To the editor:

Why doesn’t anyone care enough to tell teens:

¢ When you have sex with someone you are having sex with everyone that person has had sex with.

¢ Birth control pills, patches and shots aren’t fail-safe, have multiple risks and side effects listed in every package, and don’t protect against sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

¢ Condoms aren’t fail-safe.

¢ One out of every four teen girls has at least one STD.

¢ Sexually active teens report significantly higher rates of depression and suicide attempts than nonsexually active teens.

¢ 55 percent of teen boys and 72 percent of teen girls who are sexually active report that they wish they had waited longer before becoming sexually active (National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health, Wave II, 1996).

¢ Not everyone is “doing it.”

¢ Discipline and self-control are valuable life skills.

Teens, get the facts and make informed decisions. Scholarship donors, colleges and employers are only interested in the quality and quantity of your education and extra-curricular activities, so use your time and energy wisely.

Terri McLaughlin,
Lawrence