Did you know that North Carolina schools teach an abstinence-only curriculum? For those of us slow on the uptake… that means no contraception is discussed at all! So they teach you how to have sex, and about the consequences of sex (pregnancy, STD’s), but not how to protect yourself from those consequences. And, as might be expected, they have the ninth highest teen-pregnancy rate in the country. Hello people of North Carolina, your kids are having sex, deal with it!

Teens, and in some cases, pre-teens, are having sex. It is unavoidable unless you are pulling out the chastity belt (which I am pretty sure would be illegal). It’s normal for a kid to be curious about sex — back to when you were eight years old and you told the little kid over for a visit, “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.” Pre-teens and teens need information! If you don’t want to hand out free condoms in school, fine. But at least teach the kids how to prevent sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancy.

So — for those kids that have questions, on February 1st a new service was introduced by the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Campaign of North Carolina. If a teen has a question about anything related to sex or sexual relations or pregnancy or whatever… they can send a text! What an amazing idea. Go where the kids are. The kids are texting and, more importantly, now they’re getting answers from non-judgemental adults who text back within 24 hours of when the question came in.

The New York Times listed a sampling of questions and answers that recently came in to the hotline. I’ve listed some of them below:

Q. If you take a shower before you have sex, are you less likely to get pregnant?

A. Nope, doesn’t make a difference.

Q. Can you get rid of a baby under a week old without anybody asking for your name?

A. You can under the NC Safe Surrender law. Visit safesurrender.net for more information.

Q. I don’t believe in having sex does that make me gay?

A. Being gay is a matter of being sexually attracted to a member of the same sex. Unless you’re attracted to members of the same sex, you’re probably not gay.

Q. How can I stop myself to giving into sexual temptations?

A. The best way to avoid temptation is to avoid being in situations where you’re tempted. If you do find yourself tempted, then you need to remember why you’re abstaining and focus on that as a means to help you stay abstinent.

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