Best for your health. Best for your future.

Choosing to wait for sex is called abstinence. Many teens are making the choice to wait until marriage to become sexually active.

Saying no to sex now as a teen does not mean saying no forever. It does mean giving yourself a chance to accomplish your dreams and know yourself and what you want in a relationship. Choosing not to gamble with your future by having sex is one of the most important decisions you can make.

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 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