Health Professional Says the HPV Controversy that Linked the Vaccine to Increased Promiscuity is Not True

The HPV vaccine, designed to protect girls and women from cervical cancer and other HPV related diseases has come to be a topic of controversy.  Parents are concerned that it will cause their children to become more promiscuous, and give them the "ok" to engage in sexual activity, and some schools across the nation have wanted to mandate the vaccine for their children to attend school.  However, it has been proven that this vaccine in fact causes girls to actually delay sexual activity, and creates awareness about safe sex through parents talking to their kids.

What is the HPV Vaccine?  

     The HPV vaccine is a vaccine given to protect women against cervical cancer and HPV related diseases.  This vaccine protects against 4 of the most common strains of HPV known to lead to cervical cancer.  Cevarix and Gardasil are two vaccines that are on the market currently, and both provide the same benefits.  It is important to be aware that this vaccine does not treat any diseases related to HPV or cervical cancer, it simply protects against the most common strains of the HPV disease, most of which are high-risk.  HPV types 16 and 18 are known as high-risk, and have been found to account for almost half of all vaginal, vulvar, and penile cancers.  A lot of research is currently being done on this vaccine, and Kelly Madden, a Graduate Student at UMD and Health Communication Professional is currently researching this vaccine and the health messages associated with it.  She is involved in doing content analyses on websites, blogs, and YouTube videos to see how the vaccine is being portrayed.  Madden says that these contain messages such as how HPV is linked to cervical cancer, barriers that people are experiencing as to why they are not getting vaccinated, and how susceptible people are to contracting HPV through sex.  

  

The target population of the vaccine is girls ages 11 to 12

      This vaccine is advised to be given to girls starting at ages 11 to 12, before they become sexually active.  It is important to get this vaccine early, which is why it is so controversial.  Madden made it clear that most of the controversy deals with the parents and their decision to get their child vaccinated or not.  Parents see this as an easy way to give the wrong idea to their children that it is acceptable to start having sex at such a young age, and in turn cause them to be more promiscuous.  In fact, Madden says that teens are actually delaying sex, and it has been shown that girls who obtain the vaccine in their early teen and pre-teen phase are more likely to engage in safe sex practices. This is because they are more aware of the effects of having unsafe sex and all of the possible STI’s and diseases that exist.  

The HPV vaccine has been proven not to cause increased promiscuity among teens

     Despite the concern of most parents who are struggling with the decision to get their child vaccinated or not, research has shown that this vaccine does not cause girls to be more sexually active.  In a new study done described by CBS News, “at least 90 percent of vaccinated and unvaccinated girls did not seek pregnancy tests, chlamydia tests or birth control counseling, markers that were considered surrogates for sexual activity during up to three years of follow-up.” Thus, it is clear that there is no correlation with getting the vaccine and practices related to sex.  Another aspect of this controversial vaccine is the debate on whether or not it should be mandated.  Madden says some states are trying to mandate the vaccine to be able to attend school, but parents express the concern that this makes no sense.  HPV is a disease that is contracted only through sex, which separates it from other diseases that are vaccinated against for school.  Overall, it is clear that teens are not becoming more promiscuous as a result of this vaccine.  

      The following video shows a clip of Madden talking about her view on the HPV controversy and how it does not in fact cause teens to be more promiscuous.

Awareness about the vaccine and cervical cancer need to increase

According to a study by Tiro et al., "Among the 40% of women who had ever heard about HPV, <50% knew it caused cervical cancer; knowledge that HPV was sexually transmitted and caused abnormal Pap tests was higher (64% and 79%, respectively)." It is clear that young women's awareness about HPV is very low, so increasing awareness about this topic would help better the health of our youth.  Madden made it clear that this starts with informing doctors about the vaccine and why it is important to tell your patients about the risks of the disease and why the vaccine should be given.  She said that it was found in the messages she studied that a lot of them showed how HPV is linked to cervical cancer.  It is important to make this connection in health messages so that people understand how risky the disease is, and why they should receive the vaccine.  

The following audio clip shows Larissa, a Communication major at UMD's thoughts on the HPV debate.

listen to ‘Hpv vaccine 1’ on Audioboo

Health Communication Professional Describes HPV Vaccine and it’s Controversy

What is the HPV Vaccine?

