Whether your already having sex or plan on having sex in the future, knowing how to protect yourself is an absolute life essential. I know quite a few teenagers who are simply too embarrassed to use contraception and many more who seem to think that unprotected sex makes them look cooler, in fact i predict that a huge percentage of my friends never used contraception during many of their teenage years, then again the area that i grew up in was well known for its high number of young single mums and teenage pregnancies :/

Grow some balls

Very few teenage boys have the confidence to use a condom, mostly because they are lacking self-confidence and feel that their tackle is on the side, truth is condoms come in many shapes and sizes and is very rare that you will find a condom that is too big. In the other corner you have the egolistic males who believe they have a penis that is the size of a cucumber and that it would never fit into a condom so there is no point in using one.

For teenage girls i think that they are afriad of suggesting to the male to use a condom for fear of rejection or ask for the pill for fear of what the other teenagers will say and/or think. May, maybe not (let me know) but a lot of teenagers as a whole neglect the sex essentials such as contraception and put not only them and their sexual partner at risk but any future sexual partners too!

It never happens

If i saw a teenager in somewhere such as a supermarket buying condoms i would probably let them know how smart they are, it wasn’t until i truly learnt about sexually transmitted diseases and infections that i took safe sex seriously, a long story cut short is if you don’t want to be parents use contraception and if you dont want to catch diseases and infections then use a condom. However if you want to be stupid and put your own and other lives at risk by not protecting yourself, then simply put you are an idiot!!

Make sure your both clean

To be completely sure that your clean it is recommended that you get checked for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and infections (STIs) before a you have sex with a new partner and after your sexual relationship with that person has ended, by always being cautions about safe sex, you give yourself the best possible protection against STDS and STIS and can help stop the spread of them.

To continue to protect yourself from STDs and other nasty stuff, always make use of condoms during sex, even if you are using other forms of contraception as well. Condoms are the best way to prevent any infections spreading from one person to the next, plus you will have some extra protection against pregnancy.

Condom safety

Just so you know here are some things to remember when using condoms.

• Never put 2 condoms on at the same time, they will just cause each other to tear.
• Never re-use a condom, even if it looks reusable.
• Always check for the kite mark on the condom wrapper (this ensures that it passes British tests and is safe to use).
• Always check that the condom is still in date (yes they expire too).
• Always check that the wrapper is not torn and when putting on a condom check for any rips of other signs of damage.

The last thing to remember is that oil based products dont mix well with condoms and can make then break, this includes things such as lipstick, vaseline, and some lubricants, if you wish to use lubrication during sex be sure to check that it is water based and not oil based.

Be certain

Be certain that your having sex because you want too, unless you are sure that you want sex you should not do it, if you have read this article and said ‘i didn’t know that’ then you have not researched it properly and probably don’t know all the facts and if your planning on having sex to look cool or just for the sake of it then your even more at risk because you/your partner do not care about each other and are going to be less cautious when it comes to things such as condoms and contraceptives.

If your in doubt don’t do it.