Today many teens are
choosing their own futures … choosing to wait to have sex
until marriage. Teens are calling the shots and making the
choice that will be best for their health, their futures and the
children they may have someday. Here are ten reasons teens today
have for waiting.
One:
I’m not ready - yet.
I’ve heard too
many kids say they wish they hadn’t done it afterward.
I want the first
time to be really special - not in the backseat of a car
somewhere.
I know what is right
for me, and I’m not ready for sex and all that goes with it.
Two:
I’m not ready to deal with birth control.
Should we use a
condom? Birth control pills? Where do I go for these things?
What do I do if my parents find out? I’m not ready to deal
with these kinds of questions.
Birth control
doesn’t always work … what if I still get pregnant or a
sexually transmitted disease?
Three:
I’m not ready to have a baby.
I know that if we
have sex, we could have a baby - even if we
used birth control.
I’m not ready to
raise a child … change diapers, walk a crying baby at 2AM,
give up all my free time, work and go to school and try to raise
a child.
I don’t want to
have to think about getting an abortion or putting the baby up
for adoption or how I am going to tell my parents
Four:
My relationship isn’t ready.
If we start having
sex it will become the focus of everything we do. I still want
to hang out with friends and go to the movies.
I know that having
sex will not make someone love me or stay with me.
I haven’t found
the right person.
If we start having
sex our relationship will change.
What if my boyfriend
or girlfriend brags about having sex with me … it will ruin my
reputation. I will never know if someone is dating me for me …
or for what they think they can get.
Five:
I don’t want to get an STD.
I don’t want
chlamydia, herpes or any other sexually transmitted disease.
I might not be able
to tell if my partner is infected and it’s hard to ask.
I’m too young to
die from AIDS or spend the rest of my life on medication for a
disease I could have prevented.
Six:
I’m not willing to risk HIV.
Many people in their
20’s with AIDS were infected in their teens. I could get
infected now and not even know it.
There is no such
thing as “safe sex”. Using a condom only makes sex
“safer”. Do I want to take the chance if having sex could
mean my life.
Seven:
I want to wait until I’m older.
When I’m older I
will have had a chance to achieve my goals like college, travel,
and building a career - having a baby now could change all of
that.
When I’m older
I’ll know more about myself and what I want in a relationship.
When I’m older I
won’t have to worry about my parents finding out I’m having
sex.
Eight:
I want to wait until I’m married.
I want to wait for
that special person who I plan to spend my life with.
It’s against my
values and religion to have sex outside of marriage.
Nine:
It’s my decision to wait.
I am old enough to
make decisions that affect my life.
Even though lots of
teens say they are having sex, I don’t have to do it until
I’m ready.
Even if my
girlfriend or boyfriend wants to have sex, I can still say no.
Ten:
Everyone is not doing it.
I have the right to
say no and do what is best for me!
Over 50 percent of
teens are still virgins when they turn 17.
I know I’m not the
only one deciding to wait.
I want to be proud
of me and my decisions.
Taken in part from Sex:
Ten Best Reasons to Wait published by Journeyworks
Publishing
Why
Wait?