<p>No surprise to me here. I just heard of yet another girl who is pregnant despite having pledged abstinence, and having a minister mom who exposes the youths in her congregation to only abstinence programs.</p>
<p>I wonder when people will realize that the sex drive is a basic part of human nature, and to only preach abstinence while not providing information about contraception, etc. is unwise.</p>
<p>"A federal study found that teenagers who pledged abstinence are just as likely to have premarital sex as those who do not make the pledge, HealthDay News reported.</p>
<p>Those teenagers who originally made the pledge are significantly less likely to use condoms or birth control than teens who did not make the pledge.</p>
<p>“Previous studies found that pledgers were more likely to delay having sex than non-pledgers,” said study author Janet E. Rosenbaum, a post-doctoral fellow at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “I used the same data as previous studies but a different statistical method.”</p>
<p>Rosenbaum said she compared teens who had taken a virginity pledge with similar teens who had not taken a pledge, but were apt to delay having sex.</p>
<p>Just read a great column, by Dan Savage, with his usual no holds barred humor, in The Onion this AM regarding this very topic. Found it online under his column name-Savage Love. A rather insightful take on the behavior fostered by this pledge, if not for the faint of heart!</p>
<p>I don’t understand the value of taking a pledge to do something that you expect to live by anyways. If you’re going to live by a set of values, just do it. You don’t need to tell others about it. If you are really that insecure about making your pledge, then there’s a good chance that you will let it fall by the wayside.</p>
<p>I think they’re studying the wrong kind of teens who are pledging abstinence.</p>
<p>Like the Jonas Brothers…I feel like they did it to make a statement/get some more publicity. Because it’s really hard to abstain when your fan base is a bunch of pre-pubescent girls.</p>
<p>Anyway. I think the difference is that for myself, I pledged to abstain because I chose to. Not because my parents wanted me to or because I felt like I had to. And that’s how several of my friends feel. I think that makes a huge difference–you have to want it for YOU, not for someone else. </p>
<p>Now I do have a friend who broke her self-pledge, but she was safe and she doesn’t beat herself up about it because again, it was her choice.</p>
<p>I dunno, I feel like that difference is fairly significant.</p>
<p>Well, if you’re looking for a certain result, I suppose that’s true. However, these studies are with a cross section of teens who have taken these pledges. Not only do the pledges not work with their stated goal, they put the teens who take them at a higher risk of contracting STDs due to the “alternative” behavior they engage in (ie anal sex is not considered “sex”)</p>
<p>I live in a state where sex-ed is restricted by law to be abstinence only. I also live the county with the second highest unplanned teen pregnancy rate in the nation. It’s really enough to make one weep.</p>
<p>Guys target girls who make these stupid pledges. Anyone who would succumb to pressure by their church and their peers to make this pledge would succumb to our advances as well.</p>
<p>IMO, if you have a boyfriend or a girlfriend you will eventually have sex. Not everyone obviously, but most. That’s why some religions that preach no premarital sex don’t encourage dating. Of course, some members of the religion do date (and have PMS), but it does make a difference IMO.</p>
<p>I guess that is pretty obvious, but I guess I don’t really think PMS has anything to do with education as much as dating culture. Dating is a lot more taboo in other countries where of course PMS occurs, but at older ages (20+ rather than 16). They see no purpose in those not looking to get married to date.</p>
<p>Our church is taking a group of teens to a silver ring thing . My D will stay home with my blessing. The description says they use high-energy music and skits to get them all fired up about abstinence. To me that sounds really silly. I have talked to my kids, and they know I don’t expect them to wait until they are married, but hopefully within the context of a relationship rather than with someone they just met.</p>
<p>The even more frightening part about this study is that when the abstinence pledge kids did have sex, they were less likely to use condoms. The authors of the study are attributing it to a lack of knowledge, as many of these kids received abstinence-only education. However, I think it goes beyond that, to a particular mindset that says, “If it’s wrong to have sex, it’s even more wrong to PLAN to do it.” In other words - “Well, I didn’t mean to do it but things got out of hand and it <em>just happened,</em>” is a lot more palatable to these kids’ consciences than “Ok, I’m going to break my pledge, so lets go buy some condoms.” I have personal acquaintance with this mindset from a good friend back in my college days. </p>
<p>The lack of knowledge about birth control and condoms is also a problem. There is a fundamental misunderstanding in the mind of many parents and conservative/religious groups - they need to realize that knowledge does not equal permission. There are ways to say to your kids, “I do not approve of your having pre-marital sex. However, when you get married you will need this information, and I am giving it to you now in case you decide to disregard my opinion on this. I love you, and I don’t want to you to contract an awful disease or become pregnant before you’re ready as a consequence of making a bad decision. Deciding to have sex at your age is a bad decision - deciding to have sex without protection is even worse.”</p>
<p>Oh wow, not sure what’s going on here. I just posted at 7:14 pm, and for some reason my post is ahead of daniellamarie & pugmadkate, even though they posted before me.</p>