DR. WALLACE: I'm 18 and my boyfriend is 19. He is planning to join the Air Force. He and I have been dating for almost two years and we love each other very much. In the time we've been together, we have not been sexually active. But now the time has come for us to have sex and to share our true love to the maximum. Our time together will be extremely limited after my boyfriend enters the military.

Naturally, I don't want to get pregnant. I'm in the 12th grade, and after graduation I'm planning to attend college. A baby would severely hinder these goals. If by chance I become pregnant, abortion is out of the question. He and I have discussed various kinds of birth control. I will use "the pill" (I have already visited a doctor) and he will use a condom. I realize that using only the pill or only a condom does not give a couple 100 percent protection. I would like to know the percentage of pregnancy protection if both are used simultaneously?

Please, no lectures on avoiding premarital sex. Our minds are made up and nothing you say will alter our plans. NOTHING! — Nameless, Cumberland, Md.

NAMELESS: When used properly and together, the pill and the condom offer 99 percent protection from pregnancy. That means that for every 100 couples who use "double coverage" to avoid pregnancy, one couple will be called parents nine months later. Only abstinence will offer 100 percent protection. Please don't consider this to be a lecture; it's just a fact, but a very important one.

TODAY'S TEENS ARE TOMORROW'S LEADERS

DR. WALLACE: My grandfather is a great guy and I love him dearly, but he has a difficult time adjusting to modern times. He lives with our family and he is a great addition. I enjoy hearing him tell about the "good old 1950s," when he was a teen. He still plays '50s music, including songs by Elvis, Tony Bennett, Perry Como, Rosemary Clooney, Patti Page, Nat King Cole, Doris Day, Frank Sinatra and a bunch more. I admit I kind of like this music, but I would never let him know.

Grandpa keeps telling me how wonderful it was to be a teen in the '50s. He thinks today's teens are out-of-control, drug- and sex-crazed adolescents. I know that today's teens are very different than the teens of yesteryear, but are we really as bad as the newspapers, television and movies make us out to be? — Nameless, North Aurora, Ill.

NAMELESS: I'm fortunate to be able to travel throughout the United States and Canada speaking before groups of young adults. My brother was a teacher at the high school where I was once a principal, so I have the opportunity to visit his classroom and to keep in touch with today's youth.

I'm happy to report that I'm totally impressed with today's young adults. They are more intelligent and much more conscious of world events than teens in the '50s. Our country and many other countries are going through very tough times right now. But when these world problems are eventually diminished, it will be because of the trust and respect of all world leaders who are now teenagers.

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. E-mail him at [email protected]. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.