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| New Year’s Resolutions & Virginity Pledges |
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Everyone’s heard about how futile New Year’s resolutions are. We promise to be more organized, to lose weight, to make more money, or whatever. By late January it’s history. What about the futility of virginity pledges? Recent studies of 954 teens conducted through the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health indicate that virginity pledges don’t really work. Most teens will eventually have sex and perhaps even do it without protection. This is not good news. Just like New Year’s Resolutions, virginity pledges require someone with a real sense of commitment. Seldom do pledges work when one is not fully committed. Whether it is a pledge to quit smoking or for a teen to not have sex, these decisions require effort. However, most of us make these resolutions because down deep we know we need to change, or it is good for our health. Teens are not stupid. When they are told about life-long sexually transmitted diseases and damage to their hearts and minds when they embark on sexual escapades, they do listen. Some choose to take their chances. Some suffer as a result. And some choose to keep their fingers out of the fire. Whether they take an official pledge doesn’t really matter. It’s a very personal choice and one they must live with. New Year’s Resolutions and virginity pledges both require the choice to live within boundaries. While some bristle at the idea of a boundary—an idea that means one can’t go over a line, others view boundaries as a form of safety—keeping one from a world of hurt. Who needs more hurt in their lives?
A study of 954 teens does not mean all the teens in the United States cannot keep a pledge to remain sexually abstinent. Let’s make a New Year’s Resolution we can keep: let’s agree that teens deserve the best that adults can offer: good information for making good choices. What could be a better way to greet 2009? |
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