CLEVELAND — Most teenagers do not want to talk about sexually transmitted infections, but according to Children’s National Hospital, teenagers alone account for three million cases of them every year. 

What You Need To Know

  • The Cleveland Department of Public Health partnered with CMSD students for a teen health summit

  • Students learned about sexually transmitted diseases 

  • Students learned about clinics available in the city 

This is why health officials felt the need to make sure students know about them.

“When I came here I was like, I really don’t know much about STIs,” said Rayana Henry, senior at Cleveland School of Science and Medicine.

Henry, along with dozens of other students from across the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, took a day off from history, math and English to learn all about STIs, or sexually transmitted infections.

The lessons were all a part of a teen health summit put on by the city’s Department of Public Health, hoping to help teens learn about the dangers of STIs and what to do if they get one.

“What symptoms you’re looking for, what kind of treatment regimens are available for you, and where to go get tested,” said nurse practitioner Tiffany Killings.

Killings used the summit as a chance to meet one-on-one with these students, giving them a chance to address topics they may feel uncomfortable discussing in a group setting.

“Just letting them know like, ‘Hey, this is what you need to be looking for.’ Sex is just one piece of the entire equation, so we’re dealing with all these different bacteria and things that can also transmit back and forth so and they need to know what to do about those,” Killings said.

But Killings and her fellow organizers know this summit is just the start of the conversation, not the end.

The Cleveland Department of Public Health also told students it runs two centers that teens can visit without needing parental consent.

“We see children 13 years of age and older, so we’re here to offer the help that they need and just to make sure that they get their questions answered,” said Jeannie Johnson-Brooks, director of nursing for the department.

“We’re seeing that most infections are in those age ranges of 15 to 24, our African-American students, our teens in that same age range are having more of those infections,” Killings said.

Henry left the summit with one request for the school district and the Department of Public Health.

“Please continue these events in the future. I think a lot of kids would benefit from it,” Henry said.