Scott
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this post is intended to inform readers and is not intended to replace specific advice from a health care professional.
Today, I wanted to share a sweet message sent by one of my students a little while back.
This is the reason I do what I do. I teach, write, and pour out all I am in the hopes that I can make a positive impact on your life. And notes like the one below make me smile to know that I am helping.
I recently finished your book and just like to say how much it meant to me. I have social anxiety that prevents me from doing the things I normally would love to do and meet and connect with people. I have also tried reading many self-help books to inspire me to make a change but nothing really clicked with me the way your book did. I don’t know. It just seemed to come from a real place. While reading it I felt I could relate to it and was part of something. It also did inspire me to make changes to my own life where I felt it lacking. I might even reconnect with some people I once knew. All I’m trying to say is keep up the good work. I hope to be able to attend one of your lectures sometime soon to hear you speak, just to further evolve my education on myself 🙂 Thanks so much for taking the time to write a book for us teens who don’t usually feel we have a strong voice in this day and age. You probably hear this a lot but you can’t possibly understand how much it means to all of us and how much we appreciate it. For someone to take the time and say, “I see you.”
Anywhere I teach, I find that there are fewer teens and parents who are educated about HIV. Most of my students don’t even know what the acronyms “HIV” or “AIDS” represent.Just last week, I met a 24 year-old student who approached me at the end of a lecture to tearfully share that he was recently diagnosed with HIV. He wept in my arms.
It reminded me of my friend Larry who, a few days before he died of AIDS, grabbed the IV pole that was attached to his arm, infusing him with medicine, and pulled it toward his chest. He thought it was a person standing by his bed. He needed someone to hold.
We all need more HIV education and we all need someone to hold.
The acronym “HIV” stands for: Human Immunodeficiency VirusThe acronym “AIDS” stands for: Acquired Immunodeficiency SyndromeACQUIRED: One gets it, as opposed to it occurring naturally in one’s system.
IMMUNO: Refers to a protection in the immune system which fights off or defends us against unhealthy viruses, bacteria, germs and other disease‑causing micro‑organisms.
DEFICIENCY: A loss of this protection; implies that something is not working properly.
SYNDROME: A group of symptoms or physical signs that together indicate a disease or condition and in this case, define AIDS as a human pathology.
You don’t give AIDS.
You don’t get AIDS.
You don’t catch AIDS.
You don’t spread AIDS.
You don’t give it, you don’t get it, you don’t catch it, you don’t spread it.
You become INFECTED with or CONTRACT the virus (HIV or the HI‑virus) which can then sometimes, but NOT all times, LEAD to or PROGRESS to AIDS.
AIDS is not an organism that exists. It can not be seen under a microscope. It can not be grown in a Petrie dish. It can not be located in the blood. AIDS is a term that scientists and researchers coined in order to describe the phenomenon of what happens to the body after HIV succeeds in destroying the immune system. AIDS is a syndrome of many diseases, each resulting from an opportunistic agent or cancer cell or other infection that multiplies in humans who are immunosupressed because of a virus known as HIV.
The four fluids that carry and transfer the virus are blood, semen, vaginal secretions and breastmilk. Not urine, not saliva, not mucous, not sweat, not tears, not vomit, not puss, not drool, not diarrhea, not spit, not anything but:
- Blood
- Semen
- Vaginal Secretions
- Breastmilk
For transmission of HIV to occur, one or more of these fluids must get into your bloodstream. Not on your clothes. Not on your fingers. Not on your sleeve. Not on your hands. Not on your skin. They must get into your bloodstream by way of a cut or tear in the skin or onto one of your torn mucous membranes.
Mucous membranes line body passages and cavities like your respiratory and digestive tracts and other internal organs. Mucous membranes also line passages and cavities that are open or exposed to the outside, protecting foreign particles or antigens from invading the body. According to scientists, researchers and AIDS service organizations, the mucous membrane must be torn, lacerated or have an abrasion for transmission and infection to occur. The variables are the amount of HIV and the length of time on the membrane. It’s risk reduction! You decide what’s best for you!
Always remember the equation:
DO NOT ALLOW
SOMEBODY ELSE’S
BLOOD, SEMEN, VAGINAL SECRETIONS AND/OR BREASTMILK
INTO YOUR BLOODSTREAM
OR
ONTO YOUR MUCOUS MEMBRANES
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this post is intended to inform readers and is not intended to replace specific advice from a health care professional.
She planted shortly after the last spring frost in a soil temperature of exactly 50 degrees. Carefully, she placed the seeds into the ground, one inch deep and two inches apart, as instructed, covering them with soil to keep them warm. Then she painstakingly constructed a 16 foot long by 5 foot tall “cattle panel,” which is a portable section of wire fence, so that beans could climb with ease. She mulched the soil to retain moisture and made sure it was well-drained. She watered her bean garden regularly and weeded diligently.
In the end, after all her hard work, she yielded only three beans. So when the last spring frost arrived the following year, she decided not to plant anymore seeds.
One day, after a late summer rain, a neighbor knocked on her door.
“Are you the person who planted a bean garden in your yard last summer?” he asked. “I notice that you didn’t plant this season.”
He explained that he would pass her house every day on the way home from work and was so inspired by the 16 foot long by 5 foot tall trellis she had constructed that he set out to plant his own bean garden.
He was overrun with beans!
Sometimes, the seeds we plant today might just bloom in someone’s else’s garden.
Sometimes, the wishes we put into the universe might just manifest in someone else’s life.
This week, tend to your miracles and watch where they grow.
In my first “A Pocketful of Wisdom” podcast, I share the privilege of an elegant life, the secrets I keep in my pockets, and challenge you to think about what you carry in yours. This episode was recorded in front of a live audience of over 150 teens at Camp Kinerret Biluim, Mont Tremblant, Quebec.
