This post is a part of a national Youth Media Blog-a-Thon on violence sponsored by YO! Youth Outlook Multimedia and WireTap Magazine.

Did you know that 1 in 4 teen girls has a sexually transmitted disease (STD), and that for the first time in 14 years, the teen birth rate has increased? When will we get a clue? Clearly, teens need access to health services, like clinics, and honest, accurate information, so they can take care of their sexual health.

Stopping the spread of STDs like HIV/AIDS and reducing teen pregnancy rates costs money. But here’s a major problem: Money is tight for everyone nowadays. Maybe you think budget cuts don’t have anything to do with teen sexual health. But in reality, the way Uncle Sam spends taxpayers’ money has a direct impact on YOU:

• The number of teen pregnancies and rate of STD infection would only increase if Medicaid spending is cut. Millions of low-income teens rely on Medicaid for health services, including access to birth control, like the Pills and condoms, and other services, like clinics.
• Ever been to a Planned Parenthood or other Title-X clinic? When these clinics don’t get the funding they need, teens have to pay more for confidential services, such as counseling, gynecological exams, STD testing and birth control. Sometimes, a clinic will have to stop offering certain services altogether because they don’t have enough funding.
• If knowledge is power, then why is sex education so poorly funded? Comprehensive sex education gives teens the information they need to make healthy and responsible decisions about sex, but there’s no federal funding for comprehensive sex ed. Instead, our government funds abstinence-only sex programs, even though study after study shows that these programs don’t work. Isn’t it time the government stopped pumping money into something that’s proven to be ineffective?

If we’re serious about improving teen sexual health, shouldn’t we increase funding for Medicaid and Title X and stop funding abstinence-only programs?

We won’t see the STD rate or teen birth rate decrease overnight. But in the long run, giving teens comprehensive sex education and providing access to safe, affordable and well-funded sexual and reproductive health programs will greatly reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies and help stop the spread of STDs. Let’s hope that the next president keeps teens in mind when he or she thinks about how to spend taxpayer dollars.

Are you a fan of the hit show Gossip Girl? There’s been some controversy over the promos for the new season. Critics argue that the promos are way too sexual and that the ads are sending the wrong message to the show’s teen audience. Take a look at the promos for Gossip Girl in the clip below:

These ads are just another example of sexualized advertisements that specifically target teens. Did you notice the OMFG? Some adults might not know what that means, but ask almost any teen and he or she will know. The teen-friendly OMFG sends a message that clearly says, “Hey teens, watch Gossip Girl! The sex scenes are outta control!” And, just in case you don’t realize how much sex there is on the show, a voice says the word “sex” over and over while sex scenes from the show flash across the screen.

Some people might think, So what? I’ve seen ads like this before. What’s the big deal?

The big deal is that ads like these present a warped view of sexuality that’s all about sexual fantasy and not reality. Important parts of sex—like communicating with your partner and using condoms to prevent sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and pregnancy—are completely left out of the picture. With teens and middle-school kids watching, you have to wonder: How are they supposed to learn about the really important parts of sex that we don’t see on TV, like deciding if you want to have sex, communication and condoms?

The next time you’re watching TV and you see a sex scene, take note: Do the partners discuss their expectations of sex? How about using condoms or other methods of birth control? Do they talk at all about preventing STDs? You’ll find that although there’s tons of sex on TV, there are few realistic portrayals of responsible safer sex.

Saturday Night Live (SNL) created a really funny, fake commercial for a birth control pill called Annuale. It’s supposed to give women just one period a year. SNL’s skit pokes fun at commercials for Seasonale—a hormonal birth control method, which can reduce the number of periods you have to just four a year. And there’s actually a method called Lybrel that you can take and not have your period as long as you’re taking the pills.

Although many women enjoy having fewer periods, some think it’s not natural and prefer a monthly period. But current evidence suggests that regular menstruation isn’t connected to a woman’s health. But you have to wonder: What happens when a woman gets her period after going for three or more months without one? The lining of the uterus hasn’t been building up for months to give her the mother of all periods, so she gets her period just as she normally would.

Check out the SNL skit below. When these women’s periods finally come, watch out! In reality, there’s no backlog of hormones that will make you go berserk, if you’re on birth control that reduces the number of periods you have to once a year. But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy this video!

It’s well known that February 14 is Valentine’s Day, but not many people realize that it’s also National Condom Day.

Some people think that talking about condom use before having sex ruins the romance, but that’s totally untrue. Condoms and romance go hand-in-hand! Want to know what really kills romance? Pregnancy panics and STD scares because you didn’t use a condom during sex!

Don’t let candy hearts or red and pink M&M’S overshadow the importance of condoms on V-Day. Talk to your partner about using condoms before having sex. It’s a smart and sexy way to show your partner that you really care about him or her.