While every parent hopes for abstinence, teens are facing external and internal pressure to have sex every day. Protecting your child means educating them and giving them both literal and figurative tools to make good choices. Here are a few tips for working with your teen to prevent pregnancy.
Talk About It
The more forbidden something is, the more your teen is interested. Starting a conversation about sexual intercourse and teen pregnancy helps your teen truly understand what they are getting into. Be honest, sincere, and open minded. Health class may cover the bare facts but when your teen hits puberty, feelings, peer pressure and other influencing factors come into play. While it’s important to make your expectations and feelings clear, you cannot guarantee the chastity belt won’t slip. Educate them, let them ask questions, and give honest answers.
Be Clear About Contraceptives
Becoming a parent as a teenager isn’t uneventful for a boy, but for a girl it can impact absolutely every aspect of her life. In either case, make sure your child understands the importance of contraceptives -- that it is always their responsibility to provide them, no matter what the other partner says.
If your child is considering having sex, make sure birth control is available. Maybe that means keeping a box of hidden condoms in the bathroom, so your son as access. Or maybe it means a visit to your daughter’s gynecologist for a yearly shot or daily pill. The Center for Diseases Control (CDC) estimates that 45% of 15-19 year olds have had sex, but only 4 of 5 of those kids “used birth control the last time they had sex.” And this doesn’t mean they do so every time. That means at least ? of sexually active teenagers are not playing it safe sometimes. Sometimes is all it takes.
Make sure your teen isn’t one of those kids. Explain which types of birth control are more effective (less than 1% of women get pregnant using IUDs or implants, versus 18% of women relying strictly on condoms), and that pregnancy isn’t the only risk. If you aren’t comfortable leading the charge or aren’t sure where to begin, your teen’s health care provider is a great source of information for both of you.
Help Your Teen Understand the Risks
Teenage mothers are more likely to face certain birth issues, like premature birth and high blood pressure during pregnancy. Their growing bodies simply aren’t developed as much as older women, and thus do not face the rigors of pregnancy as well. Teens need to understand these things, but also the less tangible risks.
Her education is going to be interrupted. She’s not going to have the freedom to go out with her friends on the weekends. He’s going to need to provide financial help. Neither of them are going to have the free and easy time they might have in college or life outside of school. Raising a child is hard -- you know that. Make sure your teen does, too.
