According to a study released on Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) approximately 1 in 4 U.S. teen girls has a sexually transmitted disease (STD). The study analyzed data on 838 girls age 14 to 19 who took part in a 2003 to 2004 government health survey. The teens were tested for chlamydia, trichomoniasis, herpes simplex and the human papillomavirus.

As the time for spring break nears for many universities (including Hofstra), students should be aware of the decisions they make. It’s quite unfortunate to hear that so many young females have STDs. It seems that no matter how early health education begins, not everyone listens closely and even though a vacation is a time when people relax, maybe young adults are relaxing a bit too much.

Yes, spring break is a time to have fun and not have to worry about things, but there are some things you just can’t ignore. No matter how much alcohol you plan to drink or how much partying you plan to do down in Cancun or in the Bahamas, there is no getting away from the chance that you might make a bad decision one night.

According to an article in The Baltimore Sun, the numbers above translate to about 3.2 million adolescent females infected with one of the four most common STDs. What makes this even harder to imagine is that many of these females may not even know they have a disease and are passing it on to a sexual partner.

Having an STD isn’t something small, which is also true for any disease, but this just shows that there are many young women at risk for the serious health effects of untreated STDs. And it’s not only women that are at risk; if they are with a male partner, then he is at risk as well.

So as spring break creeps closer, just remember that just one quick or not-so-quick decision can affect the rest of your life. No, you don’t have to walk around the beach being paranoid, but just be careful and try not to get so intoxicated that you forget to use protection. A small step can go a long way.