Due to the underage pregnancy of Sarah Palin’s daughter, Bristol, the issue of teenage pregnancy was a more prominent issue in this election than in any previous one. Several groups have insisted for years that they have the solution, and that solution takes the form of abstinence pledges, in which young people promise to refrain from sex until marriage. These pledges come in many varieties, from informal self-promises, to the wearing of rings inscribed with “True Love Waits,” to “purity balls,” during which daughters pledge to their fathers to remain virgins until marriage and fathers pledge to do everything possible to keep their daughters pure. Supporters and critics abound for each of these methods, while the “purity industry” as a whole is growing exponentially.
Both the supporters and the critics have legitimate arguments on this debate. The main issue discussed is, of course, whether or not these purity pledges actually reduce the rates of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, or more specifically, if these teens actually do wait to have sex. The results of the research done on these programs indicate that the age at which pledged teens first have sex is indeed higher, but the cause of that higher age often depends on the circumstances in which the pledge is taken.
Purity balls have perhaps the highest number of critics. They are nearly always events held as a part of fundamentalist Christian churches, and are often known as purity “weddings,” with the same level of formality as a real wedding. This alone is a significant criticism of the event: sharing a formal event with your father that is held for the preservation of your virginity has to be extremely awkward at best, and there are many superior ways to become closer to your father emotionally. However, the most compelling criticism is that the girl involved essentially signs over the rights to her body to her father, until she is married, and then the rights transfer to her husband. While the girls involved may not view it as such, and the fathers involved may think themselves noble for defending their daughters’ purity, the contract does, in fact, imply that very thing.
This event is the most extreme form of abstinence pledge for that reason: the girls are making the pledge not to themselves, but to their fathers. Regardless of your views on what is appropriate to do with your own body, it is, in fact, your own body, and signing away the rights or even responsibility over it to someone else is simply unhealthy, even if that person is a father with your best interests at heart. Pledging to preserve your virginity is not inherently a bad thing, but purity balls are simply not going about it the right way.
Purity rings are another form of abstinence pledge, and are often done by larger groups in formal programs, such as True Love Waits, an abstinence program with a blatantly Christian message, and Silver Ring Thing, a (more subtly Christian) program that uses rock concerts and sketch comedy to appeal to teenagers to make the pledge. Young people involved in either program pledge to remain abstinent until marriage, and usually wear a ring on the ring finger of their left hand (which can bear a message such as “True Love Waits,” “One Life, One Love,” and/or a Bible verse). These programs, and purity rings in themselves, have become very popular, especially since teen Disney stars such as Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers have confirmed wearing them.
The research done on teenagers who participate in these types of abstinence pledges has mixed results. Some research states that the pledges only work if a significant portion of a high school makes the pledge: it won’t work if you’re the only one pledging, nor will it work if your whole school joins in (you have to believe that you aren’t alone and that you are special at the same time). Other research states that the teens involved do put off sex until later, but are less likely to use any forms of contraception when they do have sex. The two main criticisms of purity rings incorporate both sets of research: critics say that the pledges mean nothing if done in a mob form, and that the pledges are unrealistic for young people. The critics who state that peer pressure plays too big a part in these pledges are completely right: the decision to preserve your virginity is a serious one, and should not be made quickly at a rock-concert type event where everyone around you is making the pledge.
The issue is a serious one, and should be treated as such, with time and care. The program developers who so dislike the cheapening of sex actually end up cheapening it by forcing (or if not forcing, unfairly influencing) a quick decision on a major issue. However, the critics who state that abstinence pledges are simply unrealistic for teenagers are underestimating the maturity of many teenagers who make and keep the pledge. Although many of the teens who pledge to remain pure until marriage don’t truly have the intention of keeping the pledge, many more do, and to mock their dedication as “unrealistic” undermines them as the adults they are attempting to become. Pledging to remain a virgin is not only possible, it is admirable and healthy, and those young people who pledge and stay true to the pledge should be commended.
It is for this reason that purity pledges as a whole should not be dismissed as outdated or impossibly difficult to adhere to. A pledge made to yourself, whether signified with a ring for the world to see, or signified with nothing but your own thoughts and personal boundaries, is a good decision. Preserving virginity can help keep you healthy both physically and emotionally, and obviously helps avoid unwanted pregnancy. It can strengthen a future relationship with a spouse, and strengthen an existing relationship with your God. An abstinence pledge can be the first major “adult” decision a teenager makes, and while the decision is often made in poor circumstances or for the wrong reasons, when it is made for the right reasons, it is both praiseworthy and beneficial for the young person making it.
