In
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REUTERS
By Edith Honan
February 14, 2008
Web site allows anonymous warning of STD infections
NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - A Web site that enables people with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) to send anonymous email warnings to their partners could help slow a rise in new infections, a New York health official said.
InSpot.org uses the E-Card model to send messages like "I'm So Sorry" to notify people that they may have been exposed to a disease. It also offers information about getting tested and treatment.
"Making use of some of the emerging technologies makes sense," said Sue Blank, of New York's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
"We're getting the word out to the community."
Blank hopes the site will help to reduce new syphilis infections in New York which rose by 56 percent during the first half of the current fiscal year.
Users of the site, which went online in San Francisco in 2004, can choose from a selection of messages.
"It provides an easy, convenient, anonymous way for people to be responsible about notifying their partners about a possible exposure to an STD," said Deb Levine, of the San Francisco Internet Sexuality Information Services, which created InSpot with the city's Department of Public Health.
There are 15 million new cases of STDs in the United States each year, according to the Web site. The rise in syphilis in New York mirrors a national trend that shows syphilis has risen sharply among gay and bisexual men in the United States this decade.
Levine said that in San Francisco, syphilis rates have fallen since the site was introduced.
In addition to New York and San Francisco, the Web site is now active in six other U.S. cities. It has also been launched in eight U.S. states, as well as two Canadian cities and Romania. http://www.reuters.com
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
By Ellen Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer
January 24, 2008
SexTech takes sex education online for kids
A video podcast that talks frankly about sex. A 3-D computer game that sends teens on missions and, in the process, teaches them about safe sex and the consequences of sex. Text messages that answer frequently asked questions about condoms, pregnancy, sexuality, sexually transmitted diseases and abuse.
These are among the projects that educators and public health professionals across the country are tackling in hope of educating teenagers about sex. But rather than pass out pamphlets and hold workshops, they are trying to reach teens through the media they use to communicate, from MySpace to cell phones.
"The youth are using the next new thing. They're early adopters. ... They're looking for information on sex online and on their cell phones, so let's make it available to them in a legitimate way," said Deb Levine, executive director of Oakland's Internet Sexuality Information Services and the organizer of this week's SexTech conference, a first-of-its-kind gathering to examine how to take advantage of Web 2.0 tools, mobile technology and video games to teach teens about sex.
The push comes as the rate of teen births rose for the first time in 15 years in 2006, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rates of sexually transmitted disease for teenagers in certain age groups, such as syphilis among boys ages 15 to 19, also have climbed in recent years.
At the same time, more than 9 in 10 people ages 12 to 17 use the Internet, and more than 60 percent of them daily, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Among the younger set, 35 percent of 8- to-12-year-old tweens own a mobile phone, and 20 percent have used text messaging, said the Nielsen Co. in a report on teens, tweens and cell phone use.
Bringing the two together, the San Francisco Department of Public Health's text messaging service, which answers commonly asked questions such as what to do if a condom breaks, was inspired in part by how fans can text their vote for their favorite American Idol. The idea for a program allowing people to send an online card to tell past partners they could be at risk for a sexually transmitted disease came from online party invitations such as Evite.
In a project in June, Internet Sexuality Information Services will team up with the University of Colorado and Columbia University to test an HIV/AIDS awareness project for 14- to 18-year-olds on MySpace.
And more could be done, said Rachel Kachur of the CDC. They could create applications for the iPhone and programs on Facebook. They could send alerts through Twitter, a service that lets people send mass text and instant messages to their friends. And mobile phones could be used to deliver results from STD tests, offer coupons, remind patients to take their medicine and help diagnose an infection.
"People have the expectation that sex is an intimate and personal issue and should be dealt with personally," said Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, director of San Francisco Department of Health's STD Prevention and Control. "But there are important issues of privacy that technology can overcome. People can access information privately and remain anonymous."
But educators and public health advocates face challenges.
They said they feel they are constantly playing catch-up to new technologies. They also complained about the challenge of acquiring - and keeping - funding for sex education projects, particularly given the controversy over how to teach children and teens about sex. And some questioned how effective these high-tech programs could be in reaching the right audience.
"There's still nothing better than high-quality, comprehensive sex education in school, but with abstinence-only programs, the ball is getting dropped and the Internet is able to pick it up," said William Neville, manager of marketing and new media for Advocates for Youth.
San Francisco Chronicle
Picked up by the following online outlets and blogs:
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Beat:
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Stack
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THE GOLDEN GATE [X]PRESS ONLINE
Allie Schratz,
staff writer
JANUARY 24, 2008 4:07 PM
Sex educators discuss youth and technology
Health educators became the students at a conference held at SF State’s
downtown campus on Jan. 21 and 22, as they learned more about the impact
new technology has on the development of relationships and the health education
of Generation Y.
“Sex::Tech,” brought to the campus by the Internet Sexuality
Information Services and SF State’s National Sexuality Resource Center,
featured four sessions led by several health educators, authors and representatives
from related Web sites and organizations all over North America.
