(This is part two of a three-part series covering safe sex. It will include information about condoms, birth control and abstinence.)

Click here to read part one: Sex Talk: Condoms and STD prevention

When I was in middle school, my health class required us to make a bottle baby (a two-liter soda bottle filled with water to simulate the weight of a baby). We had to carry around this bottle baby for three days to teach us how hard it would be to be a young parent.

Being so young, this lesson didn’t really take hold and didn’t really make me think about what it would be like to have a baby.

That didn’t hit until someone who was just a couple months older than me had a baby at a young age.

Earlier, I discussed the importance of using condoms to prevent STDs. Condoms can also be used as a way to prevent pregnancy. However, there is a lot that can go wrong with condoms. Tears, holes and ill-fitting condoms can all lead to pregnancy.

In all honesty, condoms really aren’t the best form of birth control. With an 18 percent failure rate, condoms should be used just to prevent STDs.

Women having sex should also be on some form of birth control.

Unlike condoms, women have to go to the doctor to get prescribed birth control.

It is more expensive than condoms but most health insurance plans cover various types of contraception.

The most common form of birth control is in the form of a pill. Taken once a day, the pill contains hormones that decrease the chance of getting pregnant. However, there are several other options that women can use to prevent pregnancy.

Intrauterine devices or, IUDs, have the lowest failure rates and can last from 2 to 12 years without being replaced. This form of contraception is a popular method for young women.

In the U.S., 3 out of every 10 girls get pregnant before the age of 20. That number is something that, with the right amount of sexual education and access to contraceptives, is preventable.

Ladies, you need to take control of your bodies and make sure to always have condoms and be on birth control if you are sexually active.

Guys, always use a condom, because you never know if a girl is being totally honest about being on birth control or if they have been taking the pill correctly every day.

Again, I am not here to shame people who have had kids at a young age, but I am saying if you aren’t ready to be a parent, then protect yourself.

Always use birth control, and always use a condom as extra protection.

One of the biggest concerns is telling your parents if you are still on their health insurance. The most important thing is that you are being proactive to keep yourself safe rather than potentially severely altering your future, which is something you can tell your parents.

Better safe than sorry.

Because you do need to have a prescription for birth control, set up an appointment with the student health services. They will schedule you to see a doctor and give you information about benefits and implications of different types of birth control.