This is no shocker: Today’s youth are having sex; 1 in 4 teens gets a sexually transmitted disease (STD) each year.

This is no shocker either: The Center for Disease Control (CDC) states that “half of all sexually active young people in the United States will get a sexually transmitted disease (STD) by age 25—and most won’t know it!” (CDC)

There are 20 million STDs occurring each year in the United States. Half are among the youth. (CDC) More than 20 sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) have been identified. They are passed from person-to-person during vaginal, anal or oral sex. These diseases cause illness and if left untreated, even death.

Dr. Jonathan Mermin, Director of the CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and Tuberculosis Prevention calls this situation an epidemic. So many people are carriers of an STD, but because they have no symptoms, they simply pass the disease to whomever they have sex with. “You can’t tell if someone has an STD by looking at them.”

Almost all STDs spread through vaginal sex can be spread through oral and anal sex as well. (CDC)

Some of the STDs have no cure--HPV, AIDS/HIV, Genital Herpes. It is important to understand that HPV can be passed from skin cell to skin cell, unlike other STDs.

How can STDs be prevented?

Over and over again, the Center for Disease Control states that the only way to avoid STDs is abstinence—don’t have sex. Can the youth truthfully abstain? “Yes, young people can control themselves.” states Willow Sanders, Director of Student Services at Protect the Heart, a branch of Care Net of the Treasure Coast.

Many of the youth already do practice self-control. It is a matter of discipline and commitment. The mindset of abstinence until marriage is growing in the United States. The majority of these young people have been influenced by their parents—who have voiced the necessity of waiting. What a parent says, matters, and demonstrates care for his or her child, whether the teen responds positively or not. Likewise, parents must remember that their own actions speak as loudly as their words.

When should parents begin the “abstinence is worth it” conversation with their youth?

Willow Sanders relates that peer pressure to act out sexually begins in the middle school years. Experimenting starts then, and the sexual world is open to their eyes through sexting and snapchat videos. Access to the internet and curiosity expose tweens and teens to porn and sodomy at a new level mankind has never seen before. By high school, students are often behaving irresponsibly, even becoming careless. “Guard rails,” Sanders says, “are still up though—home, parents, grandparents, etc.. Upon entering college and adulthood, the guard rails come down. Without a true commitment, the pressure of a sexually-charged culture will win."

The brain of a youth is not fully developed and mature until around age 25. Thinking about sex can become confusing.

Willow Sanders states that any youth who has had sex must be STD tested. “Many of the youth are carriers of STDs, but show no signs of disease; sometimes STDs mask themselves, lying dormant for years.”

Friends with benefits aren’t so beneficial after all. Neither is casual sex casual.

Sanders goes on, “Many college-aged youth do not get tested, for fear of their parents finding out and because of social stigma.” Sanders adds, “Psychological studies show that sex without commitment can lead to depression and becoming a dropout. The 2009 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey illuminates “a negative association between sexual risk behaviors and academic achievement.” Willow Sanders continues, “Sex is more than just physical body parts connecting together. There are also mental, emotional, social and spiritual components.” The two become one flesh, sharing their most intimate self with another person.

Protect the Heart (PTH) explains a safe route around the chaotic fallout of sex without marriage to both parents and youth. The organization asserts that youth must be proactive, developing healthy boundaries against temptation. Protect the Heart exists as a community resource, providing abstinence and sexual risk avoidance education to schools and the public. They also give direction for counseling to youth with pornography addictions.

Protect the Heart administers free and confidential STD testing for chlamydia, gonorrhea and HIV to both minors and adults at Care Net of the Treasure Coast, Florida locations (Fort Pierce and Stuart).

Willow Sanders is a certified Sexual Risk Avoidance counselor through ASCEND, formerly the National Abstinence Education Association in Washington D.C. Ms. Sanders also sits on the association’s national advisory board. She has been an employee of Care Net of the Treasure Coast since 2004.

Care Net of the Treasure Coast is an affiliate of Care Net National located in Virginia. There are over 1100 Care Net affiliates nationwide. The national organization “supports one of the largest networks of pregnancy centers in North America and runs the nation’s only real-time call center providing pregnancy decision coaching.” Care Net centers also provide free pregnancy tests, options counseling, information on abortion procedures and risks, STD/STI testing, limited ultrasound services, maternity/baby supplies, and job and housing assistance. Contact Care Net of the Treasure Coast at (772) 871-2211.

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Approximately nine children in 1,000 has been either abused or neglected in the United States. In 2013, the number of victims was estimated at 679,000 children.

