The South Africa Teachers Union has taken a stand against comprehensive sex education, denouncing it as too explicit and inappropriate for students. The union is encouraging teachers to not teach the curriculum if they aren’t comfortable with it and are offering full support to any teachers who might have action taken against them for choosing to not teach the curriculum.

Congenital syphilis on the rise

Congenital syphilis (CS) occurs when a mother with syphilis passes the infection on to her baby during pregnancy. It can cause major health problems for the baby, including miscarriage, stillbirth, premature birth, low birth weight, and death shortly after birth. Recently the number of babies born with syphilis in the US has sharply increased.

A 17-year old was found dead by his father after suffering a stroke induced by a marathon video gaming session lasting several days. The father is now warning parents about the dangers of video game addiction.

The World Health Organization officially added video game addiction to its International Classification of Diseases earlier this year. The disorder is characterized by “impaired control over gaming” and increased priority given to video games over other daily activities.

Sextortion: What it is and how to talk to your teen about it

Sextortion is a term FBI officials are using to describe situations where predators coerce youth to send sexual images or engage in sexual acts via camera-enabled devices and then blackmail them with the threat of distributing the images/videos if they don’t provide more. Officials have seen a recent increase in the number of sextortion cases and are warning parents to be vigilant.

Many sextortion cases begin with a seemingly harmless online friendship or connection on popular social media platforms and online gaming platforms. Predators then try to move victims into other more private platforms or methods of communication where they can take advantage of them. Conversations that at first seem friendly can easily progress to sexual conversations. Understandably, teens might feel curious and flattered by these conversations and continue to engage, thinking it’s harmless. Predators will often begin sharing and asking for non-sexual pictures but then later ask for nude photos. Or, they may convince victims to engage in a sexual act while they secretly video record them over live streaming platforms. In some cases, they may simply hack into the victim’s personal files.

Once the predator has the explicit content, they demand more with the threat of posting what they already have. This can be terrifying and traumatic for young people, who may feel too embarrassed and scared to tell a parent or other adult. They may comply with threats to try and manage the situation on their own.

Experts are offering the following advice for parents:

• Stay involved with your kids and maintain open lines of communication with them.
• Try to keep up with new social media apps that your children might be using.
• Have access to your child’s phone or tablet.
• Know all of your child’s social media passwords.
• Check the privacy settings in every app.

The EDGE program of The Care Center is a sexual risk-avoidance education program presented to middle and high school students in five counties surrounding Rhea County, Tennessee. The program encourages students to think through each decision they make, realizing that today's choices affect tomorrow's future. 

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For more information or to submit a resume, contact Tiffany Soyster at tiffany@theedgeonlife.org, or call 423-775-0019.