Who is the target for this vaccine?

Female Awareness of this Vaccine

The controversy of the vaccine: Causing Promiscuity?

Overcoming this Debate

Outline of my story:

I will first give a background of the HPV vaccine, who its target is, what it protects against, and the advantages and benefits of getting your kids vaccinated.  This is important because before going into the controversy of the vaccine, it is important to inform people about what the vaccine actually is and what it protects against, since not everyone may be familiar with it.  I will add a video of the person I am interviewing, Kelly Madden, to give a little more background on the vaccine and to discuss the research she does with the vaccine.  I will then talk about female awareness of the vaccine and how much they know about it and its risks.  I will then talk about the controversy associated with giving this vaccine, and how some researchers and health professionals believe it is starting to cause teens to be more promiscuous, since they are being protected against 4 of the most common strains of HPV that cause cervical cancer.  Many believe that this causes teens to become more sexually active because they are protected. I will then add a video clip of the person I am interviewing, Kelly Madden, a health communication professional to communicate her stance on the debate.  I will also propose to her articles that talk about this debate and ask her to comment on them.  After this, I will talk about overcoming this debate, any evidence to support the claim and the two sides there are to the debate.  I will sum everything up by asking viewers if they believe the benefits of the vaccine to outweigh the risks, and given all of my information on the controversy of the vaccine, would they choose to have their kids vaccinated or not?

Health Communication Professional Describes HPV Vaccine and it’s Controversy

What is the HPV Vaccine?

Who is the target for this vaccine?

Female Awareness of this Vaccine

The controversy of the vaccine: Causing Promiscuity?

Overcoming this Debate

Outline of my story:

I will first give a background of the HPV vaccine, who its target is, what it protects against, and the advantages and benefits of getting your kids vaccinated.  This is important because before going into the controversy of the vaccine, it is important to inform people about what the vaccine actually is and what it protects against, since not everyone may be familiar with it.  I will add a video of the person I am interviewing, Kelly Madden, to give a little more background on the vaccine and to discuss the research she does with the vaccine.  I will then talk about female awareness of the vaccine and how much they know about it and its risks.  I will then talk about the controversy associated with giving this vaccine, and how some researchers and health professionals believe it is starting to cause teens to be more promiscuous, since they are being protected against 4 of the most common strains of HPV that cause cervical cancer.  Many believe that this causes teens to become more sexually active because they are protected. I will then add a video clip of the person I am interviewing, Kelly Madden, a health communication professional to communicate her stance on the debate.  I will also propose to her articles that talk about this debate and ask her to comment on them.  After this, I will talk about overcoming this debate, any evidence to support the claim and the two sides there are to the debate.  I will sum everything up by asking viewers if they believe the benefits of the vaccine to outweigh the risks, and given all of my information on the controversy of the vaccine, would they choose to have their kids vaccinated or not?    

Health Professional Says the HPV Controversy that Linked the Vaccine to Increased Promiscuity is Not True

What is the HPV Vaccine?  

The HPV vaccine is a vaccine given to protect women against cervical cancer and HPV related diseases.  This vaccine protects against 4 of the most common strains of HPV known to lead to cervical cancer.  Cevarix and Gardasil are two vaccines that are on the market currently, and both provide the same benefits.  It is important to be aware that this vaccine does not treat any diseases related to HPV or cervical cancer, it simply protects against the most common strains of the HPV disease, most of which are high-risk.  HPV types 16 and 18 are known as high-risk, and have been found to account for almost half of all vaginal, vulvar, and penile cancers.  A lot of research is currently being done on this vaccine, and Kelly Madden, a Graduate Student at UMD and Health Communication Professional is currently researching this vaccine and the health messages associated with it.  She is involved in doing content analyses on websites, blogs, and YouTube videos to see how the vaccine is being portrayed.  Madden says that these contain messages such as how HPV is linked to cervical cancer, barriers that people are experiencing as to why they are not getting vaccinated, and how susceptible people are to contracting HPV through sex.  

