YOUTH
Friday, April 4, 2008
The News Standard - B11
They just don’t scare ‘em like they used to
The term “sex” means mitted diseases in an effort something different to to- to scare adolescents away day’s teens that it did to from sexual activity — previous generaobviously doesn’t tions. “Sex” means work with teens. I Time To think it’s way past intercourse, to the Grow Up time to change the majority of us. It seems that oral sex education methsex and such things od, and change the don’t appear as evil ever-increasing rate as intercourse in of kids who are getsome of our minds. ting infected with We’re only taught socially communiabstinence in cable diseases. schools. We never Kids are afraid of hear about methcontracting diseasFelicia ods of protection Thompson es, but they aren’t such as condoms, afraid of having contraceptives and sex. blood testing. The fear This catch-22 is the reamethod — showing gro- son why nearly one-fourth tesque slides that display of American teens — acthe effects of genital herpes cording to a recent article and other sexually trans- on Yahoo! News — has
some form of a STD. The American Social Health Association reports three million Americans contract the bacterial STD Chlamydia every year. Of those three million, 40 percent occur in kids between 15 and 19 years old. A press release from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, stated that the syphilis rate has increased for the seventh consecutive year in the U.S. Since we are being taught that there is only one correct plan when it comes to sex, how are we supposed to know how to accurately protect ourselves? Abstinence doesn’t teach us how to not have sex; it
only hides from us the correct, safe way to have sex. If we were being taught methods of sexual safety beyond just abstinence, perhaps we would see the number of sexually diseased teens slow down or even decrease. Abstinence preaches “no sex before marriage.” This belief would work for heterosexual, Christian teens, but what about gay or les-
bian teens who can’t legally marry? What should their attitude toward sex be? There’s absolutely nothing wrong with abstaining from sexual activity if that’s your choice, but sex is going to happen. I believe it will be much more beneficial to teach kids how to maintain their health if, and when, they choose to become sexually active. Sex is a part of life, as is
“Abstinence doesn’t teach us how to not have sex; it only hides from us the correct, safe way to have sex.”
death and birth. It’s only natural to feel a desire for sexual exploration, especially as teenagers, since we are going through such a hormonal flood. Not teaching kids how to prevent disease and unplanned parenthood may do more harm than good. By teaching about prevention methods, you aren’t introducing kids to something new. We have “those parts” for a reason, and we are eventually going to figure out how to use them. Does it not make better sense to equip us with the knowledge to utilize them safely, rather than let us run blindly through the process?
FBLA sends several members to state competition Future Business Leaders of America competitors advance past regionals By Chelsey Garris chelsey@thenewsstandard.com Meade County High School students recently competed in the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) Regional Competition and will now compete at the state level. On March 19, MCHS students traveled to Western Kentucky University to compete in FBLA regional competitions in various divisions. Eighteen of the 36 participating students were able to advance to the state competition, which will be held May 6-8 at the Executive Inn West in Louisville. The MCHS FBLA currently has 133 members. Students sign up to com-
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pete in November. During FBLA club meetings, students take part in team building activities, discuss who will compete in what division at the regional competition, and prepare for their competition through March. Paula Fowler and Janette Schmidt are club advisors. Both attended the regional competition and will also attend the state competition. “A lot of the students’ projects are done on their own because we don’t have a lot of time during meetings,” Fowler said. “So the students work very hard on their own.” Students that will be competing at state are: Ashley Stull, Danielle Da-
vis, Chuck Naser, John Paul Huffines, Jennifer Hail, Charles Fackler, Daphne Fisher, Kayla Higbee, Kyle Fackler, Hannah Allen, Clay Mills, Sarah Carney, Rebecca Mitchner, Ryan Barr, Matthew Fackler, Alexa Pipes, Michelle Eigenheer, Paige Hobbs, Stephanie Eddington and Valerie Hobbs. During the regionals, several MCHS students placed in their division. Ashley Stull, Danielle Davis, and Chuck Naser received first place in Management Decision Making; John Paul Huffines received first place in Technology Concepts; Jennifer Hail received first place in Computer Applications; Charles Fackler received second place in Economics; Daphne Fisher received second place in Business Communications; Kayla Higbee received second place in Introduction
to Business; Kyle Fackler received second place in Cyber Security; Clay Mills, Sarah Carney, Rebecca Mitchner, Ryan Barr and Matthew Fackler received second place in Parliamentary Procedure; Alexa Pipes and Michelle Eigenheer received third place in Business Ethics; Paige Hobbs received third place in Introduction to Parliamentary Procedure. Stephanie Eddington will be competing at state for Job Description Manual and Danielle Davis will compete for Business Plan. Hannah Allen received second place in a Community Service Project. Allen is the chair of the Meade Area Retarded Center (MARC) committee and was required to detail all that goes into planning the FBLA annual MARC Christmas party. Allen’s project was nearly ten pag-
es long. “FBLA Regional’s is a great competition,” Allen said. “You get to connect with FBLA members in your region and it’s a really good way to meet new people.” Clay Mills was elected the 2008-2009 FBLA Region Two President. Mills will be making sure that not only is his own chapter of FBLA running smoothly, but all of the chapters in his region as well. “The president this year told me that the winner of the election was my opponent,” Mills said. “But then he announced it was me and I was very shocked and excited.” Valerie Hobbs is advancing to state for Who’s Who in FBLA, which is an honor that shows great leadership in the competition, and in each individual chapter of the FBLA.
Meade County High School was also awarded the Largest Chapter Membership award for having the most members in the entire region. Many of the events were written tests that students were required to take. Chuck Naser — a senior at MCHS and a three-year member of FBLA — took a group test which can include anything about business, and the management that goes along with it. “Region was fun and I can’t wait for state,” Naser said. Faculty advisors were very pleased with the students’ performance. “Mrs. Schmidt and I were so proud of the students and their accomplishments,” Fowler said. “We can’t wait to see how they do at state and it will be something they will never forget.”