FOUR years is all it has taken for the number of teenagers with
sexually-transmitted infections (STIs) to more than double.
The latest figures show 678 of those aged between 10 and 19 sought
help for STIs last year, against 256 in 2001.
These teens are also a growing proportion of all STI patients: 3.8
per cent in 2001 and 6.1 per cent last year.
More of them are also becoming infected with the Aids
virus.
In the 20 years between 1985 and 2004, 18 teens were diagnosed as
HIV positive - about one new case every year.
Last year alone, four boys aged between 17 and 19 tested positive
for HIV. They all had sex with men. The eight teens who tested HIV
positive in the last three years were all gay.
Counsellors who work with teens say they are now sexually active at
a younger age. They are also having unprotected sex - and with
multiple partners at that.
On the flip side, they are also more aware about getting tested for
disease.
Ms Theresa Soon, the assistant manager of the Department of
Sexually-Transmitted Infections Control (DSC) clinic, told The
Straits Times that the teens who show up at the clinic have had an
average of four sex partners.
She added that the bulk of them just 'live for the present', and
some view abortion lightly. And more of these teens first get to
know each other online and then meet specifically for sex.
Polytechnic student Michelle (not her real name), 19, told The
Straits Times she lost her virginity at 15 as 'everybody was doing
it'.
She said: 'I took sex too lightly. It's like it is a must to have
sex in a relationship.'
She had an abortion at 17 and is pregnant again, but is keeping the
baby.
Teenagers seem split between those who have sex and those who
abstain.
Nur Faatihah Mohd Dahri, 16, said: 'Some of my friends say sex is
no big deal, but I cover my ears and try to remember what my
parents taught me.'
She said her parents had explained why she should not have sex at a
tender age, and told her about STIs.
Alarmed by the rising STI tide among teens, the Association of
Women for Action and Research (Aware) will pilot a sex education
programme for teens next month which aims to plug gaps in the
schools' sex education programme.
Teens who took part in an Aware focus group discussion said sex
education in school emphasised morality over practical tips on how
to protect themselves, said Ms Khoo Hoon Eng, the adviser to
Aware's Women and HIV subcommittee.
The focus group discussion also brought to light the fact that many
teens do not use protection, and are more worried about pregnancy
than STIs.
Aware's programme will therefore focus on giving them the skills to
resist peer pressure to have sex, and how to protect themselves if
they do engage in it.
A group of 10 young gay people have also set up an online platform
to provide support for others like them and to spread the word on
abstinence and safe sex.
The 19-year-old editor of People Like You and Me (Plume), who
declined to be named, said gay teens often feel under pressure to
conform to what they perceive as the norms in the mostly-adult gay
community.
Plume's editor said: 'Many gay male teens feel the pressure to have
sex when they don't want to, because they have no alternative
viewpoint other than what is already out there. And that's where
Plume steps in to say: 'Hey look, just because you're gay doesn't
mean you have to conform.''
Straits Times, Sep 23
