Teenagers with a
great sense of self will probably make wiser choices regarding decisions about
their sexual encounters. They often live with the misconception that all of
their friends are having sex, so they should as well. They do not want to be
left out or worse, teased for not having sex. Therefore, unless your teenager
is self-confident enough to make it clear that they have made a choice, they
will probably cave to peer pressure and have sex. The downside to this is the
sex they do experience will probably be without protection, thus, the
likelihood of contracting a sexual disease is increased. When the teenager is
confident, they may also choose to engage in sexual activity but they will do
so with the knowledge of sexually transmitted diseases and are more likely to
use protection.
A final note to
parents, when you are talking to your teenager about sex it is very important
to tell them about the sexually transmitted diseases, the statistics of how
rampant they are, and how they can protect themselves against contracting a
disease. If you leave this part out of the conversation, you are really wasting
your time talking to them in the first place.
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