Transcripts: My Teen Life

Transcript: My Teen Life. How Can I Fight the Pressure to Have Premarital Sex?
[Pictures of different young people]
[My Teen Life Episode 6. How Can I Fight the Pressure to Have Premarital Sex? Interviews with Cory and Kamryn. Cory. United States]
Cory: Well, every day in high school, my classmates would talk about sex.
[Kamryn. United States]
Kamryn: They would just talk about, you know, their boyfriends and girlfriends, what they did with them, you know, over the weekend and what they’re going to do.
Cory: They, of course, knew that I was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses and that I wouldn’t engage in premarital sex, but that did not stop them from pushing.
Kamryn: Guys would invade my personal space. Sometimes they would even try to, you know, grab or touch me.
Cory: One day, a girl in class she asked me to touch her inappropriately. Of course, I rejected her, but she even started or resorted to calling me names. She called me lame, and she said that I must be gay.
Kamryn: It seemed to be a game to them to try to break me and try to get me to do things with them. But the fact that I wouldn’t give in, they thought it was fun or funny.
Cory: It got to the point where this became very physical. I had two classmates behind me that were pushing me. One classmate on each side of me was grabbing my arms and pushing me, trying to make me touch her. I knew that it was time to get out of there.
Kamryn: Being one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, I was already very different in school, but I was also very shy. So, at times, I wanted to fit in with the crowd so that I wouldn’t have that attention on me. But I knew that this would displease Jehovah if I, you know, went with the crowd, and did what the other kids were doing.
Cory: Well, I did say a quick, silent prayer to Jehovah; I said, “Jehovah, just please help me.” I immediately in my mind thought of Joseph. He was able to free himself from Potiphar’s wife, but he was able to get away because of his resolve to please Jehovah. And that’s exactly what I knew I needed to do. And I did just that, I ran right out of the classroom.
Kamryn: Personal study was very important. This made Jehovah really real to me. The more real he was to me, the more I didn’t want to displease him and hurt him. Having that relationship with him and having that trust in him really helped me get through those situations of wanting to fit in and go with the crowd.
Cory: Rejecting that girl was not easy, but I did know that it was the right thing to do. Shortly before this incident, my grandmother actually prepared me. She would prepare Watchtower articles for me that talked about how to deal with temptation. Although those talks with her were super-duper awkward, if I’m being honest, they really helped me to stay spiritually strong and to resist the temptation.
Kamryn: My parents always told me to use farsighted wisdom
[“The shrewd one sees the danger and conceals himself.” Proverbs 22:5”]
to think about how that action would affect me in the future, affect my relationship with Jehovah and with my friends and my family. That definitely went through my head a lot during that time. All you need to do is trust in Jehovah, because
[“Trust in Jehovah with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” Proverbs 3:5]
if you trust in him, then everything is going to be OK.
Cory: The publication that really helped me the most was the Young People Ask book, Volume 2, chapter 5, “Why Stay a Virgin?” This book was really a lifesaver for me. Reading about how some of my peers all around the world are dealing with the exact same temptation really gave me a sense of comfort and helped me to feel that I was not alone.
Kamryn: Well, I’m really grateful to Jehovah and the organization for the love that they show to us young ones to help us not feel alone and to help us push through these difficult situations. The Young People Ask book, Volume 2, chapter 14, “How Can I Protect Myself at School?” really encouraged me in school to be firm and to stand my ground to make Jehovah happy.
Cory: Well, I’m so thankful to Jehovah for recalling scriptures like 1 Corinthians 6:18, which says: Flee from sexual immorality!” And I’m happy to say that I was able to do just that. But really, what makes me the happiest is knowing that I made Jehovah happy, and there is no greater feeling than that.
[Text: What could help you… resist the pressure to have sex?
Think ahead. Proverbs 22:3
“Trust in Jehovah.” Proverbs 3:5
“Flee from sexual immorality.” 1 Corinthians 6:18]
[A montage of Kamryn, Cory, and other teens]
[Logo: Black capital letters JW.ORG inside a white box. Copyright 2022 Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania]