Assignment: Talking About STDS

The time to think about prevention is before you have sex. Caring about yourself and your partner means asking questions and being aware of signs and symptoms.

1. How do you define safer sex?

2. List several ways to bring up the subject of STDs with a new partner. How would you ask whether or not he or she has been exposed to any STDs or engaged in any risky behaviors? (Remember that since many STDs can be asymptomatic it is important to know about past behaviors even if no STD was diagnosed.)

3. How would you bring up the subject of condom use with your partner?

4. How might you convince someone who does not want to use a condom?

5. If you have had an STD in the past that you might possibly still pass on (e.g., herpes) how would you tell your partner(s)?

6. If you were diagnosed with an STD that you believe was given to you by your current partner, how would you begin a discussion of STDs with him or her?

7. How would you begin a discussion about your partner's past sexual history? What would you wish to know?

Talking about STDs may be a bit awkward, but the temporary embarrassment of asking intimate questions is a small price to pay to avoid contracting or spreading disease.