Abstinence Is Best

For the unmarried, abstinence is the only 100% effective way to keep from getting pregnant or sick from an STD.

Tips on Abstaining

1. Choose your boyfriend or girlfriend wisely. Find out beforehand if they are sexually active. If they do not share your purity commitment, they will eventually start the sex pressure.

2. Consider group or double dates. It’s hard to get alone and become intimate with other people around.

3. Be upfront. Before you get in a cozy environment, tell your guy or girl that you’re saving sex for your marriage partner.

4. Keep your clothes on. Sex is progressive. Undressing fuels the fire, especially for the visually-turned-on guy.

5. Hang around with friends who have the same purity commitment.

6. Avoid intimate environments. Don’t go to your boy/girlfriend’s home when no one else is home, go parking in a car in a secluded area, or walking in the woods alone.

7. Avoid stimulating environments. Stay away from sexually explicit lyrics and themes in music, dancing, movies, television and books.

8. Plan ahead. Know where you are going on your date, what you will do, and when you’ll be home. Lack of plans lead to boredom—boredom can lead to sex.

9. Break off the relationship. If consistent pressure is being applied to give in to sex, you may need to end the relationship.

10. Wait to date. Various studies show the younger the age of onset for dating, the younger the age for the first sexual encounter.

11. Date someone your own age. A young adolescent who dates someone several years older can be more easily manipulated and pressured into having sex.

12. Be friends first. Concentrate on establishing a friendship and get to know each other as individuals rather than focusing on physical attraction.