If you believe your teen should wait until they are married or an adult to have sex, how can you protect your child and teach them to abstain? When teens know the rules of their house and what you expect of them, more likely than not, they will abide by those rules. Whether we believe it or not, our children want and need our guidance and direction and will often follow our example.

If you believe your teen should wait to have sex, here are some things you can do to ensure that he or she does.

1. Don’t allow your teen to be alone with another teen or young adult of the opposite sex, even if they claim to be “just friends”.  Too many times, one thing leads to another and soon enough you’re teen is pregnant or has an STD, not to mention the emotional bondage that occurs when two people have sex.
2. Allow group dating only and with friends who hold the same beliefs as you. And don’t just trust your teen to tell you their friends believe the same way you do; ask them yourself, get to know their parents and actually spend some time with your kids friends.
3. Teach your child about the dangers of sex before marriage. One in 4 teen girls has an STD. That’s right, one in 4. Those STD’s don’t just spread by themselves. Teenagers are having sex and passing diseases around like it’s no big deal.
4. Monitor their cell phone use. Teens today have more access than ever to each other and often engage in “sexting”. Sexting is using a cell phone’s text messaging system to have sexual conversations with members of the opposite (or same) sex. If a cell phone is equipped with a camera and photo sending and receiving, teens can also take photos of themselves nude and ‘text’ them to other people and vice versa.
5. Monitor computer use. With today’s computer technology, our teens have more access than ever to their friends and other people. Know who your teen’s friends are on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. Check the history of your computer often. If it’s wiped out, then be suspicious and question. Put monitoring software on your home computer as well as your teen’s laptop if applicable.

Don’t assume teen pregnancy or an STD won’t happen to your teenager. As parents, we must protect and teach our children if we want them to grow up healthy, happy and successful. Don’t wait until it’s too late.

If you’re teen is already having sex, is pregnant or has an STD and you’d like help dealing with it and guidance for you and your teen, click here.