myHIN Blog

October 06, 2013

Think before you say, act, and do!

I recently attended a program on my campus, which focused on discussing various “hot topics” that affect college students. The topics discussed including: Sex, Relationships, Voting, Religion, and Social Media.

What age is it appropriate to start having sex?

Though many of the topics discussed were interesting, one particular topic stood out to me—What age is it appropriate to start having sex? At first I was appalled. I never knew there was an appropriate age for sex. And if there was, what made that age, the right age?

The answers included: 13, before you go to college, when you’re married, and when you are ready to deal with the consequences.

As I sat in my seat, I began to listen to what others had to say. The answers included: 13, before you go to college, when you’re married, and when you are ready to deal with the consequences. For a moment, I felt embarrassed and hurt that peers thought this was an acceptable topic to discuss. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

Whether I agreed with some of the answers or not, I didn’t want to participate in a discussion that could potentially affect how another individual could make a decision when it comes to sex. Don’t get me wrong, I believe in educating my community about safe sex, but I think it’s important for people to know how much influence they could have on a person.

Whether or not I had an opinion on the topic, I made sure to keep it to myself. I didn’t want my opinion to influence someone else to make an irrational decision about sex. With that said, I think people should realize that we live in a society that most learn by example. And by that topic being discussed, we are saying its okay to assign sex to an age. And if you see nothing wrong with that, than maybe we as people need to evaluate ourselves. From this one experience I learned a valuable lesson: Think before you say, act, and do!