During my health class, my teacher showed us how to properly put on a condom. She put the condom on a condom demo model, so that the whole class could see her demonstration. She knew that one day when we eventually decide to have sex, we would need to know how to put a condom on. It was an exciting day of health class, and it was all made possible by…the State of New Jersey!

The New Jersey State department of education requires that comprehensive sex education be taught in New Jersey schools. Comprehensive sex education includes information on protecting yourself from sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV, birth control and sexual orientation. Abstinence-only programs, on the other hand, are funded by the national government and focus solely on just saying “no” to sex and the failure rates of birth control and condoms.

Personally, I find abstinence-only programs so upsetting, because when teachers only discuss the failure rates of birth control and condoms, it means that teens may be less likely to use birth control because they have been misinformed and led to believe that it does not work. These teens will have sex one day, even if it is many years later, so shouldn’t they have honest, medically accurate information—comprehensive sex education?

My support of comprehensive sex education is just one of the reasons why I will be voting in the upcoming election.

Be Heard

This election is the first time I can vote in a presidential election, and I am excited! For the first time in my life, my vote will be counted, and I will help decide who the next president will be. I definitely will not miss my chance to be heard, and you shouldn’t either!

The upcoming election is just around the corner, and there are issues, like comprehensive sex ed, that are just too important for us to ignore. If you want our government to fund comprehensive sex education, then you need to get involved.

Teens (and adults) sometimes forget that many of the issues politicians make decisions about directly affect teens right now. What issues affect us? Sex education funding, HIV prevention, alcohol and smoking laws, gay marriage laws, driving laws, abortion laws, funding for free or low-cost confidential clinics, such as Planned Parenthood, access to emergency contraception…the list goes on. And since we are young, the bills and laws that are passed today have an impact on us for many years to come.

But before you go supporting a candidate, you first need to know where he or she stands on issues that are important to you. There is plenty to learn; check out what the 2008 presidential candidates have to say about sex ed, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues and more!

Support your candidate! Whether you can vote or not, you can get involved by helping candidates with their campaigns. Just go to their Web sites for information on how you can get involved: JohnMcCain.com or BarackObama.com