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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.
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Guilford County
is ranked 13th 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
1. 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 good chance of becoming
pregnant.
2. 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.
3. 's. He's more worried about getting his partner pregnant and has
not even thought about the chance that she may have an 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.
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Sexually
Transmitted Diseases (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.
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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.
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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
Guys program. Talk to your school counselor or e-mail us for more
information on how to participate in Wise Guys.
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