Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 25, 1993 TAG: 9304250156
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MELANIE S. HATTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Sharvette Law, 14, was surprised that many adults assume all teens are "doing it."
Law, a William Fleming High School student, attended the Roanoke Valley Black Nurses Association's third annual Teen Summit on Saturday at Eureka Park Recreation Center.
About 50 teen-agers, mostly girls, talked with adults about pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and other health issues.
During a heated panel discussion in the morning, moderator Lewis Hardy, pastor of the Prayer Temple Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, said that when men spend money on women the men expect sex in return.
But that's not always true, according to some teens.
"It's not always about having sex," said Shakir Johnson, 16. It's about having someone to spend time with.
"There are a whole lot of good boys out there," 14-year-old Stormy White said.
To head off any confusion about what is expected or wanted, a couple should state their intentions before getting into a relationship, said Brandy Jernigan, also 14. They "have to have an understanding," she said.
However, some said that preaching abstinence doesn't work in the 1990s and that condoms should be available in schools. One 14-year-old admitted she carries condoms with her, "just in case."
Younger teens complained that parents don't let them date at 13 or 14.
"It should be at least 13," White said, "as long as you're not trying to have sex with them" or run around all night on the streets.
But Rosa Bonds, a panel member from the Nurses Association, said starting a relationship at 13 or 14 was too young. Teen-agers live their lives too fast and end up with babies before they've had a chance to be a child. All too often, teen-agers attempt suicide because they can't handle the adult responsibilities they wanted, she said.
"Guys won't respect you unless you make them respect you," added Dorothy Gates, also on the panel. "You've got to have respect for yourself. You have to put limitations on what you're going to allow them to do," she said.
The Black Nurses Association was formed in 1990 by Shelvy Bratcher-Porter, its president, to have community leaders and health care professionals provide health education to the black community.
During a morning session, seven young men talked with Fleming football coach Keith Smith and Kyle Tucker, a paramedic student at the College of Health Sciences, about acquired immune deficiency syndrome.
"The sad thing is there ain't no cure for this," Tucker said. "You might think, `Oh, I'm gonna make love to this woman.' Think again."
Tucker, 20, asked the group how many made fun of the black gay characters, Blaine and Antoine, on the television comedy show "In Living Color."
"I know I do, but the fact is [what those characters don't tell you is] there's a serious problem in the black community." What was once considered a gay man's disease has spread among heterosexuals.
Tucker pointed to a leaflet that states blacks make up 34 percent of all AIDS cases, and in Virginia 56 percent of women with the disease are black.
"AIDS is no joke," he said. It's also expensive. The medication can cost $50,000 a month - "the cost of a college education," Tucker said.
Some teens are bored hearing about AIDS, said Nikki Bright, 15, of Patrick Henry High School, but the information needs to be available. Many still don't understand what it is and believe it only affects older or famous people, she said.
Not so for 16-year-old Milton Hardy. "I know people who have AIDS" who are in their teens or early 20s, he said. "And I know some who have died.
"Programs like this give information you need to know," he said. As a result, there's more respect between young men and women, he said.
"That's basically what we're learning," Milton said. "If we don't respect each other, I don't know how we can get along."
by CNB