“1,250 children were reported to have died from abuse or neglect. More than 27% of victims were younger than 3 years.” (Administration for Children and Families)

“More than 91% of all victims were abused or neglected by one or both of their parents.” (ACF)

The child has no choice. He or she was born into that family. “They were the parents I was given,” states a former foster child, now an adult.

Childhelp reports that there are 3 million reports of child abuse yearly, involving “more than 6 million children.”

In the United States there is help for children. Each year 3 million children are “subject to an investigated report and 6.3 million children are referred to state child protective services.” (Childhelp.org)

Childhelp.org states that this affliction within our society is a hidden epidemic or a war against our children.

ChildWelfare.gov states that physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and neglect are recognized by all 50 states.

Child abuse and neglect cause negative effects in a child’s day-to-day living and during the remainder of his or her life, such as: developmental disabilities, socializing problems, poor school performance, depression and suicide attempts, substance abuse, teen pregnancy, and adult criminality. (ChildWelfare.gov)

When children are living in unstable families, they are often removed by a state’s Department for Children and Families (DCF) for their own well-being. Though for their benefit, children do not like the separation and this traumatizes them. Yet, their removal is necessary. The separation prevents further abuse, neglect, and abandonment, and will even prevent their deaths.

Approximately four to seven children die daily due to their bad home lives, according to Childhelp.org.

After the child has been removed, he or she is placed in a protective environment, most often a foster home. Additionally, the child is assigned a Guardian ad Litem to assist him or her throughout the fostering process until a resolution occurs.

A Guardian ad Litem is a person appointed by the court to act as a friend for a child; he or she will also investigate matters regarding the child’s well-being (talk to his teacher, request school records, recommend tutoring, request medical evaluations, etc..)

In 1975, the Guardian ad Litem program went into action in Florida. Volunteers were recruited and trained. 40 years later, in 2015, there are 9,973 certified case volunteers in the state. Though a significant number, there is still a shortage. In St. Lucie County alone, 100 more volunteers are still needed--in the State of Florida, about 14,000 children reside in foster care. (AdoptUSKids)

Guardian ad Litem is still a volunteer program. Those who give their time and gas do so because they care about children, and their outcome.

Floyd McPhee was Guardian Ad Litem of the Year in 2012. A full-time employee of the State of Florida Transportation Department, he has given volunteer service for the needs of foster children for the last five years. He enjoys seeing the positive change in the children. “I love them like they’re my own blood,” Floyd adds. He checks on his children at least every two weeks. ‘Are they safe?’ ‘Do they have special needs that are being met?’ Floyd asks himself. “Every child needs emotional nurture for healthy brain development. They need love, attention, to feel wanted, and when possible, have time with their biological parents,” Mr. McPhee relates.

Floyd McPhee has supervised parent visits, written reports for the court about his observations, and when necessary, has spoken for the child in the courtroom. His joy is seeing a child reunited with their own biological family or witnessing their legal adoption.

As the hidden epidemic of child abuse in all its forms, neglect and abandonment continues, it is important to remember Floyd McPhee’s words, “There are children who need your help; they are lonely and looking for love; they need to know that they’re wanted.”

The Guardian ad Litem is in a supportive role — one that nurtures and provides hope to the child. “One thing I’ve learned,” Mr. McPhee adds, “never give up on anyone, especially a child. They can change and turn around in even a short time.”

Floyd McPhee is the father of five and grandfather of seven. He is also one of 10 children born to his parents in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. When Floyd was 10 years old, the McPhee family immigrated to the United States. Mr. McPhee grew up in Fort Pierce, Florida, graduating from Fort Pierce Central High School. He knows the city, the people, and many of the children. Floyd McPhee is also an author; he has written the first installment of a romantic fiction series--Just Friends, which takes place in his native Bahamas.

Floyd McPhee is certified by the State of Florida as a Guardian ad Litem and has spent 30 hours in training, in addition to continuing education each year. For each child he represents, he estimates that he spends seven to eight hours a month as the eyes and ears on the ground for the Department of Children and Families.

It is people like Floyd McPhee who take the time to change a life, which breaks the cycle of abuse. Each and every child is an important part of the United States. These children are a part of the fabric of American culture; their future is also our future. Floyd McPhee is “For the Child.” As Americans, we must all be “For the Child.”

HAVE A HERO TIP? Send your Hometown Hero tip to Kelly Jadon: kfjadon@gmail.com

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