How to say “No”

Many teens ask, “What will I do when I come face to face with the pressures of having sex?” Here are some tips that may be helpful when trying say no.

• Inform your partner of how you really feel about the act. Because the moment you give into it, there are many consequences that you can possibly face that can have a big impact on your life.
• Be strong and don’t give in to peer pressure. The common stated sentence when it comes to pressuring sex onto someone is, “Everyone else is doing it.” Not everyone is doing it, in fact, there are so many other individuals that aren’t doing it. If someone tells that everyone else is doing it, just reply it “Is that why there are so many abstinence support groups in the world?”
• Be strong and firm in your decision to say no even when your partner is the one pressuring you. The most daunting sentence a partner can ever say to you is “Prove how much you love me.” If your boyfriend or girlfriend is telling you to prove your love by having sex, then it’s time to ditch them. Respond with “I don’t need to prove anything to you” or “Shouldn’t being with you prove how much I love you?” or simply “No!”  There are countless ways that you can prove to your partner how much you love him or her, and they don’t involve sex. If your partner really loved you, they would be respectful of your decision and wait until you’re really ready to have sex. If someone is pressuring you, you need to think long and hard about that person’s role in your life because it might be time for a change.

Having sex is never an accurate measurement of how much you deeply love your partner. The act can still wait for the right time or the right person. So don’t ever feel pressured to have sex. The decision to have sex should only by made by you when you believe you are ready.