What are your thoughts on the HPV vaccine for girls and boys? If you agree with it, what age should it be administered? Thanks!! So Confused!!!! Dear So Confused – Whether or not to vaccinate against HPV is confusing and rightly so because it is a loaded issue. HPV, of course is transmitted through sexual intercourse and none of us wants our teens to be sexually active until marriage. (Those who think teen sex is fine read my book Your Kids at Risk.) I encourage you to read one of my prior blogs on the vaccine but in addition to those, let me add a few things. First, as a pediatrician and mother, I don’t believe that it’s ethical to give a vaccine to a child without telling him or her what it is for, when they can control whether or not they get HPV with their behavior. If a 13 year old gets the vaccine, he or she needs to know how dangerous and serious sex is and how he/she can avoid being sexually active. We give shots, but who teaches kids how NOT to have sex? That’s should be our number one priority. Second, I talk openly and honestly…