The pill that could save your life
Students have been taught about sex from a young age, beginning for many in their elementary school human growth and development classes.
As students continued through school, these classes only got worse. In junior high the giggles started, as did the awkward conversations with parents.
Now, reality has kicked in. Teenagers in high school are having sex. Students have been taught that abstinence is key, and those that do not follow need to take precautions. According to planbonestep.com, “The most popular brand is called Plan B.” This is a pill used when one is having unprotected sex.
The other brand of pills is called Take Action. Neither Plan B nor Take Action are cheap; Plan B is $47 and Take Action is $35.
This pill should be used within 72 hours of having unprotected sex. The pill is 95% effective, but the sooner it is taken, the better it will work. These pills are sold at most pharmacies, including Hy-Vee, Walmart, and Walgreen’s.
Both pills are sold over the counter and do not require parental permission to be purchased. Age does not matter when one goes to purchase this pill. Accidents do happen, but there are precautions that can be taken to correct them.
Pam Cindra, PV school nurse says, “In the health office, we do not offer free condoms or free pregnancy tests, but I am available to talk to you about any health concerns you have.”
Smoke or Vape?
Is vaping or smoking safer? The answer: neither.
Vaping is considered to be safer than smoking cigarettes, but it isn’t. Both vaping and smoking have negative side effects.
According to Pam Cinadr, the school nurse at Pleasant Valley, “It will be easier to quit smoking while you are younger, rather than when you’re older and have been smoking for a few years. Spending $6.00 on a pack of cigarettes is a lot when you could be using that money to fill up your car.” Students should not put chemicals such as nicotine into their bodies in order to remain healthy.
Aside from harming one’s own body, smoking can cause serious health problems for others as well. Cigarettes can contain anywhere from 8 mg of nicotine to nearly 20 mg of nicotine. According to CDC.gov, “Not only does smoking have high amounts of this drug, but it’s also the leading cause to lung cancer, birth defects during pregnancy, and decreases your lifespan by an average of 14 years.” Smoking is something that is a serious problem in today’s society; and that needs to change.
Nicotine is a drug that can make one feel calmer when in a stressful situation. It is highly addictive and harmful to the body. When students are vaping, they are just substituting the nicotine by vaping instead of smoking a cigarette. Vaping is the process of taking in water vapor which has a flavored liquid that can contain nicotine.
Neither smoking nor vaping have any benefits for a person’s personal health, but they both come with many harmful disadvantages. They can cause many problems, not only to one’s present self, but to their future self as well. Both smoking and vaping are becoming more and more of a problem in today’s society and can hopefully be changed.