Love Yourself Enough To Protect Yourself

Ashley Brown
Freshman
Bowling Green University

“How often do you protect yourself?” This is a question you usually here during school conventions and even safe sex commercials on television. When you hear this question what runs through your head?
Many teens are sexually active and are not using the knowledge that is offered to them concerning safe sex. Do not become “that teen,” that puts themselves at risk of becoming pregnant, or obtaining a sexually transmitted disease (STD). Countless teens believe that the chances of catching an STD or becoming pregnant are not likely to happen to them. That is not true. In the United States, an estimated 15.3 million new cases of STDs occur each year, at least one-quarter of them among teenagers. To make matters worst, many people do not know if they have an STD. To add to that statistic, about 1 million teenagers become pregnant each year; 95% of those pregnancies are unintended, and almost one third end in abortions. Diseases are spread too commonly and many teens become pregnant too commonly. Do not put yourself at risk.
Protect yourself because sexually active teenagers who do not use contraceptives have a 90% chance of becoming pregnant within one year. Teen pregnancy is a sensitive subject and it is unfortunate to have an unplanned pregnancy at a young age. Teens suffer from not having the proper knowledge of how to raise a child and also endure financial problems when raising a child as a teen. In many cases it has been referred to as, “a child raising a child”. Pregnancy is a component that can drastically change your life for better or for worst. For girls that chose to have an abortion, 65% are mentally damaged from the outcome. Avoid this conclusion but using contraceptives.

By not protecting yourself, the chances of receiving an STD becomes higher. In my opinion, the worst thing that can happen to a person is to be tested positive for having HIV/AIDS. This is frightening because these diseases are not curable. They are also something that you will have to live with for the rest of your life and some thing that will most likely be the cause of your death. As for the diseases that are curable, it is a frightening process. Usually you have to take medications and sometimes the disease will damage permanently.

It may sound simple to just say, “put on a condom”. I understand that it is easier said than done. You go through the stresses of peer pressure, trusting and even believing that you will receive better pleasure without a condom. It gets scary when you begin to think of the consequences of not having safe sex. If you feel you give into peer pressure when it comes to protecting yourself, the best option may be to change your partner or not to have sex at all. You deserve to put yourself first. Get tested and have safe sex. The possible results of the outcome of unprotected sex are endless, so love yourself enough to protect yourself.