I thought about it for a long time and finally decided to do it with my boyfriend of almost a year (at the time; we're still together). This was last semester, and I'm a freshman in college. I think it went perfectly well; I had done all my research and didn't have any extraordinary expectations and I was with someone I totally trusted. We were each others' first kiss and everything in between.

I have a friend who had a similar experience to yours when she was a freshman on high school (now she's a junior). Since then, she's been sleeping with guys, hoping to get into relationships with them after hooking up, then getting crushed when they break it off. She still hasn't realized that she was just being used for sex. It's depressing but at least she's safe now. She had a long relationship with a girl and is now going out with some guy who seems okay.

Basically I think you need go be honest with kids about your own experiences: what went right, what went wrong, and what you expect of them. Then arm them with information about safe sex, respecting yourself, all that good stuff. Then trust them to make safe decisions when they're of a proper age/maturity level. My parents just let me pass by with the school sex ed (which was pretty good) and told me to remain pure, which wasn't very helpful. (This would be explained by the fact that they're Asian). I'm glad that I turned out okay.