2014 T-Shirt Design Contest
Are you an aspiring fashion designer?
Yes? Awesome – remember us when you’re famous!
No? You don’t have to be!
I want to create a new t-shirt and want you all to be a part of it. From now until the end of July, I’m asking you to send me your designs. And there are cool prizes for the winner!
THE THEME
“I breathe. I belong. I am enough.”
These are the only words that have to be included. Other than that, be creative and have fun. You can use any digital graphic design program, pen and paper, paint, colored pencils, or whatever you want!
If you’d like a template help get you started, feel free to use this image as a starting point – tshirt.jpg
All submissions can be sent to tshirt@scottfried.com
THE VOTING
All of the submissions will be uploaded to a gallery on my Facebook page. So if you haven’t yet – make sure to “like” my page so that you can vote!
The new designs will be uploaded every week on Thursdays and the design with the most likes at midnight on 7/31/14 will be the winner.
THE PRIZES
I told you there would be cool prizes!
The artist who submits the winning design will get:
1) Signed copies of all three of my books (A Private Midnight, If I Grow Up, and My Invisible Kingdom)
2) Signed copies of both of my CDs (As I Grow and Defining a Life)
3) One of their winning t-shirts
I can’t wait to see the amazing designs you will come up with!
Name:
Jonel
Age:
17
Who Are You?
I am a 17 year old and I have a 7 month old baby. I’m in the 11th grade. I live in Miami, Florida.
Whose arms do you fall into?
My son’s.
What is the one miracle you are waiting for?
I’m waiting for me to go home so I can raise my baby better.
What is your weapon?
My attitude and my quick temper.
Whom do you miss the most?
My grandmother.
What are you scared of?
Life.
What is your favorite memory?
Having my baby.
When was the last time God spoke to you and what did He say?
I don’t remember. But I know that GOD is telling me that everything is going to be alright.
What words are you holding onto in your pockets?
Courage peace love joy hope brave keep going never give up.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
Don’t give up. I am not a nerd. I learned that from you.
What advice would you give to your parents that will help them in raising you?
I would tell my mother to stop trying to make me do things that I don’t want to do. And I would also tell her that I’m not a baby anymore and that she needs to accept the fact that I have a child now.
Is there sometimes an emptiness inside you and what does it feel like?
Yes. Lost.
Are you enough?
Yes
STI’s or STD? Viral or Bacterial? What’s the Difference?
The other day, a mom emailed me about her 7th grade son who is studying “FLE” (Family Life Education) in school, aka sex ed. When she asked him what he learned, he said, “Blow jobs and abstinence.”
I think it’s time to learn a bit more.STD stands for “sexually transmitted disease.” STD is the most commonly used term for the collection of medical infections that are transmitted through sexual contact. People who become infected, don’t always experience any symptoms or have their infection develop into a disease. That’s where the more modern term “STI” comes from.
STI stands for “sexually transmitted infection”, and many people, mostly the medical community, have begun transitioning from “STD” to “STI” in an effort to clarify that not all sexually transmitted infections turn into a disease. For instance, the vast majority of women who contract HPV (human papilloma virus) will not develop the resulting disease cervical cancer. In fact, most cases of infection will clear up within two years. Additionally, people who use this term believe that it also eliminates stigma around these illnesses; it’s less harsh to talk about an infection as opposed to a disease.
While the term STD has been around a long time (way back when, it was called venereal disease – named after Venus, the goddess of love), STI is becoming increasingly popular. Most of the time, the two acronyms are used interchangeably.
There are two major types of STIs – bacterial and viral. What’s the difference?
The microbes that cause sexually transmitted diseases or infections are equal opportunity bugs. They don’t care if you are white or black, rich or poor, educated or illiterate, happy or sad. If you’re a warm body, you’ll do.STI germs settle in an estimated 12 million Americans each year. Worldwide, they find 250 million new hosts a year.
The main difference between these two categories of STIs is what causes them — bacterial STIs are caused by bacterium and viral STIs are caused by viruses. A virus is so small that it can only survive and reproduce inside a living cell. But bacteria are larger than viruses and most can survive away from their host and even multiply.
As a result of being caused by different microorganisms, bacterial and viral STIs vary in their treatment. Bacterial STIs, such as gonorrhea, syphilis and chlamydia, are often cured with antibiotics. However, viral STIs, (the four “H’s”) such as HIV, HPV (genital warts), Herpes, and Hepatitis have no cure, but their symptoms can be alleviated with treatment.
The most common bacterial STI is chlamydia.
The most common viral STI is HPV.
In addition to bacteria and viruses, STIs can also be caused by protozoa, which are single cell organisms (such as trichomoniasis) and other organisms like parasites (crabs/pubic lice and scabies). These STIs can be cured with antibiotics or topical creams/lotions.
One of the most common symptoms of an STI is NO symptoms. So it’s important to go for check-ups if you are engaging in some type of sexual behavior. In general, women come off worse than men in this respect, more often showing no signs or symptoms of their disease. For instance, 80 percent of women and 40 percent of men diagnosed with chlamydia may not experience symptoms. STIs need to be diagnosed correctly and fully treated as soon as possible to avoid complications that could be serious and/or permanent.
The information above was gathered from these great resources. I encourage you to check them out if you want to keep learning!
- Go Ask Alice – http://goaskalice.columbia.edu
- Beforeplay.org – www.beforeplay.org
- Planned Parenthood – http://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-topics/stds-hiv-safer-sex-101.htm
- Sexually Transmitted Infections (The Facts) by Barlow, David (Mar 3, 2011), $12.49 Kindle Edition
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this post is intended to inform readers and is not intended to replace specific advice from a health care professional.