1034
North Carolina agrees :-)
Advocates for Youth:
I have not discussed all STDs. There is much more to learn about:
(
(
(
information about STD's call Kaiser Foundation Hotline at 1-888-BE-
SAFE-1 or the National STD Hotline at 1-800-227-8922. For people
with herpes, there is a good book by Ebel & Dulude (1998), Managing
Herpes: How to Live and Love with a Chronic STD.
Be responsible: Don’t do it or use contraceptives…abortion
Both parties are responsible for avoiding pregnancy
Obviously, the solution to unwanted pregnancies is to avoid sex or
use contraceptives. With our sex laden culture and media, the genie is
out of the bottle. Sex between 13 and 30 is just too appealing for
many of us to resist until we marry at age 30. The old line "save
yourself for marriage" just ain't going to work any more. The "have
sex" message, however, has overshadowed the "protect yourself"
message. TV has prohibited birth control ads. We are real retarded in
learning how to use contraceptives. Science has provided us with
many highly effective birth control methods but we don't use them.
But religion keeps telling us that premarital sex is a sin. 20% to 25%
of singles in their twenties use no contraception. 40% of divorced men
use none. How can we take control of our reproductive lives? The
concept of the family--a monogamous union with one or two well
cared for, very loved, carefully planned children--is a cherished,
commendable ideal. What do we need to learn to achieve it? A lot.
First, many attitudes need to change. Males must stop believing
that women are responsible for avoiding pregnancy... and for the
pregnancy, if it occurs. As a society, we must hold males, even 12 or
13-year-olds, partly responsible for their impregnations. As a teenage
male, you must think of the problems and pain inflicted on the girl if
she gets pregnant. If she chooses to have the baby, you may be
morally obliged to partly support that child for the rest of your life
beginning at conception. As the father of a child, that has many
implications for your relationship with your parents, for your education
and career, for your relationships with all other women if you don't
stay with the mother of your child, etc. Fatherhood is an awesome
