when my sister was 17 she went to my mom and asked for birth control. my mom refused because she thought it would condoning premarital sex even though my sister flat out said "im having sex anyways, so you might as well keep me safe". so then....my sister gets pregnant using a condom. so i figured my mom would be more open to me using birth control and both my parents told me "if you ever become sexually active talk to me and we will take you to the obgyn to keep you safe"

so when i turned 16 i asked my dad and he refused. my mom refused as well. so at 16 i had to go to the obgyn by myself and pay for my own birth control because my parents were in denial about it. and when my mom got the insurance statement saying they covered my visit she flipped on me.

i was trying everything in my power to be responsible and my parents were not encouraging that even though i think it speaks to my level of maturity at age 16 to do all that on my own. i think a lot of times kids try to do the right thing but a lot of parents force the topic of sex to be uncomfortable on their children. my parents NEVER spoke to me about sex growing up. None of us got "the talk" ever so I had this undeserved feeling of embarassment about my own body, and still do to some extent. I think if parents want their kids to be responsible then they need to talk about it openly. tell you what, after growing up in my household, I'll be talking to my kids about sex from the time they speak their first word. the fact that parents ignore it is a HUGE reason kids do this stupid stuff in the first place.