  

The target population of the vaccine is girls ages 11 to 12

This vaccine is advised to be given to girls starting at ages 11 to 12, before they become sexually active.  It is important to get this vaccine early, which is why it is so controversial.  Madden made it clear that most of the controversy deals with the parents and their decision to get their child vaccinated or not.  Parents see this as an easy way to give the wrong idea to their children that it is acceptable to start having sex at such a young age, and in turn cause them to be more promiscuous.  In fact, Madden says that teens are actually delaying sex, and it has been shown that girls who obtain the vaccine in their early teen and pre-teen phase are more likely to engage in safe sex practices. This is because they are more aware of the effects of having unsafe sex and all of the possible STI’s and diseases that exist.  

The HPV vaccine has been proven not to cause increased promiscuity among teens

Despite the concern of most parents who are struggling with the decision to get their child vaccinated or not, research has shown that this vaccine does not cause girls to be more sexually active.  In a new study done described by CBS News, “at least 90 percent of vaccinated and unvaccinated girls did not seek pregnancy tests, chlamydia tests or birth control counseling, markers that were considered surrogates for sexual activity during up to three years of follow-up.” Thus, it is clear that there is no correlation with getting the vaccine and practices related to sex.  Another aspect of this controversial vaccine is the debate on whether or not it should be mandated.  Madden says some states are trying to mandate the vaccine to be able to attend school, but parents express the concern that this makes no sense.  HPV is a disease that is contracted only through sex, which separates it from other diseases that are vaccinated against for school.  Overall, it is clear that teens are not becoming more promiscuous as a result of this vaccine.  The following video shows a clip of Madden talking about her view on the HPV controversy and how it does not in fact cause teens to be more promiscuous.

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Awareness about the vaccine and cervical cancer need to increase

According to a study by Tiro et al., "Among the 40% of women who had ever heard about HPV, <50% knew it caused cervical cancer; knowledge that HPV was sexually transmitted and caused abnormal Pap tests was higher (64% and 79%, respectively)." It is clear that young women's awareness about HPV is very low, so increasing awareness about this topic would help better the health of our youth.  Madden made it clear that this starts with informing doctors about the vaccine and why it is important to tell your patients about the risks of the disease and why the vaccine should be given.  She said that it was found in the messages she studied that a lot of them showed how HPV is linked to cervical cancer.  It is important to make this connection in health messages so that people understand how risky the disease is, and why they should receive the vaccine.  

The following audio clip shows Larissa's thoughts on the HPV debate.

Do you think getting vaccinated for HPV at an early age causes women to be promiscuous?

listen to ‘Hpv vaccine 1’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘Emilyboo’ on Audioboo

Facebook: Friends vs. Acquaintances?

How many of your Facebook friends do you actually know?
   
             After conducting some research on my own Facebook, I realized the number of friends I have is high, but 75% of the people I don’t really keep in contact with anymore.  A lot of them are high school peers, friends from childhood, acquaintances, friends of friends, and some even people I have heard about and never met.  The number of friends that I keep in contact with on a regular basis is very low when considering the actual number of my Facebook friends.  I can say that probably 20 or so out of the 800 friends I have I keep in contact with on a regular basis; some being family, some being best friends.  I find it amazing the number of Facebook friends people can acquire without even knowing the person or keeping in contact with them.  In an article from Huffington Post, Bianca Bosker mentions the new “Facebook ‘Acquaintance’ List” that helps one to sort their friends into best friends, acquaintances, family, etc.  With this function, you will see less of your “acquaintances” updates on your News Feed.  Facebook tells users to “To try out the new feature and relegate distant classmates, former colleagues, high-school sweethearts, and that neighbor who moved away when you were twelve into "acquaintance" territory, go to your Friends list page, then click the "Acquaintances" tab.”  I think this is very interesting, considering the number of Facebook friends I see of my own that are acquaintances or barely acquaintances.  The people I want to keep in contact with and who’s updates I care about most are best friends and family, so I see this function to be very useful.  You can still be friends with the person, but will not receive regular and constant updates on your feed. 

