Talking about sex
“In my family, the word sex has never been mentioned.”
—Blanca Rivera, 16, Polytechnic HS
“In my family we rented videos about sex and where a baby comes from. But they don’t really talk about it now because I’m older and I’ve been in a relationship for three years. They don’t want to touch it. They just taught me to value myself and that sex shouldn’t be just for pleasure. If you sleep with many people it’s like you’re giving a piece of yourself away to each person.”
—Katrina Gibson, 17
“In my family it’s very open. I’ve known about sex as long as I can remember. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to go out and do it.”
—Rachelle Carino, 17, The Tutoring School
When is it the right time?
“A lot of religions feel it’s not healthy for us to have sex at this age because we’re not ready emotionally. They think we should wait ’til we get married. I feel like I wasn’t ready for it and it messed me up mentally. I was kind of more immature and I kind of matured faster. I learned a lot from that experience. It helped me but it stressed me out too.”
—Crystal Ly, 15, Santa Monica HS
“I don’t think sex is really something for people to judge. Logically, I think they should wait (to have sex) just because it’s gonna be easier on you with the possibility of pregnancy and getting connected to the person and they leave you. It sucks. It’s hard enough growing up as a teenager. I know I’m not ready for something like that.”
—Matt Jones, 16, Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies
Sex and relationships
“I think if a teen wants to go and have sex and they’re protected, that’s fine. But one of the main problems with sex is people do it for the wrong reasons—for security in the relationship. They think, ‘If I have sex with this person then they will stay with me?'”
—Sanet Taren, 16, Santa Monica HS
“To not have a relationship with someone in fear of them leaving you, that’s not good either. There’s always gonna be a risk. If you think you love the person, then I don’t see a problem with it.”
—Matt Jones, 16, L.A.C.E.S.
“What is commitment? Do you really have to take a chance with sex to have a commitment?”
—Nogie Demirjian, 15, Pacific Palisades HS