Virginity Pledges Don't Stop Teens From Having Sex, Study Shows

MONDAY, Dec. 29 (HealthDay News) -- Teens who take virginity pledges are just as likely to have sex as teens who don't make such promises -- and they're less likely to practice safe sex to prevent disease or pregnancy, a new study finds.

"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."

This method allowed Rosenbaum to compare those who had taken a virginity pledge with similar teens who hadn't taken a pledge but were likely to delay having sex, she said. She added that she didn't include teens who were unlikely to take a pledge.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[HeatherLeila]

The New Yorker had an interesting article out in November about how Evangelical and Mainline Protestant teenagers differ in their sexual habits. It's a little more in depth than this article:
http://heatherleila3.blogspot.com/2008/11/red-sex-blue-sex.html

[DigitalVapor]

You have to love the ultimate hypocrisy of this though. Nevermind the stupid pledges, what about the fact that these pledges are driven by the ironic religious belief that sex is dirty and immoral etc. You have to love how these "God's Will" nuts rail against basic biology and nature. If one is to buy into the religious right's views, then these wingnuts are going against god's will seeing as how if god designed humans, then god surely designed us to have sexual urges, and therefore give in to said urges. This implies obviously that abstinence is against God's will. But I digress.

Honestly, the "Pledge" will never take the place of good parenting and proper sex education. We can try our best to teach our children smart values and good sense, but we can not control them. Therefore the best we can do is make sure they get adequate sex education to prepare them should they decide to have sex. Better to be informed and safe than oblivious and sorry.

[RTIII]

It is PRECISELY this separation between all three - god separate from man and nature, man separate from god and nature, and nature, separate from man and god - is the root cause a great many if not most of our society's ills. This is what drives us to disrespect our environment and even each other...
.

[afraid]

I have never understood why education is so evil to people. Couldn't people agree that even if teens plan on abstinence for now someday their teens-will be adults-will be having sex and will need to know. Ignorance is just an excuse and pure laziness. Why can't everyone agree that everything we learn in school we do not do or use right away-some of it is a life lesson.

[RTIII]

No, it's not laziness; it's a denial of life.
.

[prostock69]

Trying to get teens, who are in the process of becoming fully mature "sexual beings" to ignore the internal and psychological need to have sex by using religious oppression and guilt is one of the greatest crimes perpetrated against humanity. For many this results in a lifetime of guilt and fear over the religious consequences of having sex. Telling a teen that sex, which is as natural as breathing, drinking, and eating, is a SIN that must be abstained from is beyond my comprehension and is just another form of child abuse. Where do they get this from? There sexually damaged religious parents who are too ashamed to speak openly and honest about sex and would much rather tell their kids "Just don't have it." Well hiding your head in the sand doesn't made STD's and teen pregnancies go away, Ask Sarah Palin, the poster mom for abstinence. See how it worked for her!

[charlot]

Wait...you mean praying to McJeezis doesn't help kids abstain? Isn't it blasphemous to even claim such a thing?
Why, I'm so shocked I might faint. Someone get me a Victorian fainting bed, quick!

[sisterdebmac]

LOL! Duh.

[Eyewideopen]

And fathers giving their daughters "chastity rings" and forcing their daughters to attend "chastity balls" is just sick and creepy.

[charlot]

...and after the chastity ball, they go home to watch the Lawrence Welk Show and delight in their Aryan qualities over tang and saltines.

[ImagesAndAdjectives]

That works about as well as pledging not to eat. Or breathe.

[Sunshine1970]

Really? Virginity pledge doesn't work? How shocking....

[wijg]

Virginity pledges, is there anything more ridiculous?

[boomslang]

LOL Only in America,could anyone be surprised

[rabiddog6708]

Hope for the best (teens abstaining) but prepare for the worst (teens having unprotected sex). Herpes is forever and unwanted pregnancy could be drasticly reduced by being safe rather than sorry later. An ounce of prevention, as goes the addage.

[qofdisks]

People need to stop raising children from a position of fear. Head in the sand tactics and oppression will result in sneakiness and sexual perversion.

[lookingAhead]

Learning hypocrisy early. Got to love em.

[TrooAmerican]

No Surprise there. And since the kids made their Zealot Parents think they were honoring the pledge, they cant ask them for birth control or get caught buying contraception.
And have no idea where to go to get help, because of their parents. Absitnence is good. But if its because of parental pressure and threats along with misinformation and lack of education then its not going to last and as evidence shows, it ends up worse.