“De-Friending”

    In another article from NBC News, Rosa Golijan makes an interesting comment about this “acquaintance” function. “We all have a few of those Facebook "friends" — ones which we barely know and never interact with — but we'd feel guilty about un-friending them, even though their constant posts are irritating. Thankfully Facebook’s devised a way to ignore those "acquaintances" more easily than ever.”  I find this to be very relatable, because I have thought the same thing many times.  I have also talked to many friends who express the same “guilt” over de-friending someone they don’t talk to anymore.  This new feature makes it easy to personalize your own page and news feed without having that guilty feeling.  However, there is the other side where a lot of the information that people I don’t regularly keep in contact with post pictures and posts that are of interest to me.  Some people may call this Facebook “stalking”, but for some reason people find somewhat useless information about people interesting.  I’m sure we all can say we have viewed photo albums and status updates from old friends or people from high school, and still find that information somewhat interesting. 

How would your life be impacted without Facebook?    

    If my Facebook site were to completely disappear, I would have mixed feelings.  Part of me would miss seeing random posts and pictures of people I don’t keep in contact with, but the other part of me would come to terms with the fact that I will always have contact with my best friends and family, and that is what is important to me.  Facebook does help keep in contact with all types and categories of friends and family, but what would matter to me would be being able to keep in contact with close family and friends, which I can always do.  Some of the convenience aspect would be taken away, but I would still be able to keep in contact with the people I care about most.  This would have some effect on my emotional ties as well, because part of me would miss seeing updates on people from high school, or old childhood friends.  It would also have an impact on my informational ties because talking about people from high school or old acquaintances is sometimes an interesting topic of conversation among my best friends.  Some of us will see a picture or post from someone that we both know from high school, and we will talk or laugh about it.  I would miss this aspect of having information that I could only obtain from Facebook, but I would quickly get over it.  Having contact with best friends and family is what matters to me.  Overall, the number of my Facebook friends far outnumbers the number of actual close friends and family that I keep in contact with on a regular basis, and without Facebook, I still would be able to talk to those people.

Grey’s Anatomy Ratings Rise from Last Year

The season premiere of Grey’s Anatomy earned a 4.3, which means 4.3 people were tuned into Grey’s Anatomy at a given minute of all possible T.V. households, among the 18-49 age demographic.  This has risen from last year, when Grey’s Anatomy received a 4.1.  The share for this program was 12, which means that 12 percent of the households actually using television were tuned into Grey’s Anatomy at a specific time.  The live viewers for this program were 11.546 million, according to TV By The Numbers.  The rating of this show almost reaches the 4.8 that The Big Bang Theory received, whereas The Vampire Diaries received a small 0.3, according to TV By The Numbers as well.   The Futon Critic also offered an interesting perspective on ratings.  “First and foremost, ratings are NOT an indication of a show's overall reach, the devotion of its fanbase or any other anecdotal measurement. Ratings are designed to see how many people are watching the commercials on a TV show, you know, the things that pay for the TV shows in the first place. With that in mind, people who skip ads on their DVRs, watch shows online, download them illegally, view them on DVD, etc. aren't as relevant when it comes to advertising money.”  I thought this was very interesting because a lot of people fail to realize how much of T.V. is controlled and motivated by money and marketing and advertising.  
    According to PEW, half (52%) of adult cellphone owners use their phones while watching television.  Whether it be to occupy themselves, use social media, vote for contestants on reality shows, or check something they heard on television, the prevalence of cellphone use is high, especially among the 18-24 age demographic.  This makes a lot of sense for the college age/young adult demographic because we are very into our smartphones and social media, and are constantly connected.  The widespread use of these devices is growing, and is especially used among the 18-24 age demographic. 

