Eddie (Anh Dang)

ENG 101

Mar 14, 2019

STDs, Dangerous but not Hopeless

“STDs Still a Growing Problem with Young Adults”, an opinion piece by Paul Skrickus, a

former reporter for the Pendulum, Elon University’s student newspaper, featured in Spectrum

II. The author offers evidence that contracting STDs remains a serious problem among young

adults and reveals information about the most common STDs. Even though STDs are dangerous

diseases, Skrickus emphasizes that there are many ways to deal with them and young adults

should be more open to discuss the subject. This article is effective in that Skrickus uses

information from many credible sources to support his opinion.

First, Skrickus states the problem that young adults in the U.S. put themselves all in

danger of acquiring a sexually transmitted disease by participating in unprotected sex. Then the

author quotes Dr. William Hawkins, Elon University physician and medical director to expand

his idea: “People aged 15-25 don’t think it’s going to happen to them”. And because of that,

young adults do stupid things such as driving too fast, drinking too much, etc.. Then Skrickus

concludes that the short-term consequences such as injuries or the effects of drugs and alcohol

can heal and pass, but the long-term consequences of having unprotected sex and acquiring

STD’s can stay with an individual forever. By quoting a medical director, Skrickus does a good

job of supporting his opinion which implies that young adults are too careless that they put

themselves at risk when having unprotected sex which leads to STDs. The author, Paul Skrickus
and the medical director he’s quoting, Dr. William Hawkins are from the same institution, Elon

University. Elon University is a highly rated private university located in Elon, North Carolina.

And because their popular majors include Finance, Public Relations, and Marketing, I don’t

think their medical director, Dr. William Hawkins is good enough to be the only source that the

author uses to support his opinion. It could have been better if Skrickus uses another credible

source, not just only the medical director in his own university.

Then, Skrickus states that STD’s is still a problem even the education for the youth of

America has been pushed over the past few decades. He uses a statistic from the American

Social Health Association, “Two-thirds of all STDs occur in people 25 years of age or younger.”

Then the author continues to show us how serious the problem is by using a survey from the

Society for Adolescent Medicine which states that about “56 percent of college students living

away from home are sexually active and of that, 73 percent reported having unprotected sex.”

As we know, the American Social Health Association is America’s authority for sexual health

information. It’s an award-winning and trusted 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that has

advocated on behalf of those at risk for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) since 1914.

Meanwhile, the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine (SAHM) is a multidisciplinary

society with an active international membership devoted to advancing the health and well-

being of adolescents. First, Skrickus uses a statistic from the American Social Health because of

is authority for sexual health information. Then he uses a survey from the Society for

Adolescent Health and Medicine because this society focuses on adolescence, a time of

dramatic changes in a young person's life. And by that, the author successfully shows us that

STDs are still a problem for young adults to deal with.

 After offering evidence that contracting STDs remains a serious problem among young

adults, Skrickus reveals information about the most common STDs. First, he continues to quote

Dr. Hawkins, “We see more chlamydia, occasional gonorrhea…”, to imply how common

chlamydia is. Not only that, but he also uses a statistic from the American Social Health

Association which states that there are an estimated 3 million people in the U.S. who have a

disease and the ratio is one in 10 sexually active women would test positive for it. Then,

Skrickus informs the basic information about the disease such as how chlamydia transmits and

its symptoms. After that, the author, again, uses Dr. Hawkins’ quote to introduce us with

human papillomavirus “the most common STD I see here on campus,” Hawkins said. Skrickus

also mentions HPV is the fastest growing STD. Then, using his own knowledge to tell us about

how late its symptoms appear which leads to why HPV is dangerous. Unlike those two above,

the author uses the information from a more professional source, the American Social Health

Association, to inform the readers about gonorrhea. Skrickus does a great job of describing the

three most common STDs and how dangerous they are. By mixing his own knowledge with the

information from two other sources, a medical director and the American Social Health

Association, Skrickus ensures that his information about the diseases is precise.

Skrickus continues his article by discussing disease treatment. First, he states that there

is a common misconception for young adults learning about STD’s is there is no cure for any of

them. “Chlamydia and gonorrhea can both be silent and both are totally curable,” Hawkins said.

And for viral diseases, like HIV and HPV, while incurable, are still treatable. The author also

notes that Hawkins says that it’s important for patients to take these prescriptions as directed

and to halt all sexual activity until the disease is gone, and Skrickus adds, “usually within a week
according to the American Social Health Association.” And when mentioning how dormant

HPV’s symptoms are, the author points out that is why doctors encourage all sexually active

women to get pap smears regularly. And to support that, Skrickus quotes Dr. Hawkins, “I always

encourage women to come and get checked out because it is the only way to really know

what’s going on.” The author is able to show us many ways to treat STDs. However, it could

have been better if he uses some examples from people who are actually using that treatment

to deal with STDs. Because I believe that some insight information about the treatment would

make readers feel that the treatment works. Besides, if Skrickus used a statistic to show how

many people are cured of STDs, the article would make readers more confident.

Last, Skrickus answer the question “Why STDs are such a problem?”. He states that

young people are still too ashamed to talk to their doctors about STD’s and ask to get tested.

Young people are ashamed because there are many myths remain out there that give them

false hopes and lead them to make dumb decisions. And by stating, “Young adults are notorious

for engaging in sexual activity with several partners, both men, and women,” the author implies

that young adults are having a sexual relationship with many people. Then, to put the situation

into its climax, Skrickus shows us some students’ thought in his university about this problem,

“It is very possible for myself or one of my friends to get an STD here at Elon…” or “… it’s

completely possible for someone I know to get an STD” and “it’s scary how possible it is.” And

by that, the author implies that the way young adults engage in sexual activity with several

partners would lead to the acquiring STDs. Skrickus makes a good point here and by using

college students’ thought, references whose life experience related to the topic, he is able to

support his opinion. However, the information he uses only shows us how those students are
feeling about the situation. The readers need more than that. It could have been better if the

author interviews a student who used to have STDs or are having it. I think the article will be

able to touch readers’ emotion when they are reading the topic from the one who is having

STDs themselves due to unprotected sex.

Overall, Skrickus’s article is an effective piece. The author successfully offers evidence

that contracting STDs remains a serious problem among young adults, reveals information

about the most common STDs then propose many ways to treat it or at least minimize its

effects. By using many examples and statistic from credible sources, Skrickus informs readers

that there are many ways to treat or minimize the effects even STDs are dangerous. However, if

the author could have used other sources such as people who are dealing with STDs as doctors,

nurses, and patients. One thing I find effective in this article is its conclusion. Skrickus concludes

his article by a quote from Hawkins, “It’s a personal decision and I just want to let all the young

people out there know that no matter what choice they make be sure to take all the possible

steps to keep themselves safe.” The quote does not only hurt young adults’ ego by not telling

them what to do but also suggest them to be thoughtful and take the precautionary steps

necessary to protect themselves.