GET THE FACTS!

We hear a lot of things growing up that we never know for sure are true or not.  Take a look at some of the truths out there in the real world.

North Carolina is ranked 15th in the nation for new syphilis cases. Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease that can cause infertility, blindness, heart failure, and brain damage if left untreated.  It can also increase one's risk of contracting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Everyone is not having sex, though it may appear that way at times.  Sometimes a guy will lie about having had sex, thinking that his peers will respect him.  The fact is that on average, only about 50% of teens in the United States are having sex. 

It can cost over $20,000 to raise a child during the first year of that child's life.  That's only for the first year.  It will cost even more as the child gets older.  The fact is that it is very expensive to have a baby.  More importantly, it also takes a lot of time, patience, and love.

Any girl that is going through puberty can get pregnant before she has her first period.  If she has unprotected sex with a male, his sperm cells can survive up to 10 days inside her body.  They have sex one day, and four days later that first egg is released from one of her ovaries.  His sperm cells are still alive and kicking, and they fertilize her egg.  She never has her first period, and  

                         now she is pregnant with his child.

The withdrawal method is not reliable and is highly risky. This method is usually attempted when no type of   contraception is being used by either partner.  A male that is not using a condom tries to pull his penis out of his partner's vagina before he ejaculates.  His reasoning is that if he pulls out before ejaculating into her vagina, then she cannot get pregnant.  His reasoning is wrong.  There are three risks to using the withdrawal method.  

• He does not realize that pre-ejaculate fluid, which contains sperm cells, is released from his body before he ejaculates.  This fluid looks like water and flushes out any urine left in his     penis.  It exits the penis and winds up in her vagina.  Because of the sperm cells contained in pre-ejaculate fluid, she has a chance of becoming pregnant.

• A man really does not have control over when he ejaculates.  It's an involuntary response that his body automatically performs without his permission.  It's quite common for a man to ejaculate inside of his partner's vagina before he is able to pull out.

• He's more worried about getting his partner pregnant and has not even thought about the chance that she may have a STI or that he may have one.  If either one does have one, there's a great chance that the other person will become infected too.

Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI's) are not just passed by having vaginal intercourse.  Take genital warts for example.  It's one of the fastest spreading STIs among sexually active teenagers.  Genital warts can be passed by sexual skin-to-skin contact, as well as by having sex.  They are most commonly found around the genitals and anus.  Females can have them inside their vaginas.  If a girl had genital warts inside her vagina, she may not realize she had them for a while since they are so small at first.  If a guy were to touch her vagina with his hand, his hand may come into contact with the wart or warts, and he could catch the virus as well.  There is no cure for Genital warts, and condoms are not adequate protection against them. Abstinence is more than just "not having sex."  Oral sex (mouth to genitals) carries a risk of STIs, and so does anal sex (from behind), which can also have a risk for pregnancy (if semen runs from the anus to the vagina). Hand to genital contact can also be a risk for certain STIs.

Condoms are not 100% effective at preventing pregnancy or an STI. They are better than nothing, though. If used correctly, they significantly reduce the chance of his partner getting pregnant; but, there are certain STIs (those transmitted by skin to skin contact) that they are less effective than others at preventing.

To learn more about the facts of sexuality, sign up for the Wise Guysâ program.  Talk to your school counselor or e-mail us for more information on how to participate in Wise Guys. 

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