Virginity Pledge Ineffective
Teen abstinence pledges don't work, study shows.
A new study reveals teens who pledge to abstain from premarital sex actually lose their virginity around the same time as teens who did not vow to remain virgins. The study released today is consistent with previous studies that have shown teens who pledge their virginity are less likely to use protection than their non-pledging counterparts.
The Johns Hopkins University study reviewed results from a previously collected survey of 11,000 teens. With abstinence-only education on the rise in past years due to Bush administration policy, the efficacy of the program has come under close inspection. According to MSNBC, the issue is particularly weighty now, with President-Elect Barack Obama and the Congress soon to reconsider the $176 million that currently funds abstinence-focused sex ed.
Those who support teaching abstinence to teens say there's more to the program than just virginity pledges, but critics say teens who don't learn about protection are less likely to use it. The study results released today found 24 percent of teenagers who had pledged said they always used a condom when having sex compared with 34 percent of non-pledge teens who reported consistent condom use.
The way we learn about both the mechanics and the morality of having sex varies greatly in this country, and studies abound as to the best way to prevent unplanned pregnancy and STDs. Should we control what teens watch on TV? Should we take a cue from our European sister states and make sex ed and safe sex messaging both shocking and mandatory? The debate continues.
Discussion
while i think that the idea of a virginity pledge is great if you're doing it for the right reasons, i think that teaching abstinence only sex ed was one of the worst things that the bush administration could have done. you're pushing your beliefs on children all over the world and rather than teaching them how to have safe sex, you're just telling them not to have sex because premarital sex is bad. premarital sex is so different than it was 20 or even 10 years ago. since more people are having sex now you should be informing them of all the risks that can come along with unprotected sex. if you believe that you should remain a virgin until you are committed by marriage, i think that's great. if you want your child to remain a virgin until they are married, that's your choice too. but either way, everyone should be informed about being safe. if you don't know how to be safe, you're at the biggest risk ever.
While I hope and pray my teen daughters continue to think of boys and kissing as 'icky' I know there will come a day. At this point I would rather they practice safe sex and remain STD-free than the opposite. While the whole 'Just say NO' schitck may have had an effective outcome for those who tried, I believe that taking a chastity pledge is like lying to a pollster. You know what you said and whether you believe what you said in public doesnt matter behind closed doors (or voting booth curtains). Politicians do it all the time.
Virginity pledges are all pressure. What girl in a room full of her peers is NOT going to take a virginity pledge? You don't want to be ridiculed, so you do it. Plus, there is no REAL talk. Girls aren't told about the gray areas, what it's really like. So when they are with a guy they are just confused. It would be so much more effective if talks about abstinence were more than just "DON'T DO IT!" It would be so much more effective if it included real graphic talk.
I definately agree with you. I just graduated from high school last year and have been through a sex ed program that advocated abstinence. While I don't remember being given the option to take a virginity pledge, our "teacher" was with all of us for two years and she would tell us "Don't do it" but she would also give us reasons why we shouldn't. It might have helped some, it didn't really make that much of a difference. She came back a third year and spent her time with only the girls, which I thought was good of her, but other than showing us a pretty graphic video of a teen girl birthing a baby I don't remember her being graphic enough with any of us (girls or guys) to make us stand up and say "No".
If it wasn't for my mother being straightforward with me and giving me sound advice and guidance, I would probably be at least somewhat sexually active. I'm proud to say, however, that at 19 years old I am unlike many of my friends in that I am still a virgin and have all intensions of remaining that way until I'm married (as a matter of fact I haven't even had my first kiss). Mostly thanks to my mom. I'm just now begining to realize how blessed I am to have her. I believe at least some parents have the tendency to think that because their kids may not show a general appreciation for them that what they say and do go unheeded. They don't. My mom has had more of an influence on me than I'm sure I even realize.
As for virginity pledges, I think that in theory they are good but without some sort of accountablity method or a true resolve to not have sex they are not as effective as they should be.