Topics ranged from the “social media”—networking Web sites
like MySpace and games like “Second Life”— and its influence
on sex education to using video games as a way to convey safe sex messages
and disease prevention methods to today’s tech-savvy youth.
Nefertiti Altan, a health educator in San Francisco, works with high school
students all over the Bay Area to teach them about HIV and other sexually
transmitted diseases, substance abuse and viewing sex with a positive focus.
Working with teens, she said, has opened her eyes to their dependence on
the Internet to find health information and develop relationships.
“We’re just beginning to articulate the value of sexual relationships
in a virtual reality and how that’s transforming what a relationship
is,” Altan, 23, said.
Marguerita Lightfoot, a UCLA psychologist and conference presenter, said
92 percent of children in K-12 had access to a computer at home or school
in 2003.
“Within a matter of a few years, it’s become more affordable
to [maintain a relationship] online,” Altan said.
However, many households and classrooms view sexuality as “the elephant
in the room,” said Cory Silverberg, co-owner of a Toronto sex toy store
called Come As You Are. By not talking about sex, he said, it makes sexual
pleasure a threat and gives it a negative connotation.
However, because of its increased accessibility, he said that many of today’s
youth experience their first sexual encounters online.
“By talking about [sex], the elephant shrinks,” Silverberg said.
The Internet gives teens an outlet to talk about these subjects and access
to related health information their way. Web sites such as www.scarleteen.com
and www.teenwire.com (moderated by Planned Parenthood) feature “Ask
the Expert” and forums to help youth get their questions answered either
by “sexperts” or through anonymous conversation with their own
peers.
“Barriers are broken by anonymity,” Altan said.
Online accessibility means anyone can make a Web site. Therefore, information
published online must be read with caution. While eight out of 10 people
search for health information online, 70 percent of these people don’t
check the date or sources, said Audacia Ray, executive editor of $pread magazine,
which seeks to “destigmatize sex work,” according to its Web
site.
Instead, some educators are turning to another popular medium to get their
message across: video games.
Leslie Snyder, a professor of communication studies at the University of
Connecticut, presented the idea that in a virtual game, safe sexual decisions
could be rewarded and risky behavior could result in a consequence.
The “learn by discovery” and role playing could be assessed
and tailored to ensure the player would gain a better understanding of sexual
health and disease prevention through their exposure to the game.
The conference aimed to ease the public fears about sex and equip adults
with a better understanding of technology’s role in today’s sex
education.
“I want the way we feel about sex to change in society,” Altan
said. Right now, she said, “It’s not honest.”
» E-mail Allie Schratz @ aschratz@sfsu.edu
MEDICAL NEWS TODAY
January 27th, 2008
San Francisco Chronicle Examines Use Of Technology For Sex Education
The San Francisco Chronicle on
Thursday examined the use of technology by educators and public health
professionals to provide sex education to teenagers. The "push" to use
technology to communicate with teenagers about sex follows a CDC report that
found that the teenage birth rate increased for the first time in 15 years
in 2006, the Chronicle reports.
According to the Pew
Internet & American
Life Project, 90% of people ages 12 to 17 use the Internet, and more
than 60% of the group use it daily. A report by Nielsen found
that 35% of children ages eight to 12 own cell phones and that 20% use
text messaging. In response, educators and health professionals are using
video podcasts that speak frankly about sex, as well as computer games
and text messages to educate teenagers about safer sex, pregnancy, sexually
transmitted infections and sexuality.
Oakland, Calif.-based Internet Sexuality Information Services on
Tuesday and Wednesday held the inaugural SexTech Conference,
which examined how sex education messages could be disseminated using the
Internet, mobile technology and video game tools. ISIS in June plans to partner
with the University of Colorado and Columbia University to
test an HIV/AIDS awareness project on MySpace for
people ages 14 to 18. Deb Levine, executive director of ISIS, said, "The
youth are using the next new [technologies]. They're early adopters ...
They're looking for information on sex online and on their cell phones,
so let's make it available to them in a legitimate way."
The San Francisco Department of Public Health uses
a text messaging service to
answer commonly asked questions, such as what to do if a condom breaks.
Jeffrey Klausner, director of San Francisco's STD prevention and control
services section, said that there are "important issues of privacy" regarding sex "that technology can overcome." He added, "People
can access information privately and remain anonymous."
According to the Chronicle, some educators and public health
advocates say that they feel they constantly are playing "catch-up" to new technologies and that they are challenged by acquiring and keeping funding for sex education projects. "There's still nothing better than high-quality, comprehensive sex education in school, but with abstinence-only programs, the ball is getting dropped and the Internet is able to pick it up," William
Neville, manager of marketing and new media for Advocates for Youth,
said (Lee, San Francisco Chronicle, 1/24).
