I am catholic. I am a teenager. And well my religion preaches my hormones do the same. I know the attraction to Sex, and believe me, I am not preaching abstinence. I am kind of known as a Condom advocate at my school. STD and Pregnancy protection! And its cheap! I recently had a friend who believed for around two weeks that she was pregnant. She consulted with me (I am a guy) because a lot of people refer to me as a genius.

She feared telling her parents who although are not catholic are christian for obvious reasons. There are five major faults I see here:

-No Condoms were available because my school has no provision
-The guidance "staff" are extremely nosey and can't keep confidentiality, and the proceed to gossip about students.
-Her parents were not open about sex, leading her to come to me for advice. Now, I know what I am talking about but what if I had not been there?
-She did not even know if what she did could make her pregnant! There is NO provision for sex ed at my highschool and even if there was our district policy clearly states: "The program includes
instruction in the following areas:
• Self-esteem, responsible decision making, and personal responsibility.
• Interpersonal relationships.
• Discouragement of adolescent sexual activity.
• Family life and skills required of a parent.
• Human sexuality.
• Sex stereotypes and protective behavior"
So I highly doubt it would be of much help!
-The staff at the school (past experience indicates) will not help you, instead they will hide behind an ill advised state law and call the police!

How could this happen on our society!? Let me tell you that at least where I am, this is the norm! Most students pretend to know how things work, but the truth is, most teenagers knowledge comes from either porn or experience. Both of which can and often does leave things wide open and incorrectly explained.

So I write this today to call you, my international peers to action! Stop the silence and end the stigma! Ask questions, and encourage your schools to provide resources. Also if your guidance staff are acting inappropriately file a report with whatever agency grants them their licenses! We can do this! We just have to try!