t - New York Civil Liberties Union

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Union-Endicott
controlled in both sexes without damage to your health or life. It means that when somebody asks you,
"Why'd you do that?" you can say: "Because it was right o •• because I wanted to" instead of "Because of
the pressure" or "because my partner expected it" or "because it just happened that way ... I was carried
away, we had a few drinks."
Will Power/Won't
Power
"Some young women truly don't know they have the right to say no-veven if they've said yes in the
past," says Nicholson. "\X11at we want them to understand is that today it's not cool to be swept off your
feet. You need to be making strong choices to protect your health and your future."
At more than 700 sites around the United States, girls participate in Girl, Inc.'s "Preventing Adolescent
Pregnancy+program (PAP);'fhe program is designed to help teenage girls work togetherte develop
strategies for postponing sexual activity and avoiding pregnancy.
"We recognize that sex is a normal, healthy, and exciting part of human life," says Nicholson. "But it's a
real challenge to manage your sexuality as a teenager because of all the pressure to have sex--all those
messages coming from the media, from friends of both genders, and from one person in a 'you-wouldif-you-Ioved-me'relationship.
"What we've found is that peer pressure can work both ways--that it's great to hang out with friends
who've thought through a lot of these issues, and who support you in making thoughtful, positive
choices about your sexuality. We do a great deal of role playing to let young women practice making
good decisions in situations such as those they or their friends encounter in real life. And we ask them
to think about the consequences of early sexual involvement: the risks of pregnancy or SIDs, how their
parents or friends would think of them, how it might change their life. With our high school girls, we
include a panel of teen parents-and right away, the glamour of having a baby drops away, and they see
the reality of struggling to finish school and manage child care." Few, if any, teen fathers drop out of
school, but many teen girls lose out on their education when they become mothers.
"The research is pretty clear that the young women with the strongest educational and career plans are
the least likely to have babies as teenagers, and the most likely to avoid S'IDs. It makes a difference if
you think of yourself as a person with too much going for you to become pregnant in an unintended
way."
For teenagers-young women and men-Nicholson says, "Sexual responsibility includes the idea that you
simply might have better stuff to do in your life right now."
The Abstinence Movement
They're attending rallies, signing pledge cards, and going public with a decision that, not too long ago,
might have seemed old-fashioned. But the choice for abstinence ..-for remaining a virgin until marriage--
is creating a mini-revolution in the lives of some American teenagers. "True Love Waits," an abstinence
program, says more than 250,000 teens have signed the program's campaign pledge cards. Other teens
meet the abstinence message at school with different types of programs.
Some abstinence programs offer tips on dating to help teenagers avoid dangerous situations. Some
suggestions: group hikes or bike treks, dinner parties, volunteer work with friends, dances, or concerts.
One group in Canada, where the abstinence movement also is taking hold, is holding a "creative dating
contest" for teens who come up with interesting ways to spend time with the opposite sex.