Related Profile
The AP/San Diego Union-Tribune on
Wednesday profiled the "Midwest Teen Sex Show." The
three- to five-minute videos use humorous skits based on the experiences
of co-creator Nikol Hasler to get messages across to teenagers, young adults
and their parents about various topics, including teen sex and birth control,
the AP/Union-Tribune reports. The creators of the podcasts said
the intent of the videos is to provide a forum for the discussion of teen
sexuality. The show has 65,000 subscribers through iTunes and other podcast
subscription services, Guy Clark, co-creator and director of the videos,
said (Fredrix, AP/San Diego Union-Tribune, 1/23).
Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org.
You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives,
or sign up for email delivery here.
The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National
Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.
© 2007 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.
THE OAKLAND TRIBUNE
By Sandy Kleffman, STAFF
WRITER
01/23/2008 04:34:22 AM PST
Videos give teens new view of sex ed
Presentations shown at kickoff of S.F. conference; more than 300 attend
SAN FRANCISCO — The videos are hip, funny and entertaining, yet packed
with a message.
From the cartoon couple chased by a deadly sexually transmitted disease
monster to the new sex education teacher who reveals everything, the videos
plea for frank talk about sex.
"If sex ed doesn't address the things kids want to know, it's just talking
to the hand," says 18-year-old Kylee Darcy of Fairfax as she holds up
her hands at the end of her video animation, a plea for a Web site where youths
can find answers to their questions about sex.
The videos, designed by young people to highlight the confusing messages
they receive about sex, were shown Tuesday at the kickoff of the novel "Sex::Tech" conference
in San Francisco.
More than 300 people gathered to explore how to use the technology so widely
embraced by teens today — from text messaging to social networking sites
to video games — to improve their knowledge of sex and health.
"Too many people, including many parents, fear that all these new communication
technologies will lead young people into dangerous sexual activities," said
Deb Levine, founder of Internet Sexuality Information Services, sponsor of
the event with the National Sexuality Resource Center.
"But the truth is that they can actually enhance sexual well-being," Levine
said. "There are wonderful opportunities ahead using sexual health promotion
tools via cell phones, Internet and PDAs."
The conference brought together a diverse group of young people, sex education
counselors, school leaders and health experts.
Modern technology has created a new framework for relationships, said Regina
Lynn, who writes a sex column for Wired.com.
She noted that comedian Steve Martin used to joke that you don't want to
kiss someone because it can lead to other things — like having to talk
to them.
But in today's world, young people often meet strangers first in online
forums and may message each other for months before they meet.
"Online, you have to talk to them first," Lynn said. "This
is a new paradigm."
That can change how people communicate because unlike in a face-to-face
conversation, they have time to carefully frame their thoughts before sending
a message, she said.
Statistics show young people are embracing the new technology in large
numbers. Eighty-seven percent of American teens use the Internet, and nearly
two-thirds create their own content through virtual diaries or blogs, videos
and digital music.
Twenty-two percent say they have used the Internet to search for information
about topics that are difficult to discuss, including sex and drug use.
But that can be problematic, said Jeremy Fisher, a 20-year-old from Sarasota,
Fla.
A lot of misinformation circulates on social networking sites such as MySpace
and Facebook, he said, and simply doing a Google search can bring up numerous
Web sites with various slants on sex. It's hard to know which one has the
most accurate information.
Conference participants suggested taking advantage of the relative anonymity
that the Internet provides to answer teens' questions about sex.
Darcy, whose "Talking to the Hand" video won first place in the
conference-sponsored youth video contest, said schools should provide Web
sites with doctors and other experts to answer sex-related questions, especially
since young people are often too embarrassed to ask questions in class.
"If you don't give kids the answers that they want, it's just treating
them like children," Darcy said told the conferees.
Others suggested letting students text message or e-mail questions that
a teacher could later address in class.
Eighteen-year-old Robert Valls of Miami, Florida, said teens are often
taught about condoms and the science of sex, but receive little information
about the social aspects, including how to treat someone when you have a crush
on them.
Audacia Ray, a self-described pornographer and author of "Naked on the
Internet," said sex educators should consider reading teen blogs about
sex and submitting comments when they see inaccurate information.
Messages such as "Just Say No" don't work in a society with widespread
hyper-sexualized images, said the Rev. Karl White of efministries.org. He
encouraged church leaders to openly discuss the issue.
"The problem is that we haven't been honest about sexuality, especially
in the church."
Contact Sandy Kleffman at 925-943-8249 or skleffman@bayareanewsgroup.com.
This story also ran in the print version of the Alameda Times-Star, Contra
Costa Times,
Monterey County Herald, Oakland Tribune, The Argus, and Tri-Valley Herald. The
print
versions ran a link to the Fresh Focus Video Contest: “To view the winning
videos produced by young people, visit http://www.dogooder.tv/freshfocusvideocontest.”
http://www.insidebayarea.com
http://www.montereyherald.com
http://www.contracostatimes.com
http://www.insidebayarea.com
http://www.redorbit.com
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