You may think that it can’t happen to you because your significant other has told you that they don’t have any STD’s because they say they’ve only had a couple of partners”.  You all need a reality check, because it can happen to any of you regardless of the number of encounters you all have had in the past.  Every time you have sex and don’t protect yourself, even with just one partner, you are putting yourself at risk with the possibility that you may be having sex with a thousand others! Your boyfriend or girlfriend may not have had sex with but five people, but all five of them may have had sex with five other people, then that twenty five have all had sex with five people and so forth!  You need to know that it only takes one person in that group to have an STD to pass it on to everyone else after you.

There are more STD’s than just the notorious ones like AIDS and HEP.  There are diseases such as Chlamydia that won’t kill you, but it will make them really sick and infertile; so when you do decide to settle down and start a family, it won’t happen because you thought your boyfriend or girlfriend was disease free!  Genital warts are nasty and can be a humiliating procedure to have them removed! You should wear a condom at all times regardless of what you think about your partner!

Being pregnant is not as alluring as you may think.  Mostly all teenage mothers are single, jobless and not well educated.  Becoming a mother will ensure that you do not get your full eight hours of sleep because the baby will need attention throughout the day and night.  You may as well say good bye to hanging out with your friends, because you won’t be able to.  This alone should be another reason you should want to always wear a condom!

My final advice to you is to make sure you always have condoms on hand or know where you can go to get them if you need them.  Don’t worry about how many condoms you keep on hand; just make sure you have them.  Have some extra condoms just in case some of your friends don’t have any when they need some.  You may also want to keep extra condoms just in case you have trouble using them the first couple of times you try.

Regardless of how uneasy you feel about talking to your parents about smoking you should do so anyway.  Despite what your friends say, smoking is not something most parents permit and you doing so will have more of an impact on them than you think. According to one study, teens who think that their parents disagree with smoking were less than half as likely to smoke as those who thought their parents wouldn’t care. Your parents shouldn’t smoke inside the house, in the car, or right in front of you. They also shouldn’t forget to keep the cigarettes from your inquisitive hands. If your parents smoke, they should try to quit. Quitting may be hard if you start and it will sometimes make you feel miserable during the process of trying to quit. Smoking is not attractive and it can bring damaging and unpleasant results such as bad breath, smelly hair, and yellow teeth. Smoking is an unclean and foul habit, and can also leave you with a constant cough and less energy for sports and other activities you may have once enjoyed doing.

Another issue is the cost. Smoking is pricey; so calculate your weekly, monthly, or yearly cost of one-pack-a-day smoking routine. Consider what other things you can purchase instead.  Consider buying practical devices, clothes, and other important things you may need instead of cigarettes.

I know you are exposed to peer pressure. Your friends who smoke can become very persuasive. You should possess the courage you need to reject smoking. One essential that should be practiced is “Saying No in a Nice Manner.”

You may think that you can quit smoking anytime you want. But sadly, you become just as addicted to nicotine as adults, often rapidly and at quite low doses of nicotine. And once captivated, it will be harder for you to quit. Due to lack of experience, you also tend to believe that bad things only happen to others. But the long term costs of you smoking are things such as cancer, stroke, and heart attacks.  These are all serious things that may be “too real” for you when you grow a bit older.