Selected poems from “Cool Kids” club in Paterson

I choose to stay true to myself

by Shamya Winstead

18 and a virgin, wasn’t nothing easy about this journey.
From the temptation, peer pressure, and social media.
I choose to stay true to myself.
I really don’t need anybody else.
Between school and work,
I had my hands full and wasn’t looking to get in any dirt.
As long as I have my old school songs.
I could do no wrong.
These boys were just looking for some new toy.
And that’s why I’m still 18 and a virgin.

Is he worthy?

by Nyzay Richardson

Scared and afraid
Is it gonna hurt?
Am I ready?
To let someone to take my innocence away?
Is he worthy,
To be the one to take something so precious
that belongs to me?
Something that is only for me.
That’s why I believe,
I believe
Abstinence is for me…

Free To Say No and be me!!!

Free Teens means Free to be A Teenager
Free To be me and not pressured to be someone else
Free To Live and have a future without the worries of parenthood, STIs, or STDs.
Free To enjoy the life destined for me
Free Teens means me and my friends can wait
and still be Free to be me.

“Do you know?”

by Leekia Gourzong

Do you know? How many teens in New Jersey get pregnant each year? 3,407.
Do you know how many fetuses are aborted every year in New Jersey? 44,460.

Teens in my generation wanna hit it and quit it.
No! They are not gonna stick around if you get STD, pregnant,
emotional scarred or mentally unstable.

Many teens that get pregnant, end up:
Depressed.
Homeless.
Drop out of school.
Get an abortion.
Don’t attend college.
Turn to Substance abuse.
Commit suicide.
Work minimum wage and have financial problems.

If I got pregnant my whole life would change.
No more parting! My social life would be 6 feet under!
From school, to working to provide for when my child gets here,
I would be stressed.

I am a child
So no! I will not have sex till marriage
I will not give up my freedom yet.
I will attend a university
Receive my biology degree to become an obstetrician and gynecologist.
And help other youths through their life events.
That’s why I’m abstaining from sex.