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Showing posts with label aids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label aids. Show all posts

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Teenage Pregnancy

Teenage Pregnancy

          Hello, this is IGL and this post is about teenage pregnancy. The world is full of teenage girls who have become moms unexpectedly. In the past decade, the rate of teenage pregnancy has risen drastically. Sometimes girls get pregnant on purpose, or they accidentally forget about protection. A baby comes with great responsibility and sometimes teenage parents don’t have that ability. A child might mess up grades, friendships, family and romantic relationships, careers, and future college chances. Adulthood is the perfect time for a child, because it comes with wisdom and responsibility. Not all teenage parents are irresponsible, but most do not know how to care for a baby. It is best for the adults to teach their children the best way.
          Girls have been involved in cases where they forget to put on a condom, or maybe are drunk or high. In other words, they don’t know what they’re doing. There are girls in this world that think they can be fitting parents for a baby at a young age, still in high school and not yet with a stable job. The ones that think they can do this and are confident and responsible enough don’t really know the difficulties of being a parent. Yes, I am thinking about the girls on Maury who claim they have the sufficient sources for a child. But when they do get one, they can’t take care of it.
          However, keep in mind: Never judge a teenage mother or father, no matter their race, gender, nationality, appearance, or age. You do not know the complete story of their lives. Even though in the two above paragraphs, it seems like teenage moms are not responsible, you do not know what really happened. True, there are girls that are naïve or strive to get a baby, but that may not be the case for everything. A teenager can get pregnant by many causes, some even gruesome, such as sexual abuse. Rid of all stereotypes that teenage moms are ‘sluts’ and ‘have sex every day’, because that may not be the case for every girl.
       The Candie’s Foundation is an organization that aims to educate teenagers about the dangers of becoming a teenage parent. They motivate students to think before they act and use protection. They send campaigns across schools to teach girls about the responsibility about having a child. But they do this uniquely. They use celebrities to expose parenthood and advocate against it to catch teenagers’ attention.
          A lot of girls are pressured into having sex. When this happens, usually a baby is accidentally formed. It could be forced, or they decide it in consolation for their partner. Sometimes, the boyfriend is peer pressured into having sex with his girlfriend, so both ways can happen. A girl or guy might not be ready to take such a huge step in a relationship, and irresponsibility comes with it. Sometimes, people peer pressure themselves because everyone else is doing it. However, not everyone else is doing it. They might boast about it, but in truth, they might not be sexually active. In fact, STDs can spread when people are not careful, like the HIV, which causes the deadly disease of AIDS.
          Preventing pregnancy is the best way to, well, prevent it. Abstinence is the number one choice, but everyone knows that doesn’t always work. Condoms are a common way for protection. It acts like a balloon, and wraps around the genitals of either partner. It prevents the sperm into reaching the womb, where fertilization takes place. Birth control pills are the second choice, for girls. The female takes a pill every day to delay the ovulation. If the female forgets to take it for one day, she can get pregnant a few days later.
          When a teenager gets pregnant, she panics. Fortunately, for U.S. citizens, the government formed a law called the Safe Haven Law. This allows babies to be legally dropped off at an adoption center, hospital, or other “drop-off area”. This only applies to parents that haven’t abused or neglected their child before. The parent and child are given the same bracelets, so if the mother wants to reclaim him or her, it’s possible. The Safe Haven Law can be a less stressing choice than to just leave the baby on the street, so some do take this choice. Just remember to think wisely.
          Finally, there is one way to deal with a baby. This choice is disputed whether it is moral or immoral, based on common sense, science, or religion. It is abortion. Abortion is when the mother, while pregnant, kills the baby. Some grabs it by the skull and pulls it out, or they take a pill. Abortion is a serious choice to make. For some girls, it might cause dysfunctions in having children later on in life.
          There are many ways to help. You could:
  1. Tell someone about it
  2. Donate to organizations such as Candie’s Foundation or the Brignoni Foundation (not mentioned here)
  3. Take responsibility if you are a teenager pregnant. Choose to keep the baby, give it away as the Safe Haven Law, or abort it.
  4. Do not give in to peer pressure
  5. Adopt a child
  6. Use protection at all times
  7. Do not judge others
Be careful on future teen pregnancies!

