ABSTINENCE
The Best Choice for Teens in Preventing Teenage Pregnany
I am a sixteen year old teen, and yes, I do practice abstinence.
Sometimes it feels like I'm the only one. This doesn't bother
me so much because I don't let the peer pressure get to me.
I live by the cliché "your body is a temple."
I also keep a picture of my parents in my head. I've seen
the hardships that come along with premarital sex, and I do
not want to have to deal with that.
"Your body is a temple, so treat it that way."
I'm sure most everyone has heard this at least one time. Now,
take that wonderful little cliché and think about it,
pick it apart, and analyze it. Alright, now get into the mindset
that you're a temple, any temple you want to be. You can be
any size, shape, or color, so long as you are your own individual
temple, because every person is individual and has their own
characteristics. You are a temple. Do you really want just
any person to enter? Hopefully not. Think about the sort of
people that you want to allow. Shouldn't they have to earn
their way in? Do you want people to enter before it is fully
constructed, before it is ready and prepared to have people
inside? I know if I was a temple, I'd want it to be totally
beautified and mature enough to handle the people that come
in. I want the people to be worthy of my temple. I want to
respect them and I want them to respect me. And they must
be patient. They have to understand I will not let them walk
on my floors until I feel it is ready, until I know who they
are, and what they are about. They will not be allowed to
enter until they are worthy of my temple, which may take years,
so they must be prepared to wait. If I feel they are impatient
at all, I will push them away. Building the perfect temple
takes time and effort, and I do not want to be rushed, especially
by someone who does not deserve to wander inside. Right now,
my temple is still under construction, like my peers around
me, though some of them don't realize this. Or, perhaps they
don't respect it enough to let it mature and beautify to its
fullest. I just remember to stop and consider who I'm letting
into my temple because it could be a major life alteration
in the end with huge consequences.
Another more practical reason, I suppose, that I choose not
to have premarital sex is because of my parents. Not just
because they've given me "the talk," or because
they're involved in my life and know what's going on, but
because as teens they chose to make a poor choice. I was born
on August thirteenth and my parents wed approximately a month
afterwards on September sixteenth. So, if you do the math,
obviously my parents didn't make a very good decision. My
mother was eighteen and my father was nineteen. Soon after
I was born he joined the military. Although I can't say I
actually remember the struggles and the hardships that went
on, I know it had to have been tough. They've told me many
stories, about how they would pay all their own bills and
have perhaps twelve dollars left over for two weeks until
pay day. Or how they went for over a year without ever eating
out and when they finally had money they went to Hardee's
and it was one of the best days ever. They told me about the
run down trailer they had to live in and all the "interesting"
people they got to meet. During these years I was not neglected
by any means. I was very well taken care of, I never went
hungry and I always had decent clothes. They did almost everything
on their own because by the time I was 6 months old they had
moved out and were on their own. They weren't just in another
house; they were in a whole other state hours away from their
parents. I believe my parents are lucky because they got through
it all and are still together. Many couples are not this lucky.
My parents were lucky enough to have supportive parents and
motivation.
Now, you may be thinking all that was in the past and I
have no remembrance of what it was like. So why would it affect
me in the present day. It affects me today because there are
still side effects. We recently moved to Goldsboro in October
and I know it was hard for my mother to find a job. When she
was eighteen she had just started college, but because of
poor choices she had to drop out so she could take care of
herself and the little one inside of her. I think it's a lot
harder for an adult to find a job without a college education.
Yes, I know it's possible to find a decent job without one,
but it's much harder. In addition to affecting the household's
income, it can cause awkward feelings in a conversation. Sometimes
when discussing my family with others, we start to compare
and contrast our parents. Then the dreaded question comes
up, "how old are yours?" And then I have to tell
them because if I don't they'll pester me forever until I
do. Once they find out their age they do the math and they
get sort of quiet sometimes. Then they have to say "Whoa,
your parents were really young when they had you, were they
even married yet?" And the conversation may go on for
a little bit like this, making me more uncomfortable by the
second. So as you can see, practicing abstinence can make
your future so much easier in the long run, and may save your
children from feeling uncomfortable for your poor decisions.
I know I can't prevent my peers from engaging in premarital
sex, but perhaps this essay could cause a spark in everyone's
minds, and have a bit of an impact on Goldsboro, North Carolina.
I practice abstinence because I'm smart and I know it's the
right thing to do, even if I'm the only one. Also, I respect
my body and realize that no sex is safe sex, no matter what.
I have a lot going for me now, with amazing parents and mentors,
so why would I want to screw that up? I know I'm better off
then some and I'm lucky to live the life that I do, and I
shouldn't take it for granted. I know in the long run that
it will pay off, even if it's in the distant future. I don't
want to have to struggle to pay the bills, and I don't want
my children to have to feel uncomfortable because of mistakes
that I may make. I feel that if other teens' parents were
more involved like mine, they might think before they act
a little bit more because I know I do. Just keep in mind that
you are your own magnificent temple and it deserves the utmost
respect.
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