Not just an old-fashioned idea “Secret Life of an American Teenager”, “Sixteen and Pregnant”, and “Teen Mom”; all of these shows exhibit the roadblocks that having sex at a young age can bring to living a normal childhood. Sex may seem like an activity that everyone is taking part in, but if not careful, sex can bring upon many complications. Some of the life altering effects that sex at a young age can bring include contracting STD’s, teen pregnancy, losing the trust of parents, and also heartbreak. Each of these effects can ultimately alter life forever. How can these lifelong obstacles that sex may bring be avoided? Simply don’t have sex at all! Easier said than done right? Sex is a beautiful profession of love that is meant to be shared between a husband and wife on their wedding night, once they are old enough to take responsibility for their actions. Teenagers should spend this glorious time of their lives having fun and hanging out with friends not worrying about whether they have missed a period or contracted a sexually transmitted disease. Teens should stay abstinent and live a carefree childhood. In today’s American society teens and young adults aren’t being held morally accountable for their actions. Public schools are teaching teens about how to have safe sex instead of promoting abstinence, in media sex is a social norm therefore the idea of abstinence has been thrown into the gutter and has been looked upon as an old fashion idea. Media has taught society that sex is ever-present among teens. Educating teens literacy on sex, and it doesn’t help that media teaches teens how to have safe sex as a type of control teens want to have power over; while media makes different assumptions about how all teens are having sex. As sad as it might seem, it is a no brainer that some teens do have sex during high school. As a matter of fact, in a recent poll that was taken, 56% of teenagers admitted to having had sex his or her time in high school. What most readers don’t know, is that 64% of those teens that did have sex, wished that they had waited. The first time anyone has sex, it should be with someone special and preferably on the night of his or her wedding. It might seem as though all teenagers’ care about is having a boyfriend or girlfriend just to have sex but in all reality, 54% of high school students are in fact still virgins and 82% of teenagers only want to have one marriage partner for the rest of their lives. Knowing the statistic and facts that have been gathered recently on teen sexuality, it is easier to see that being a virgin is actually considered a good thing and that you don’t have to have sex just to be considered “cool”. First day freshmen year jitters, Sophomore retreat, Junior Ring Ceremony, Senior Prom, Grad night, college acceptance letters, and graduation, all the things newly graduated eighth graders and incoming freshmen look forward to. Why ruin it with an unplanned pregnancy? A teenager shouldn’t have to make decisions on how they are going to make enough money to raise a baby; the only decision they should be making is whether they want to study or hang out with their friends. Teen literacy on the real effects of sex is non-existent in the sense that teens think if they are on birth control and use condoms there is no risk of a pregnancy. Stephen Prothero a noted for being an author of a New York Times best-seller states in one of his articles “A Nation of Religious Illiterates that, “Basic information that in the past would have been covered in the elementary grades of Sunday schools (or public schools)...” (Prothero 201), By this he means that teen literacy starts as early as elementary school which about 5th grade is when students are exposed to the whole concept of sex for the first time along with puberty. It all starts with literacy. If media or the schools guide teens and educates them on the dangers and long-term effects that having sex at a young age can cause, then maybe there