Idea+Gift=Love IGL

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Stop HIV/AIDS!


Stop HIV/AIDS!

          Hello, this is IGL and this post is about AIDS. AIDS starts with the HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). The virus attacks your immune system. People believe that it started when people in Western Africa hunted infected monkeys for food. Later, it spread on. The virus attacks your T cell, a type of white blood cell. It makes more copies of the HIV. When it attacks too much of your T cells, you get AIDS (Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome).

          Technically, AIDS doesn’t kill you. It’s not a disease, but a syndrome. A syndrome is when a group of symptoms occur together that affects your body. It just damages your immune system. So it is involved in killing you. What does kill you is some small disease that you don’t really care about after twenty years, like influenza.

          The HIV is present in your body fluids, including blood and sexual fluids. Saliva, vomit, poop, pee, and tears contain HIV, but isn’t strong enough to affect someone else, except when containing blood. You could receive the HIV by sexual contact, drug injection, pregnancy, exposure during occupation, and body transplant. By sexual contact, unprotected intercourse could lead to HIV. During drug injection, people insert needles into their body with drugs. Sharing needles with someone who has HIV could lead to AIDS. An infected mother could give birth to an infected baby. Also, blood and a fluid called amniotic fluid come in contact with the baby during pregnancy. Breast milk could also contain the HIV. If you are a doctor, when caring for babies, the amniotic fluid around the baby could also infect you by transmitting into your body. Infection through body transplant is very rare because doctors scan or diagnose the body part or blood to check for HIV. But doctors probably wouldn’t do that.

          If you are HIV+, in the beginning, there aren’t any symptoms. But about 2-4 weeks later, you could get ARS, or the “worst fever in the world”, but not everyone gets ARS. Other symptoms include fatigue, rashes, muscle pains, night sweats, fever, chills, ulcers in the mouth, sore throat, and swollen lymph nodes.

          There are no cures for HIV/AIDS. But treatments include therapy and staying extra healthy.

          Most people with AIDS are in southern Africa. Approximately thirty-three million people are living with AIDS. Since 1981, twenty-five million people have died. One out of five people are infected without knowing.

          If you are affected with HIV or not, it is best to stay safe during sexual intercourse, avoiding drug injection, eating clean and healthy foods, being careful and staying sanitary. Remember, if you have HIV, any small virus could kill you, even a cold. So when doing everything, wash your hands and when you eat, clean it extra well.

          There are many awareness days for AIDS, but the worldwide one is World AIDS Day on December First. The ribbon color for World AIDS Day is red. You could take action on World AIDS Day. You could:

1.     Wear the red ribbon

2.    Spread awareness by holding up signs

3.    Helping the infected

Help spread awareness and caution for HIV/AIDS!

Idea+Gift=Love IGL

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Help the Republic of Congo!


Help the Republic of Congo!

          Hello, this is IGL and this post is about the Republic of Congo. The Republic of Congo is the country next to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Republic of Congo is a bit wealthier than the Democratic, but it is still a poor country.
          The population is about four million people. But unfortunately, because of AIDS, the lifespan has decreased, birth mortality increased, and the death rate is taking over.
          The GDP per capita, or money made for each person, is about $4,700. That may seem a lot, but that’s how much they make every year. It doesn’t’ really supply much.
          About 1.514 million people are victims of forced labor. That is about ¼ of the population. It is also a destination for child slaves for forced labor, human trafficking, and sexual trafficking.
          There are many ways to help. There ways to help that you can do. You can:
  1. Spread the word
  2. Donate to that country
  3. Start a petition
  4. Adopt a child
These ways can help the Republic of Congo in so much difference!

-Idea+Gift=Love IGL