• Men: testicular pain, burning sensation when urinating,
watery penile discharge, often present only in the morning
Chlamydia
Transmission
• Caused by direct contact of mucous membranes during
sexual activity and can result when body fluids are
exchanged
• Mothers can transmit to their babies during childbirth,
causing many of these babies to suffer from eye infections
and a potentially fatal form of pneumonia
• Having chlamydia does not make a person immune to
future infections. This is true for all bacterial infections
Chlamydia
Treatment
• Chlamydia is treated with antibiotic pills
• E.G. Zithromax, Doxycycline
• Essential to complete all the pills even if symptoms
disappear
• Sex should be avoided during treatment and until the
doctor says the disease is cured (after a follow-up
examination usually after 7 days of treatment)
VIRAL STIs
4 viral STIs: genital herpes, genital warts, hepatitis
and HIV
• Too small to be seen with ordinary microscope
• Cannot reproduce on their own, so they take over living cells to make
copies of themselves and these copies infect more cells.
• Antibiotics do NOT work against viruses, but there are some anti-viral
medications for some viruses and vaccinations for others
• Once infected with a virus it lives forever in the body, often without
symptoms
• If strong enough, the body’s immune system may be able to control
many viruses and it also makes special cells that prevent a person from
catching the same virus more than once.
Genital warts: (”condyloma”)
Symptoms:
• The period between getting infected and having symptoms
may very from 3 weeks to many years
• Warts appear on the genitals, sometimes internally where
they cannot be seen
• Can vary in size, colour and shape
• Sometimes itch or feel sore, but usually there are no
symptoms
Genital warts
Transmission:
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Caused by Human papilloma Virus
Transmitted through sexual contact
Highly contagious
Can be transmitted from mothers to babies during birth
Many different strains of this virus exists, so can develop
infection more than once
Genital warts
Treatment:
• Difficult to treat. Warts may return and must be treated
again
• Treated by cryotherapy to destroy cells where the virus
lives
• Other treatment methods are: surgery, ointments,
chemicals (e.g. podophyllin: toxic), electric heat
(electrocautery) or lasers.
• Untreated, the virus may lead to cancer of the cervix and
uterus in women, which is why annual cervical (Pap) tests
are encouraged in all women who have ever been sexually
active.
What causes cancer of the
cervix?
• Infection with HPV (Human Papilloma
Viruses)
• Passed from one person to another during
sex.
• Unprotected sex especially at a young age,
makes HPV infection more likely.
Who are at risk?
ALL WOMEN who:
• Began having sex at an early age
• Have had many sexual partners and whose
• Partners have had many sexual partners or
previously partnered women who had
cervical cancer
HAVE AN INCREASED RISK OF
DVELOPING CERVICAL CANCER!
Can Cervical Cancer be
prevented?
Most can be! There are two ways:
1. Prevent the pre-cancers from forming
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Delay age of onset of sexual intercourse
Limit number of partners
Avoid sex with people who have had
many other sexual partners
Can Cervical Cancer be
prevented?
2. Detect the pre-cancers before they become
cancer
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By having a Pap smear.
Treating any problems found, can stop the
cervical cancer before it develops fully.
What is the Pap smear & how is
it done?
• Simple, painless test to detect abnormal cells in
and around the cervix
• Done in a doctor’s office or health clinic
• The nurse or doctor takes a sample of cells from
the mouth of the womb.
• The cells are placed on a glass slide and sent to the
lab to be checked for abnormal cells.
Is the Pap smear reliable: Can
you trust the results?
• When taken properly and thoroughly
checked by the lab, it is very reliable.
Sometimes the sample taken is not enough, so
that it is hard to see early changes.
Sometimes inflammation due to other causes
may cover up early changes.
What is the best time to go for a
Pap smear?
Between 10-20 days after the first day of the
menstrual period
Suppose the Pap smear is not
normal!
Don’t panic! The nurse or doctor will advise on
what you need to do next.
• Inflammation: This can be treated & the smear
repeated in six months
• Abnormal pre-cancerous cells: may need to have
another test that looks more closely (colposcopy)
or may take a small piece of the tissue for the lab
to have a closer look (biopsy).
And if the biopsy is abnormal?
Depending on what exactly the biopsy shows,
the doctor may remove the abnormal cells
by
• freezing (cryotherapy)
• burning (laser) or
• may cut it away (excision biopsy).
What happens next?
• Regular examinations and follow-up Pap
smears to make sure that you do not have a
problem,
• Women who are at an increased risk of
developing cancer of the cervix should be
especially careful to follow their doctor’s
advise about check-ups.
Years from now….
HIV
AMANDA’S STORY
There is a season for everything
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A time to grow
A time to learn
A time to explore
A time to listen
A time to speak
A time to act
A time to work
A time to rest
Thank you