As I was sitting in the doctor’s office getting a physical for school, the doctor proceeded to ask me a very personal question, “Are you sexually active?” I was completely taken off guard and a little embarrassed seeing how my mother was sitting right next to me.
I gave him a quizzical look and asked if the question was necessary, and he gave me a surprising answer. He said that the average teenager today loses their virginity at 13 to 14 years of age. I was shocked. At that age, I was still watching Nickelodeon and playing dress-up with old dance costumes.
It was about a year ago I heard this news, and yet the other day I came across a very interesting article. It described the new surprising trend for teenagers, a chastity ring. If the U.S. Centers for Disease Control is right, 47 percent of teenagers have had sexual intercourse. But that leaves 53 percent who have not.
Half the teenage population seems as though they want some help blocking the peer pressure. That’s where the chastity rings come in. Worn like a wedding ring, it serves as a reminder to wait until marriage to have sex, reports ABCNews.com.
The Silver Ring Thing is one group that help promotes teen chastity. They offer the chastity rings and chastity pledge that approximately 25,000 teens have already taken.
Founder Denny Pattyn told Good Morning America, “It’s a constant reminder on the young person’s hand that they’ve actually made a decision about this. They have a lot of information in their head, but that doesn’t stop them in the back seat of a car.”
When taking the pledge, it can be done either privately or publicly. Teenagers actually get the chance to make the vow at a rock concert event sponsored by Silver Ring Thing, with loud music, flashy lights, and the chance to buy t-shirts and other memorabilia to generate enthusiasm for their pledge, according to ABCNews.com.
The article went on to describe how more boys are saying no to sex. The statistics are stunning. More than half of all male high school students reported in 2001 that they were virgins, up from 39 percent in 1990. However, even though the numbers show a decline in sexual activity, Columbia University came up with a different conclusion.
Upon research they conducted, their study of 12,000 teenagers suggested that a whopping 88 percent of those who made a chastity vow did have sex before marriage. It seems as though the little ring is only good for so long until the hormones kick in.
Posted to the web by Shane Evans
