Safe sex is a complex and sometimes controversial subject. Many sexually transmitted diseases exist today, and, since you can never be entirely sure that your chosen partner is free of a sexually transmitted disease, knowing how to protect yourself is extremely important.

The most common way to practice safe sex as a male is by using a condom. Vaginal rings are available for women which serve the same idea as condoms: latex or another material sheathes the penis and prevent the direct contact of skin. When using condoms or rings, it is important to know how to properly place them upon the genitals; if you do not, you risk exposure.

For oral sex, dental dam products are available. They are small latex squares that, when placed over the vaginal area, prevents the mouth from touching the skin or body fluids. Plastic wrap will suffice if a dental dam is unavailable, but the material is thinner, and the risk of breakage is higher. For men, a condom may be used.

Asking your partner about their sexual history is a critical part of prevention. If, by knowing their past, you could be at risk, you should not have sexual contact with them. Multiple sex partners and sexual contact with strangers, as well as needle sharing, increase the danger of exposure.

Of all the ways to practice safe sex, the best way to avoid a sexually transmitted disease is, of course, abstinence, or avoiding sexual contact altogether. Practicing abstinence is the only way you can be sure to prevent yourself from catching a disease.

Although there are many sexually transmitted diseases, and the risks of catching them are high, protecting yourself through practicing safe sex will help to make sure you have a healthy future.

For more than twenty years, scientists have tried to determine exactly how the AIDS epidemic started, and how it spread throughout the world. There has been a continual effort to track this disease from its origin and to detail how it spread throughout the world. The first recognized cases of AIDS occurred in the U.S. during the early 1980’s. As a number of gay men across the U.S. began to develop a rare form of cancer as well as various infections which were resistant to conventional treatment, doctors began to realize that these men were most likely suffering from a common syndrome. Shortly afterward, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) was discovered. In the early stages of AIDS research, many people were reluctant to believe that HIV caused AIDS. Rather than seeing AIDS as a disease caused by a virus, which therefore then made everyone susceptible to it, a great many doctors and researchers initially chose to believe that this was a disease which only affected gay men, and was a result of their lifestyle. Because of the stigma associated with this disease, the government did not initially respond as they would to a new disease. It was not until the actor Rock Hudson died of AIDS in 1985 that the disease began to be mentioned in the media. In 1990, Ryan White, who had contracted AIDS as the result of a blood transfusion, died at the age of 18 and the following year, NBA player Magic Johnson publicly announced he was HIV positive. These two events had a massive impact on public awareness. By the year 2007, research awareness and prevention programs were in place in nearly every developed country in the world. Now, in the new millennium, there is hope that one day this disease can be cured. 

A common concern among parents of teenage children is whether or not their teen is engaging in sexual activity. If unaware of the current statistics, it’s easy for parental opinion to fall in one of two areas: either every teen out there is having sex and they have to protect their child somehow, or they believe none of them are and think they don’t need to discuss sexuality or worry about such a possibility. The reality lies somewhere between these two extremes, as the in-depth report gathered by the Guttmacher Institute in 2006 indicates.
Approximately half of teens are still virgins when they turn 20. On the other hand, that means half of them aren’t. Most teens have sex for the first time between 15 and 19 years of age. The fear of teens having sex in middle school, while not unfounded, is somewhat uncommon. Only 13% of teens engage in sex prior to the age of 15. This is in contrast to the mid-1990′s, where almost 20% of teens had sex younger than 15.
There is not a significant difference in the number of teens who have had sex between the genders. Boys are as likely as girls to have had sex before age 20. The majority of teens (74% of females and 82% of males) used contraceptives the first time they had sex, and at most recent sexual activity, a majority (83% of teen females and 91% of teen males) were still using contraceptives. This is a significant increase from the early 1990′s.
While 750,000 women aged 15-19 become pregnant each year in current statistics, this is a drastic decline (41%) compared to the peak of teen pregnancy in 1990.
Parents should take some solace in knowing that the teen sexuality crisis is improving, not getting worse.

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