Make a Decision
As said before, nobody can tell you what to do with your body. The best thing you can do is learn all of the facts about sexually transmitted diseases, abstinence, and teen pregnancy. You know yourself the best – you know how you will react emotionally and deal with whatever social impact sex has on your life. Decide what is best for you and if abstinence is your choice, stick to it. Don’t worry about what other people are doing.

Some people feel as though they need to have sex in order to be “cool”, fit in, or keep a girlfriend or boyfriend. Others believe that sex equals love or that it will boost their self-esteem. In reality, a lot of young people who have sex before they are married end up losing self-esteem, and don’t feel anymore accepted or whole. Sex can actually have the opposite effect than you would think.

Support Your Decision
You’ve already decided that abstinence is the best choice for you at this time. But you can’t pretend that the power of peer pressure isn’t extremely intense at times so the best thing to do is figure out a way to deal with various situations where the issue of sex can arise.

Situation #1 – You’re madly in love and want to express those emotions.
There are many ways to say “I love you”. Send a special card, a love letter, a small gift or token of appreciation, take your honey out for a night on the town or share a romantic evening getting to know one another.

Situation #2 – You’re at a party and this really hot girl/guy that you’ve been crushing on for months asks you to go somewhere “quiet so that you can talk”. While there is nothing wrong with talking, going somewhere alone with a person is risky. Make sure your friends know where you are, there are people close by and that you are in ear shot. Also, tell the person up front that you are interested in talking, not having sex.

Situation #3 – You’re talking to your boyfriend or girlfriend and the issue of sex comes up. S/he says that if you really loved him or her, you would have sex. You simply reply that you are worth the wait and if s/he loved you, then s/he would wait.

Situation #4 – You’re at school and you overhear people talking about you or they tease you to your face (either way). You feel the need to prove to them that you are not scared, or a loser. You decide that they only way to shut them up is to have sex. WRONG! There is nothing wrong with being a virgin – in fact, most people regret or have a bad first experience anyway. Once you do it, you’ll wonder what the hype was about anyway. Be the strong person that everyone will admire and stick to your beliefs. Who cares what people are saying anyway? They aren’t the ones who have to deal with the consequences if you get an STD or become pregnant.

Saying NO with Humor
Don’t let those hormones get the best of you. Self-control is a sign of maturity. If you want to practice abstinence, then stick to your decision until you are ready. Mr. or Mrs. Right will be there when the proper moment presents itself. 

For 25 Ways to Say ‘No”:  Click Here
You will find clever replies to sexual advances or propositions.

You may be pleasantly surprised at the response you get from your partner. He or she is probably feeling the same pressure as you to have sex. Maybe it will come as a relief that you don’t want to have sex – he or she might not be ready to have sex either. Then you can be comfortable with one another and watch as your relationship blossoms without the pressure of sex looming over your head.