When you get the chance, flip over to the entertainment section. Besides the usual movie reviews, crossword puzzle and comics, you will find an article in which entertainment editor Dustin Barnes describes, as a first-hand witness, the process of being tested for sexually transmitted diseases.
You may not be comfortable with the subject. Many people aren’t. It is just something we don’t talk about. Perhaps we think that the diseases, even if they are already within us, will just disappear. And maybe that girl’s swelling stomach is just a tumor that will go away in nine months.
If you are sexually active, it is your responsibility to get tested for STDs. STDs are very dangerous and very communicable. They can change a person’s life forever. If you do not get tested for STDs, you are endangering everyone, including the ones you care about enough to share this very intimate act.
You not only have a responsibility to your partners, but also to yourself. If you are sexually active, you have additional health concerns that must be addressed. After all, you go to the dentist regularly.
But people are still not getting tested, even though it is a cheap and relatively painless process. This is mostly because of fear. This is a mysterious process that may lead to undesirable results for some people.
The key to getting over this fear is being informed. Barnes’s article will help with that area. He gives a detailed description of the examination process, so it will not be such a mystery anymore. You can also get pamphlets from the Health Center for information about the diseases themselves.
And if you are afraid that you might have an STD, get tested anyway. The fear of not knowing is 10 times worse than knowing.
The Reflector editorial board is made up of opinion editor Angela Adair, news editor Elizabeth Crisp, assistant news editor Jessica Bowers, sports editor Craig Peters, entertainment editor Dustin Barnes, managing editor Pam McTeer and editor in chief Josh Foreman.