“Let’s
talk about sex baby, let’s talk about you and me,” are familiar lyrics to a
90’s rap song by Salt n Pepper. However, they used this as message to get teens
in their target audience to wake up and take account of the sexual issues
facing that generation.
Sexual
responsibility is still an uphill battle, and it is a personal decision. You
have to take into account many things before getting your freak on- so to
speak- with that person you have been eyeing when you go to the bar on Friday
nights. For women you need to think,’ Do I really want to have sex with this
guy?” “How many others has he slept with and I wonder if he has any sexually
transmitted disease?”
For men
it is much the same thing except they have to think about to condom or not to
condom as they face the possibility of sexually transmitted disease, possible
unwanted pregnancy, premature ejaculation issues, and even alcohol induced
impotence if they have been drinking too much. Yes I grudgingly admit that I
have been with too many guys who have thought it was cool to get plastered
before we had sex and then when it came time to perform they didn’t make their
curtain call.
Then of
course there is the whole other matter to decide upon, what form of birth
control do I use? First let’s take into account effectiveness of birth control.
There are two types of effectiveness, one- theoretical: meaning how it works
under perfect laboratory conditions and two- user: how well it actually works
with independent usage.
In most
cases contraception is used to plan family size, prevent unwanted pregnancy,
especially among teens and to stop the spread if sexually transmitted disease
including HIV and AIDS. In Kansas teen
pregnancies cost the state $345 million a year; in the United States we have the highest rate among
industrialized countries with Japan
and England
being among the least. In regards to sexually transmitted disease, HIV and AIDS
there is a combined total of 12 million new reports each year.
There are
many factors to consider when deciding on birth control
- Effectiveness- will it almost
guarantee me that I won’t get pregnant
- Protection from STD’s- not
all methods protect from disease
- Privacy- don’t want partner
to know or are too embarrassed
- Easy to Use- not a lot of
bother, something every day or each time
- Cost
- Side Effects
- Will my partner help- can you
talk to them about sex and birth control comfortably
- What might work- such as
abstinence, sterilization, barrier, hormonal, and individual fertility
awareness, some of these may work some may not
Some
forms of contraception include
- Vasectomy
- Withdrawal
- Male Condom
- Female Condom
- Cervical Cap
- Spermicidal Creams
- Oral Contraceptives
- IUD
- Norplant
- Diaphragm
- Tubal Legation
- “Outer” Course
- Depo Provera
- Basal Body Temperature
- Cervical Mucous
- Calendar aka Rhythm
You see
there is a lot to consider when having sex it is a huge responsibility one that
most take for granted and end up taking on things they wish they hadn’t.
Conversely from my own experience I had been on birth control and decided to
get off of it here about six years ago because I didn’t think I could get
pregnant with one ovary and three to six month later I was told I was having a
boy. He has been the blessing of my life make no mistake about that. So please
be careful out there when you want to make that next hook up and make sure that
person is really going to be worth taking the extra time to condom or not to
condom, to sponge or not to sponge.
Tags:
Life sex men women government time Family 
