Should Your Teenage Daughter Carry Condoms?

I know it's hard to leave your personal morals, beliefs and parenting style out of such an important topic, but when you look at the statistics concerning when teenagers are becoming sexually active it's imperative that parents handle this situation responsibly.


You Can't Shame Them Out of Having Sex

It doesn't' matter how religious you are, or how much you would rather your teens don't have sex the fact remains that they are teenagers. Their hormones are raging and things can get out of hand rather quickly. This age of instant information and teens being much more knowledgeable about sex at an earlier age than we were means that not only do they know about it, more than likely by the age of 14 most have had some sort of sexual encounter ( more than kissing). You can't shame them out of their natural hormonal urges, you have to make sure that they have the correct information and know how to protect themselves.


Stop and think about when you were a teenager and how it actually felt to move past the kissing stage and begin exploring each others' bodies. That heady rush of knowledge and power is enough to make any teen, no matter how "good" they are push the limits and go a little further each time. Personally, I take issue with the idea that sex is shameful anyway but that's probably just me.


Birth Control

Parents of teen girls are often hesitant to consider placing them on some form of birth control for fear that the teenager will take this as permission to be sexually active. Again stop and think back to when you weren't her parent. Think about the fear of possibly getting pregnant before you're ready and look at the number of teenage pregnancies in the United States today.

I'm not saying that you should be giving your daughter permission to have sex, or allowing it in any way. But you know that eventually it's going to happen, and wouldn't you rather know that she's prepared and protected against pregnancy?

The most important thing to teach your daughter about this subject is that other forms of birth control don't protect against sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and a condom should be used at all times.


Condom Responsibility

When your teen has sex who is expected to carry the condoms? The boy? Remember this is 2011, women are equal and we are responsible for our own health and wellbeing, and we need to teach our daughters that responsibility. If a teen girl is counting on a hormonally driven boy to have a condom she may end up going all the way with no protection. One parent says: "I say definitely she should carry condoms. I believe if she's going to have sex, it should be safe sex. If the young man doesn't have any handy, then at least she will. It's better than things getting heated, finding out he has none, and like most young people, say '˜Oh, it's just this one time.' That has led to more pregnancies than anything else." (Karen Bishop)


Remember those influential urgings whispered passionately? The promises of "I'll stop" or "you won't get pregnant if it's just one time" are lines we've all heard at least once. You know how persuasive boys can be when your hormones are all riled up. Well boys are still using the same lines today.


Make sure that your daughter not only knows to use a condom each time but also how to use it and that she carries her own supply. When I asked mothers of girls whether they would teach their daughters to carry condoms I got an overwhelming response of positive answers including this one from fellow Yahoo Contributor Network writer Lisa Carey.


"Absolutely. It doesn't matter if she is a sexually active teen or not, she should always be prepared for whatever happens. If she does decide to have sex it should be the safest way that she can - both to prevent pregnancy and STD's. Carrying a condom doesn't mean you are having sex, or that you plan on having sex, it's being prepared. Isn't that what they teach Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts anyway? Be prepared?"


Even teenage girls are taking up the cause of making sure that condoms are available to both boys and girls. For a compelling and well thought out article on this topic by a teenager visit Teen Ink. If you are a parent and you don't believe that your daughter, or son for that matter should carry condoms who is really going to be to blame when your child ends up with an STD or pregnant?


Again you aren't condoning the sexual activity but being a responsible parent and a realist who knows that it's going to happen eventually and would rather your daughter is prepared rather than at risk.


Sources: Author Experience, ABC News, Guttmacher: Family Planning Perspectives, Teen Ink, Kaiser Family Foundation


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