Sexually Transmitted Infections .................................

What does all of this mean to a high school student?

First, a quick summary of the facts:

Some STDs are incurable. If you get them, you will have them for life.
Some STDs may be undetected. Someone may have it and not know it.
STDs are very common. They're out there. In your community. You know someone your age who has one.
STDs can be diagnosed by a doctor, and symptoms are treatable.
Many STDs can be transmitted even though a condom is used.
The risk of getting an STD increases geometrically with every sexual contact.

In other words, the more often you have sex with different people, the higher the likelihood will be that you will eventually get an STD. You might be sure that your partner is faithful to you ... but what about that person's former partner, or all the people that person had sex with, none of whom you know anything about!

The only one foolproof way to ensure that you do not get an STD is to abstain from sex until you have found the partner you want to spend the rest of your life with. Ideally, before you get married, each of you will get a medical check-up to ensure that neither of you has any sexually transmitted diseases.

Unfortunately, people who have casual sex don't know anything about their partner's history, and obviously no medical check-ups are done. That's why herpes and other diseases spread so easily, and why your chances of getting an STD are very high if you are sexually active, whether or not you use protection ... or even if you're just intimate with a lot of different people.

You have no idea who has a disease, and they aren't likely to tell you.

One argument for choosing abstinence goes like this: if a friend asked you to walk over a bridge which dropped every hundredth traveller to their death below, would you take the risk? You might, if you were feeling especially crazy. Would you still take the risk if it dropped every fourth or fifth traveller? Not likely!
These are the risks you take if you engage in either protected or unprotected casual sex.

Very few people remember the seventeenth time they had sex, but everyone remembers the first time. Consider saving that lasting memory for a partner that you really care about and are ready to spend the rest of your life with!

A Dating Strategy to Postpone Sexual Involvement

Know your date. Make sure he or she knows how you feel.
Set limits and stick to them.
Have a plan.
Have a backup plan.
Hang around with friends who aren't sexually active.
Avoid your date's house if no-one is home.
Avoid dating at an early age.
Have your date meet your parents.
Avoid isolated spots.
Avoid drugs and alcohol.
Respect the word "NO".

Above all, respect yourself.

Don't fall for these old come-ons:

"Everyone else does it." ('Then go out with someone else.')
"I want to give you something to remember me by" ('Like herpes, HIV, a baby....?')
"It will bring us closer" ('Like it does people in Hollywood?')
"If you don't, I'll find someone who will." ('I hope the two of you have a nice life.')