My youthful indiscretion is one that many young women make -- an unwanted pregnancy that ended in an abortion. While I never thought twice about my decision, I'm not sure what reaction my future husband (whoever it might be) would have if I were to tell him. How do you tell someone you love you made such a big mistake with irreversible consequences? And how do you ask for forgiveness when you aren't sure you need it?

Sent by Catie | 2:59 PM ET | 05-09-2007

This isn't a light issue ... among the behaviors I regret the most when I was a young mother was abusing my children, just as I had been abused by my parents. It's taken a lifetime of therapy to free myself of that horrible legacy. I've never forgiven myself, and my children have neither forgiven nor forgotten -- and I don't think they ever will. In fact, I don't think they -- or I -- should.

Sent by M. Wood | 3:09 PM ET | 05-09-2007

As one of my favorite Hip Hop Artists states "my wrap sheet only shows a fraction of what I've done," at the age of 16 I was arrested for possession of alcohol by a minor. At the age of 18 I elected join the army reserves, but I was forced to take a job as a clerk instead of as a military police soldier as I had wanted. Apparently the conviction even as a minor forbid me from acquiring a secret clearance. I went to court and had the charges expunged yet still they followed me in my military career preventing me from obtaining a security clearance. It wasn't until I was serving in Afghanistan and was called upon for special assignment to work as military intelligence analyst that they opted to ignore my possession of the bottle of Rum, granting me a secret clearance, albeit temporary. I have found in life that sins of the childhood are only sins when it is of the convenience of the one pointing the finger.

Sent by BK | 3:41 PM ET | 05-09-2007

At age 20 I was arrested and convicted for a marijuana charge. That was back in 1973. I've paid for it ever since.

The six months in jail weren't the worst of it by a long shot. Now more than back then these things follow us around all over the world like electronic age marks of Cain.

I feel really sorry for any younger folks who have similar situations. At least I had a couple of decades to build a life before the computer age and the drug war hysteria caught up with me.

Sent by A J Smith (Phoenix AZ) | 5:09 PM ET | 05-09-2007

This hits close to home. I just completed a suplementary application that asked ALOT of questions requiring me to divulge everything. I want the job so much I layed it out for them; from a misdemeanor possesion charge 30 years ago, to a loan default to my speeding ticket in 2000, to a forced resignation.
I don't know if I'll get the job, even though they did offer it to me before the suplemental app.
The advice I got when confronting the questions was all over the board, the advice I took was to be completely honest--even though I had great misgivings about doing so.
OH Well. If I'm judged too harshly I certainly learned something about the workplace that I didn't understand before.

Sent by Ed | 10:42 AM ET | 05-10-2007

arrested in 97 (senior year of highschool) for possession of a controlled substance, a class 4 felony. biggest irony was that it wasn't even me that was caught with it, but rather, the son of the school district's superindendent (charges were basically transferred over to me while the other kid got off with a slap on the wrist.) since then, i've had my record expunged. however, prior to my expungement, my record was accessible to anyone who wanted to know. as a result, i received extra attention and aggressive questioning when pulled over for even minor traffic infractions, have been turned down for jobs at the very last minute at 2 prestigious firms (IDC and LG, denied at both immediately after i filled out the application, despite having gone through several positive interviews and even being flown out to boston, from chicago, for a face 2 face), consistently corralled to the special screening line when returning from overseas business trips, and my latest indignity, having to disclose on an SBA loan application that i have been arrested for something other than a traffic violation, which precluded me from express processing eligibility. luckily, at the time of the arrest, i had retained a skilled lawyer who got me off on probation. had i received less than adequate counsel, i could have gotten a drug related conviction, which would have made me ineligible for federal school loans. i am now a regular, tax paying joe, with a few mortgages, a car note, and profitable business. but i was lucky. i'm sure there are a lot of people out there that had a similar mistake when they were young and stupid, and basically had the cards stacked against them ever since.

Sent by jefferson park | 11:18 AM ET | 05-10-2007

In the 1950's and 1960's, a person could make a mistake as a teenager, and still join the middle class later in life. We had decent paying jobs for people who did not go to college, or who did not graduate from high school. A person could straighten out their life at age 23 and lead a very productive life. It is terribly sad today that a person who makes the mistake of not finishing high school or college is effectively ignored by our political leaders. Our society now expects a high school drop-out to compete for jobs with millions of illegal aliens. This person who may simply be a slow learner, who may have had bad parents, or may have used drugs as a teenager will pay for the rest of his life in our society that is obsessed with importing low-wage labor.

Dale Johnson - Elgin, IL

Sent by Dale Johnson | 11:46 AM ET | 05-10-2007

I do background checks for a living in Alaska. We see all kinds of things that folks were caught doing on record, never mind what they didn't get caught doing. Just because it's out there doesn't mean that someone is going to be passed over for a job for having a criminal history, even a felony conviction. We often see a batch of occurences between the ages of 16 through 24. Some regulations take into effect that as long as ten years have passed since the last unfortunate occurance. We live in a very punative age where kids are charged as adults and the hard on crime issue has realy affected a lot of people who had no judgment in their 'youth'.

Sent by Mary M. Thomas | 2:30 PM ET | 05-10-2007