Proper education is a powerful weapon to attack the wave of unwanted pregnancies.

Education is a right that can’t be denied to any citizen; however, actual educational procedures must be closely monitored by a supervisor to assure of a high quality education. In Mexico, education is guaranteed by the third article of the Constitution, which is: “The education imparted by the Federal State shall be designed to develop harmoniously all the faculties of the human being and shall foster in him at the same time a love of country and a consciousness of international solidarity, in independence and justice.” In spite of this, a lot of children that live in unknown regions don’t receive proper instruction, causing incorrect interpretation of such delicate themes as it is sexuality.
Years ago, sexuality was an issue that couldn’t be spoke about in school, or even in the house. It was said to be inappropriate and impolite to talk about it, and as a consequence, a lot of young people received a wrong idea of what sexuality is and how delicately this theme must me explained to avoid future mistakes.
For a lot of years, Mexican government has tried to construct appropriate study guides to teach young people the extensive list of alternatives that exist to prevent pregnancies, STD’s and many other consequences that the lack of proper and correct education of this matter could bring.
They not only construct school plans, but they also organize campaigns that teach adolescents the importance of understanding their sexuality, getting a correct sexual identity and always protecting themselves and their partner. Some examples of these campaigns could be the free contraceptives that can be acquired in any Social Health establishment.
Fortunately, government actually managed to have very complete study plans that give a proper guide to the respective manager of the class and that tells him/her how to teach young students a correct sexual education to avoid the wave of unwanted pregnancies and the every time more common STD’s.
If these measures continue, a radical change will be observed in our society. This is because, as we all know, education is the base of any civilized organization.

Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Constitution_of_1917#Article_3

Adoption as an alternative of abortion

Adoption as an alternative of abortion

Finding yourself pregnant may crate two very different emotions: if it was planed having a baby creates a feeling of full joy. It could be one of the most amazing feelings a human will ever have. If the pregnancy was not planned you may be frightened for you and your baby´s future. This kind of frustration may lead to decision that will affect you for the rest of your life.

If you are unmarried and find yourself pregnant you are going to have to face one of the most important decisions of your life. Fortunately they are many options available.

The first option is abortion; you may think is the easier and quicker solution to get rid of you “problem” , but this solution may have a lot of repercussions. Abortion may cause you serious permanent damages in psychological and psychological ways. Abortion may create a feeling of regret that will never fade away and will change the way you interact with others. This guilt may drive you insane. The effects on your physical health may be really serious especially if the abortion was executed in a hospital where the equipment is of poor quality. These effects may cause your death.

The second option is giving your baby for adoption. This method permits to save the baby´s life and to give a woman the possibility of conceiving a child the happiness of motherhood. In this era we have many adoption options, one of the most popular option in all the world is the adoption where woman can watch the child grow up by receiving pictures and visits with the baby, this type of adoption is call “open adoption”, this type permits the woman to make sure that their baby is in good hands and her sacrifice was worth it.

The table aged shows the difference between adoption and abortion.

adoption	Abortion
Your pregnancy ends with life	Ends with death
You can feel good and positive about the choice	You may feel guilt and shame about your choice
You will remember giving birth	You will remember taking a life
You will have plenty of time to plan you and your baby´s future.	Abortion is final ; you can´t go back on your decision.
You can hold, name, and love your baby.	You will never know or treasure you baby
You can have continued contact with your bay.	You will miss the opportunity to see your child develop

With this table people with this situation may compare and made a wise decision base on their values and needs. People around you may interfere on your decision, many people may think “A really caring mother would never give up her child and you don´t deserve to be a mother if you choose adoption.” - (Americanadoptions.com) but many people do not understand that women that use this alternative are acting unselfishly. They are placing their baby´s needs before their own needs. This decision is a really difficult sacrifice.

Adoption agencies may help women to deal with this hard and painful process.” A private agency founded on the belief that lives of children can be bettered through adoption, provides safe adoption services to children, birth parents and adoptive families by educating , supporting and coordinating necessary services for adoption throughout the united states” – (americanadoptions.com) this agency not only gives legal advice nut they also help with the dealing of regret.

Adoption may be a solution at any age. “Teen pregnancy is one of the most difficult experiences a young person might ever face when it interrupts school to other plans. It can create an emotional crisis resulting in feelings of shame and fear, and it may appear that you will crumble under pressures in your environments”. - (teenpregnancy.com). Even though teenagers have these feelings, they have to be analyzed well before making this decision. Deciding based only on an impulse is foolish because the decision may change the rest of your life. It is important to carefully check all the options possible and try to give you the opportunity to make the best informed decision possible.

Bibliography:

www.teenpregnancy.com

www.americanadoptions.com

Stephie Avila Perez

The Prevention of STDs in Teenagers and Young Adults

3er Post

Mass media makes programs to prevent the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases and human immunodeficiency virus, among adolescents and young adults.

Children are forced to grow up so fast that, teens think about sexual relations at a very early age. There have been cases, of girls as young as 12 and 13 that have been pregnant by boys of the same age or higher. At an early age people don’t think about consequences and they are very impressionable.

Media have shown young people that such acts (sex) are normal at a young age. Media, such as television, movies, magazines and internet, have influenced the acts of teenagers. As a result of the changes in adolescent behavior, STD rates have increased.

A sexually transmitted disease (STD), also known as sexually transmitted infection (STI) or venereal disease (VD), is an illness that has a significant probability of transmission between humans or animals by means of human sexual behavior, including vaginal intercourse, oral sex, and anal sex.

While in the past, these illnesses have mostly been referred to as STDs or VD, in recent years the term sexually transmitted infection (STI) has been preferred, as it has a broader range of meaning; a person may be infected, and may potentially infect others, without showing signs of disease. Some STIs can also be transmitted via the use of IV drug needles after its use by an infected person, as well as through childbirth or breastfeeding. Sexually transmitted infections have been well known for hundreds of years. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexually_transmitted_disease First Link)

Many groups are making new projects to teach teenagers how to take care of themselves and give them advice when they are going to have a sexual relationship. These associations give lectures to different schools, beginning in middle school, so that young people can be alert about STDs or HIV.

Many schools have classes about sexual health. In these classes students learn ways to prevent infections, for example: abstinence, condoms, and many other contraceptive methods.

These projects that are made to prevent STDs and HIV in young people are usually based on education, communication, and activities. These projects are made so teenagers can think before acting or before they think about having sex and so they can prevent a disease.

Years ago these projects were not seen in schools. That is why years ago there were a lot of pregnancies and infections; it is not saying that today these kinds of situations are not seen. It’s just that in this epoch, schools have more information and sexuality has been more appropriately presented to teenagers.

There are two kinds of media, the one that transmits information that can be considered trash, and the media that brings information that can be used to educate people. Mass media is helping society´s concerns about teen pregnancy and STDs all over the world.

Luis Ramos

4BB semester