Pressure%20and%20Abstinence

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Pressure and Abstinence

• Where does pressure to be sexually active come
  from?

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Internal

• Physiology- Sexual arousal makes us want to
  fulfill our biological urges
• The need to love and be loved my be
  misinterpreted as need for sexual intimacy
• Curiosity about sex makes us want to investigate
  through sexual behaviors

3
External

• Myths about sex and sexual activity may create
  pressure
• Peers and family may make it seem desirable or
  necessary to be sexually active
• Sexual stereotypes can be sources of pressure
• The media almost always falsely depicts sex and
  sexuality

4
Media

• Sex often portrayed as being quick, easy, and the
  goal of relationships
• Conveys the message to teens that sex is good and
  carries few consequences
• Messages from the media can be very powerful,
  because they are constant, they come from
  multiple sources, and they reinforce many of the
  other internal and external pressures for sexual
  activity.

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How can we reduce the influence of the pressures
for sexual activity?

• Posses the knowledge of these pressures
• Analyze media influences
• Identify and focus on pressures for sexual
  abstinence
• Family values, religious values, goals for the
  future, physical health, emotional health,
  maintaining the quality of the relationship,
  self-respect that comes from following true
  beliefs and feelings

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Sexual Abstinence

• Choosing not to take part in all sexual acts

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Why is abstinence a responsible choice?

• Healthy and safe 100 prevention of pregnancy
  and disease transmission
• Think to yourself, who is ready
• Shows respect for self and others
• Follows family values/parental guidelines
• Demonstrates good character and moral values

8

• Shows future spouse that you love them so much
  that, before you even met them, you were willing
  to reserve the level of intimacy present during
  sex for them only

9
How do you remain abstinent?

• Become involved in activities that make you feel
  good/ self-esteem
• Establish goals
• Develop loving family relationships
• Be assertive and use decision-making skills
• Be friends with people who choose abstinence

10

• Date people who have chosen abstinence
• Avoid situations in which you are tempted to have
  sex
• Abstain from the use of alcohol and other drugs

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If you are thinking of having sex soon/ or
already do, here are some things to think about
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Source Teen Pregnancy Fact Sheet

• A baby born to a first-time teenage mother is
  more likely to be premature
• Low birth weight babies are more common among
  teenagers. Because of their weight, these babies
  are 40 times more likely to die within their
  first month of life
• A child of a teen mom is more likely to be
  neglected, physically abused, or abandoned
• The daughter of an adolescent mother is up to 83
  more likely to become a teenage mom herself
• The son of a teen mom is 2.7 times more likely to
  be arrested and imprisoned than the son of a mom
  who waited to have kids until her early 20s

13
Impact on the mother

• More than 80 percent of teen moms become
  impoverished and dependent on welfare
• Only about 3 in 10 adolescent moms earn a high
  school diploma by the age of 30
• During the first 13 years of parenthood,
  adolescents earn an average of about 5,600 every
  year.

14
Impact on our society

• Adolescent childbearing costs US taxpayers an
  estimated 6.9 billion each year due to increased
  medical care expenses, welfare, and food stamps
• When all costs come together, it cost 34 billion
  every year
• Teens having kids costs taxpayers roughly 1
  billion each year to build and maintain prisons
  for the sons of young mothers

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Sample Budget

• If you make 7/hour x 8 56/day
• 56/day x 5 280/week
• 280 x 52 weeks/year 14,560/year
• 14,560 x 33 4,368
• 14,560-4,368 10,192 which is your take home
  pay
• 10,192/12 months 849.33/month

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850 per month

• Housing for 400/month
• 150 for food
• 300 left for
• Car insurance 100-175/month
• Gas , Clothes , Fun , Cell phone, internet,
  cable, car payment
• What about to pay for a child?

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• In USA, 1 million girls between 15-19 become
  pregnant each year
• 40,000 pregnant teenagers are under the age of 15
• Babies of teenage mothers smaller and less
  healthy
• Teenage mothers have more health problems
• Why? Because of eating patterns and medical
  attention

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Every day

• 2,000 teenage girls get pregnant
• 10,000 teens get a STI
• 55 youths become HIV positive

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Parents, no matter what age

• Are legally responsible for the care and
  well-being of their children
• Many teen moms drop out of school
• Some fathers dont help support or care for the
  child
• Others drop out of school and work at low-paying
  jobs

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• Many teenage parents never complete their
  educations
• Often live in poverty
• Many think that it wont happen to them
• 1 in 6 teens who are sexually active become
  pregnant

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• Said very flat out, if you are not ready or dont
  want to be a parent, DONT HAVE SEX!
• Thats the only way to remain childfree
• You need to ask yourself, is one night one hour
  one minute worth having a responsibility 24/7,
  365, for 18 years?