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Discuss what both of you will do to prevent pregnancy and disease.
Your thinking must include the possibility that the partner (or you) has
a STD and doesn't know it. Much less than half of sexually
experienced teens have this kind of serious discussion before having
sex; it is hard to do but when the consequences are so grave, there is
no excuse. Note: 25% of the sexually active get a STD in one year.
Yet, you can protect yourself, perhaps not perfectly but pretty well.
U.S. youth make more sexual mistakes
The self-control of sexual behaviors in this country is terrible
compared to other countries. We are the only country listed below with
an official national one-rule-fits-all policy of "Abstinence until
Marriage." Something is wrong...and it isn't that our young people are
irresponsible and uncaring. Our adults--parents, schools, politicians,
and churches--have been uninvolved, aloof, naive, too preachy, and
too insecure to deal with sex education realistically. We adults can
learn much more about helping/teaching young people the details of
abstaining or protecting themselves from unwanted diseases and
babies. Consider a few facts from Advocates for Youth: (See their URL
below)
Average Age at First Intercourse:
United States – 16.3 ...France - 16.6 ...Germany - 17.4 ...Netherlands
- 17.7
1997 Teen Birth Rate (per 1,000 women, ages 15 to 19):
United States - 52 ...Germany - 14 ...France - 9 ...Netherlands - 4
Teen Abortion Rate (per 1,000 women under age 20):
United States - 26.8 ...France - 8.9 ...Netherlands - 4.2 ...Germany -
3.1
1997 AIDS Case Rates in the General Population (per 100,000
population):
United States - 21.7 ...France - 4.8 ...Netherlands - 2.2 ...Germany -
1.7
How can we do better? See these sites:
Society is at fault:
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