Report brings Utah sex education and STD prevention into the spotlight

By Lindsay Anderson

March 18, 2008 | Utah has always been considered a relatively safe place to live, especially Logan, which has been declared for two of the last three years to be the safest metropolitan place in America. However, there is a monster lurking in the shadows, and it is not the Bogeyman. Rates of sexually transmitted diseases, gonorrhea and chlamydia in particular, are rising at alarming rates in Utah.

Heather May, a writer for The Salt Lake Tribune, recently said in her article, Silence no match for increasing STD rate, that "Utah's rate of gonorrhea cases jumped faster than anywhere else from 2000 to 2005."

More than 6,400 Utahns were infected with gonorrhea or chlamydia last year.

Gonorrhea affects an estimated 700,000 people in the United States every year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said gonorrhea is spread through contact with the penis, vagina, mouth or anus, and that ejaculation does not have to occur for the disease to be transmitted. Untreated gonorrhea can cause a variety of serious health problems, including pelvic inflammatory disease, which can lead to infertility in women.

The problem with gonorrhea is that sometimes the symptoms are so mild people do not realize they have contracted the disease, which holds serious implications for pregnant women who can pass the infection onto their babies during delivery. This can cause blindness, joint infections, or a possibly fatal blood infection in the baby.

With such serious implications, public health officials are trying to find a solution to the rising STD rate and target the source of the problem, but where does the blame lie?

May said health care providers in particular are trying to place the blame on Utah's abstinence-based sexual education curriculum taught in high schools, claiming that they lack the proper instruction to help adolescents know how to have safe sex.

Annabel Sheinberg, education director for the Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, said, "The Utah Health Education Core Curriculum is more comprehensive than the public perceives it to be. The majority of school districts have an abstinence-based policy that allows high school teachers to explain contraception 'per package instructions', and transmission and prevention of Sexually Transmitted Infections including HIV."

The misperception "is that Utah state law on Human Sexuality Education prevents teachers from advocating for sex outside of marriage, advocating homosexuality, explaining the intricacies of intercourse and advocacy or encouragement of the use of contraception," Sheinberg said. "The Utah Health Core Curriculum has good standards and teachers ought to be supported in covering those standards. Currently we have a disconnect between what is allowed by Utah Law and Policy and what most people perceive is allowed. There needs to be additional work done to address this gap so that teachers have the support they need to teach students."

Abby Palmer, a USU student studying to be a public health educator, said, "A major concern that I have as a health educator is that parents will not allow their students to learn about sexual education."

"I really feel that sexuality education is important, and everyone should have the opportunity to be able to receive information that will make them a healthy individual throughout there life."

Palmer said she feels that parents aren't supportive of the things that are taught, because "many students parents never had sexuality education," which makes it hard for teachers to feel comfortable in their classrooms when instructing students on sexual health matters.

"I really feel like the system in Utah is adequate enough," Palmer said, but suggested that in order for the sex educational system to gain more parental support, "parents should also be taught the same things that their students are being taught so they can see that we aren't giving too much information, but enough to keep them safe."

Still, some disagree that the abstinence-based sex education program is comprehensive enough.KUTV covered a story on Feb. 18 about junior high kids lobbying at the Capitol on President's Day for better sex education. The report quoted one teen saying, "They're just telling us not to have sex. They're not telling us how to have protected sex," while another teen said, "Teachers can only say not to do it, but we need to be told about safe sex, so we'll know what we're doing."

KUTV also featured a statement from Representative Ron Bigelow telling the kids that parents, instead of teachers, should tell kids about safe sex.

Scott Bradley, a member of Utah Eagle Forum, who shares Bigelow's opinion, said it is far better for families to take care of educating their children on sex.

"Leave it within the family, it shouldn't be in public schools," Bradley said. "I think that there were far fewer problems such as teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, before the government began to interfere in sex education."

Susan Ashley, a retired health educator, said sex education left to parents who took the time to properly educate their kids "would be great if they did that, but they don't do that.

"Sometimes it is easier for a stranger to talk to kids about sex than their own parents," Ashley said. "As long as they just give them the information, and they don't make judgments about how they should use it, or not use it, knowledge is safety. It's when you don't know about stuff that you can be fooled by people and get in a lot of trouble, so I think it is very important."

Ashley said she doesn't feel there are enough resources available in Utah that provide information on STD's, because "people think its better if no one knows about it, I think they think that way it won't happen or something. It's a health issue, not a moral issue, so they should make it available."

Whatever position Utahns take on the sex education debate, most agree that something has to be done about the rising STD rate, and congress is rapidly looking for solutions.

One solution is House Bill 15 (HB15), which would allocate $350,000 to a media campaign on STD risks, testing and treatment.

This bill has found great support in both the House and Senate, and is passing with ease thanks to support from the Utah Eagle Forum.

To get actively involved in fighting rising STD rates, contact your local representative, and express your support for HB15, and other bills like it. Fred R. Hunsaker is the representative for district four, which includes Logan, and he can be reached at fhunsaker@utah.gov.

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