FINAL TSTO Lesa Dec 14.pdf - Flipbook - Page 54
A checklist for young people: How do you know you are ready for sex?15
Some parents would feel comfortable enough to show their children the following checklist. Young people need to have their own
personal list of indicators (everyone is different, after all). Some of the following statements make really good starting places when
a young person is working out if they are ready to begin having sex. It’s crucial that the young person decides whether they are
ready before someone else decides for them.
You know how to prevent a pregnancy.
You know how to protect yourself and your partner from getting an STI: you have condoms and you know how to use them.
You will feel OK afterwards about having had sex.
You want to have sex and have said so.
You and your partner are 16 or over.
It feels right.
You feel safe and comfortable with the person you are going to have sex with.
You feel you could say no, and that would be OK, but you still want to do it.
You have anxieties but not fear.
Nobody is forcing, pressuring or coercing you.
You’ve agreed you both care for each other and want to take this next step.
You both want it for yourselves, not because the other person wants it or because you want to please them.
You’re not doing it to keep your partner.
You’re not doing it to make you popular or to gain acceptance.
The above statements may not fit your own value system, but they do give you something to go on. You might even like to use
them as a discussion starter.
48
