Last
week, there was a lot of discussion about the results of the latest
study on the effectiveness of teen virginity pledges. This latest study
found that essentially there was no difference in the percentage of
teens who have premarital sex irregardless of if they had taken a
virginity pledge. This, of course raised more opposition to funding of
abstinence-only sex education.
What
wasn't routinely mentioned in these articles was the fact that from the
same study, it was found that religious teens on average, delay
premarital sex some three years compared to their non-religious peers.
True, this delay was not linked to virginity pledges, nor did it lessen
the percentages of premarital sex in religious teens, but I'm still
choosing to take the perspective that the delay is a positive aspect.
What
really should be studied more closely is how religious teens who take
virginity pledges, and have positive, values-based sex education
discussions with their parents fare in terms of premarital sex
percentages.
Study: Religious Teens More Likely to Abstain from Sex
Religious teens lose their virginity later than those who are not religious — waiting on average three years longer than their peers, a recent study reported.
Janet Rosenbaum, a post doctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, wrote in this month's issue of "Pediatrics" that those with strong religious backgrounds became sexually active at about 21 on average —regardless if they took a pledge to remain a virgin until marriage.
Overall, religious students, regardless of whether they take virginity pledges, are more conservative than their non-religious peers. When compared against national averages, "they are having sex an average of about three years later than the average American," Rosenbaum said.
"It is something that I think can be looked on as encouraging," she said. "Kids who are choosing to be religious are also choosing to abstain."
Source: Fox News
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,475306,00.html
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