Sexually transmitted diseases, commonly known as STDs, affect more than 13 million men and women in the United States a year alone.

The majority of that number consists of young people. This fact makes it important for a college campus to be aware of such diseases.

One of the obvious ways to protect oneself from getting an STD is abstinence.

It is a fact that not everyone uses this method of protection. Therefore, everyone should know that there can be consequences. If these consequences happen to adults, they do not have anyone to answer to but themselves.

However, young people who are still under their parents insurance and need to be treated with expensive medicine, have to answer to their parents.

It would be a very difficult task for a student, who gives the impression of a straight A student who plays by the rules, to phone their parents and tell them they contracted an STD.

“I would tell my father, but not my mother,” sophomore English major Blair Donahue said.

After more serious thought about the topic he continued to say, “First I would try to fix it myself and if I couldn’t fix it then I would tell my father.”

The real obstacle would be how to tell a parent what happened.

“I would sit him down and inform him that I had to tell him something serious. I would not sugar coat the situation. I would be very straight forward about it,” Donahue said.

Every parent is different, so people will have to deal with different scenarios when going about such a hard task.

“I would tell my parents because I am always honest with them,” sophomore broadcast journalism major Jonathan Silva said. “I know that they would get me the best care possible to get rid of what I had.”

He contemplated the situation and wondered how hard or easy this task would be to accomplish.

“It wouldn’t be hard for me at all, I tell my parents pretty much everything if it could possibly get me in trouble,” Silva said.

There are many possible ways to approach this situation.

“[I would] sit my parents down and let them know that I am sexually active and I made a mistake by either not using protection or that the protection didn’t work. I would then ask them to help me look for a doctor,” Silva said.

It is not only the relationship that one has with their parents that can affect whether or not an adolescent tells a parent about contracting an STD.

Males and females are viewed differently in society. A male going home to tell his parents such a scenario may face a whole different ball game than a female.

“I would tell my mom only if it was a serious one that I couldn’t clear up on my own,” sophomore accounting major Patricia Detullio said. “I would be embarrassed and that would probably be the reason that I wouldn’t say anything. It wouldn’t be hard because my mom and I are pretty close.”

The facts about STD’s should not be overlooked, such as that some are incurable; for example AIDS.

It would be hard enough letting a parent in on infection or a curable disease but much tougher letting them in on your life expectancy.