DRM Means Safer Music Aquisition

    According to BBC News, Digital Rights Management, or DRM, is “a class of technologies that allow rights owners to set and enforce terms by which people use their intellectual property”.  DRM can be used to avoid copyright laws and to stop the issue of piracy with music and other types of media.  DRM helps copyright owners and controls who is able to access music and serves as a way to control how this work is shared among the public.  This ensures that people will not take advantage of artists’ work and download so many illegal files that artists’ sales, producers profits, and distributors profits begin to be affected.   Using DRM as a method of control for media is helpful to the consumers of mass media and music, and helps to go against the issues that companies have had in the past and still continue to have with illegal file sharing.  Using DRM also helps to protect from viruses that users might get when downloading illegal content. 
    DRM works in a variety of ways, but according to about.com and netforbeginners, there are four common stages to DRM which include packaging, distribution, license serving, and license acquisition.  Starting with packaging, the DRM encryption keys are built into the software or file.  Distribution is when the files are delivered to the customers, and license serving is where “specialized servers authenticate legitimate users through and Internet connection, and allow them to access the DRM files.”  Lastly, license acquisition is when encryption keys are acquired so the media files can be unlocked. As you can see, DRM uses a variety of techniques to distribute safe files to users, and encryption is a large part of it.
    To me and my downloads, DRM means that I have ways of getting the media I want in a safe manner.  Using P2P sharing is a method to obtaining free music via the Internet, without the risk of infringement and viruses.  Instead of using a client/server model, like Limewire, something like Bearshare or Gnutella is legal and not as risky.  It is important to think about the benefits of using P2P methods, because content owners, consumers and content service providers all benefit.  According to EZDRM, “Consumers can be confident that the digital media they receive is authentic material, and that they have acquired it in a legitimate manner.”  This way, the consumer can be ensured with legal file acquisition and content that will not get them into trouble. 

Are social media and technology helping or hindering today's society?

         In today's technology-based society, it is natural not to realize the extent to which we use the Internet and other forms of media.  We are constantly checking our social media portals to see what is going on in the world with friends and family, and we are always using our cellphones, laptops, computers, iPods, iTouches, and iPhones throughout each day.  In an article titled "How Social Media is Ruining Your Mind" by Aaron Saenz, "Social media pushes its users into states of continued stimulus and communication, with a system that rewards obsessively-frequent checking and updating."  This notion of "obsessively checking and updating" is definitely true for me, and I'm sure other social media and technology users like myself can say the same.  In the Saenz article, it was mentioned that scientists have been looking how social media in today's world have been influencing people's multitasking skills, social interactions, and ability to focus.  All of these issues deal with interpersonal interaction and the way people behave. I believe that social media and technology are beginning to hinder these human skills and abilities, because of the constant need to be connected, and the failure to engage in normal human interaction. A UCLA study showed that just 5 hours of Internet surfing can change the way your brain works.  I'm sure all of us at least surf for a couple hours a day, especially a college student like myself, so imagine what a lifetime of Internet surfing can add up to.
        In an interesting book titled "Deciphering Cyberspace: Making the Most of Digital Communication Technology" Leonard Shyles investigates the impact of image based education, and information on the Web on children. "Such image-based education can easily lead to a shortened attention span among children, a situation already observed by many educators.  Television's main contribution to educational philosophy, according to Postman, is the notion that "teaching and entertainment are inseparable"(pg. 146).  It is apparent that we are changing the way we educate our youth with all of the new technologies and teaching methods that are rising in popularity.  Some of these methods are very helpful and interactive, but when it comes to causing cognitive and attention problems, rethinking the way we educate is in order.  "According to a study from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, attention problems in children ages 4-15 have increased from 1.4% in 1979 to 9.2% in 1996 (Kelleher, McInery, Gardner, Cilds, & Wasserman, 2000). " This concrete statistic shows just how much the growth of media has influenced these cognitive problems in the past few decades. 

      In an article from CNN "Is the Internet hurting children?" by Chelsea Clinton and James P. Steyer, they also discuss the impact of multimedia and the Internet on children. "While the research is still in its early stages, it suggests that the Internet may actually be changing how our brains work. Too much hypertext and multimedia content has been linked in some kids to limited attention span, lower comprehension, poor focus, greater risk for depression and diminished long-term memory."  All of these effects can cause major health problems, many of which cannot be reversed.  In order to test this shortened attention span as a result of media use, I would look to the students at University of Maryland, and middle and high schools in my hometown.  I would observe classrooms to see the number of people using computers, laptops, and cellphones being used, and I would also observe the teachers.  I would see how professors and teachers are educating their kids and the methods they are using, such as YouTube videos, Internet, and other forms of technology.  I would compare the classrooms where a lot of media is used versus not, and observe the kid's social interaction in another setting.  Cutting down on Internet and social media use or returning back to more traditional forms of educating and communicating is seen as a major debate as a result of these issues and research.

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