Tia Whipple

	In their own words, 16-year-olds discuss the pressures of getting into college, dating, blogging and more 16 by 16 • Ari Rubin • Carlyle Manns • Caroline Cox-Orrell • Chelsey Knight • Janelle Norman • Meredith-Leigh Pleasants • Tia Whipple • Kelvin Bates • Lisa Bunn • Shukan Patel • Lina Li • Stephen Serene • Jullia Park • Patty Yau • Ana Baric • CJ Martino Getting A Head Start • The New World of Internships Those unpaid summer jobs are no longer for rich kids, college juniors—or even just for summer Multimedia • Sixteen Candles Inside a Sweet 16 Party

The main reason I am abstinent is I don’t want to become pregnant. That would be the worst thing. I wouldn’t be able to finish school. My mother is strict about that — my cousins had children at my age. They had to struggle. She doesn't want me to end up like them.

Another reason is that I don't want my reputation ruined. At the abstinence program where I work, the educators there talk about syphilis, AIDS and STDs. I don’t want to catch any of those diseases.

At my school, boys and girls do sexual stuff. Some kids just want to try it for a time. A good part of my school, maybe 65 percent, is involved in sexual intercourse. Maybe eight girls are pregnant. Girls tell me where they did it and with whom. They don’t say, "I wish I would have waited." They say, "I want to do it now." They do know about birth control, but I'm not sure they use it. They don't ask me much except why am I abstinent. We don’t have sex education at my school. I would like to start an abstinence club.

At school the boys say, "So you won’t give it up?" I say no. They laugh. They are like, what's wrong with you? Some say "That’s good for you."

The temptation really doesn't get to me. I tell the boys straight up I don't want sexual intercourse. All of my previous boyfriends have understood. That may sound like, "Oh, she’s making it up," but even my present boyfriend agrees with me totally.

Some girls [who have sex] might wind up being happy. I personally think you should save it for marriage. If you want to do, do it. But you will regret it.

Tia Whipple, 16, is a junior at Robert Morgan Educational Center High School.

Next: Kelvin Bates >>

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