By Anthony Tebaldi, Guest Columnist

Oct. 25, 2013

I’ll be honest, college students are obsessed with sex. Why is that? Well because it’s fun and cool, right? It most definitely is, when it is done for the right reasons and at the right time in our lives.

Being a college student is hard. We are trying to figure out who we are as people and trying to keep up with school work at the same time. Being a college student is also fun. There are parties, new relationships, and opportunities for our personal and academic success.

Relationships are very important to us. How we act around our friends and in class, starts to define us. We all have different likes and dislikes, and that is what makes us unique. We must keep in mind though what is important and less important in our lives along with the decisions we make as adults.

Sex can be fun and exciting, but scary and destructive. There is a time and place for sex. Maybe as college students, we should try to act more responsible in our endeavors. There are five good reasons why the practice of abstinence is better than sexual actions.

1. Respect for oneself and others can be better developed through the practice of abstinence. Sex is not a necessary way to show love for someone. Respect for each other’s bodies and emotional health is more important than rushing into sex. There more meaningful ways to show love in a relationship that doesn’t include sex.

2. The security of knowing that you are not being used for only sexual reasons in your relationship. Security in a relationship is vital for its success.

3. There is a better chance that your marriage will be more faithful along with building more trust in your long-term partner. If you and your partner have more self-control in your relationship, then both of you will have a stronger and closer relationship because of the trust built between you.

4. Better chances to get to know your partner without the emotional attachment to sex. In-depth relationships are very important to us as college students. Let us keep developing those long term relationships without the worries of sex so our emotions do not get the better of us.

5. There are less worries about pregnancy, STI’s, and emotional betrayal. The NUMBER ONE way to prevent pregnancy or an STI is to abstain from sex. As college students there are more important things to worry about then a pregnancy or an STI. We are still trying to figure out who we are as people and get an excellent education from Allegheny College. Abstinence will give us a better chance to attain our goals as young adults and concentrate on more important things in our lives.

It is also important to remember that if you are no longer a virgin it is still possible to practice abstinence. I am not trying to tell anyone how to live their lives. I am simply explaining another way to live one’s life while acting more responsible to possibly better your physical and mental health as a young adult for now and the future.