Some educators have reservations about teaching youth about emergency contraception because they do not want to appear to encourage youth to be sexually active without protecting themselves in advance. If you have reservations about educating youth about the availability of emergency contraception, be sure to read these reasons why using birth control before having sex makes a lot more sense than relying on emergency contraception after having sex. Emergency contraception is less reliable than regular use of the birth control pills or consistent and correct use of condoms. Some emergency contraceptive methods have unpleasant side effects. Emergency contraception usually costs more than regular birth control.
Emergency contraception is less convenient to obtain than regular birth control.
Emergency contraception offers no protection from sexually transmitted infections. When educating youth about emergency contraception, be sure to include these reasons that emergency contraception is best used in a real emergency and not as regular birth control. Ask youth to generate additional reasons to add to the list. All rights reserved.