If you want to talk more about aspects of sexual health, you could look at the question: What is contraception? What is a condom? Also, look at the Talking About section, this is organised by age, and you can look for more that supports talking and learning together about condoms, contraception and aspects of sexual health including helping older young people to find a sexual health service.
3, 4 and 5-year-olds
6, 7 and 8-year-olds
Children of this age are unlikely to ask this question, but they can overhear conversations, or the word used on TV.
STIs are like an infection that grown-ups can get. We can talk about that more when you grow up.
9 and 10-year-olds
STI stands for Sexually Transmitted Infection. We say STI for short. Grown-ups can get a STI when they have sex. If they have a STI they need to see a doctor or nurse and get medicine. Then they can get better.
11 and 12 year-olds
STI stands for Sexually Transmitted Infection. We say STI for short. Adults can get a STI when they have sex. If they have a STI they need to see a doctor or nurse and get medicine. Then they can get better. To make sure they don’t get a STI a man can wear a condom on his penis. This will protect him and his partner when they have sex.
13, 14 and 15 year-olds
16, 17 and 18 year-olds
There is quite a lot of information here. You can use as much as you need in any initial response to a question. We also suggest you take a look at the Talking About section, organised by age group, to find more that you and your teenage children can chat about when it comes to keeping safe and healthy.
STI stands for Sexually Transmitted Infection. Most STI diagnosis in Scotland are in young people under the age of 25.
STI’s can be passed on through unprotected oral, vaginal or anal sex. Unprotected means sex without a condom. Some STI’s can be passed on by close bodily contact such as being naked and intimate together. For example, most people in the UK diagnosed with HIV acquired the virus through unprotected (no condoms) vaginal or anal sex.
To protect yourself there’s a few things you can do. You can choose not to have sex, or if you have sex to use condoms. Some STI’s you can get a vaccine to prevent. For some others there are tablets you can take to stop you getting them, just like the way contraception prevents a pregnancy.
You can get tested for all the STIs. By getting tested you know if you have an STI. If you do, you can get treatment. Some young people say they don’t go for testing because they feel embarrassed, or they don’t have symptoms, or they worry it isn’t confidential. People can worry about what a positive result might mean. These are big concerns, but the clinics where you go are confidential and the staff are experts and want to do their best for young people.
If you ever have a worry about STIs speak to me (or name an adult they trust) and we can find the best clinic for you to go for a check-up.