What Does “Abstinence” Mean?
Abstinence means making the right choices to refrain from sexual
activity, including those intimate sexual behaviors which have
traditionally preceded intercourse. The true abstinence message today is
best understood in the cultural context of the marriage relationship:
abstinence until marriage, faithfulness within marriage.
toph
Is abstinence
realistic?
More than 50 percent of high school students have not had
sex. And recent studies show this number is increasing. Of
teens who are sexually experienced-have had intercourse at
least one time-approximately 25 percent are currently
abstinent (which means they've had no sexual involvement
within the prior three months).
toph
What do you teach in the schools?
The curriculum we use is designed to present information in
age-appropriate stages with reinforcement activities that involve each student
and enable individuals to derive appropriate conclusions regarding sexual
activity through interaction, role-playing and critical thinking activities that
are fun, directive and informative.
It has been designed specifically to meet the educational needs of adolescents
ages 12 to 18, both males and females.
toph
Does Right
Choices say that sex is bad?
No! Abstinence doesn't mean sex is bad; it means sex is good
- save it, protect it, and preserve it so that you can enjoy
it in a marriage relationship. Your abstinence is a precious
gift you can only give away once. Abstinence says, "I'm
saving myself for someone who loves me enough to make a
lifelong commitment to me in marriage."
toph
What if teens have already
engaged in sexual activity?
Won’t abstinence education make them feel worse about themselves?
There are students who have already been involved in sex outside a
faithful marriage relationship. Perhaps they feel that it is too late
for them to change. They may have already had an out-of-wedlock
pregnancy, an STD, or felt heartbreak and a loss of self-respect. We
communicate hope to these students and let them know that regardless of
what they have done in the past, it’s in the past. None of us can do
anything about our pasts, but, we can do everything about our futures.
They can become SECONDARY, or RENEWED VIRGINS. A secondary virgin
is someone who makes a decision to start from this day forward, NOW,
saving sex until marriage.
toph
Is
Right Choices a religious program?
No. Right Choices of West Tennessee is a federally funded,
sexual health project. We teach that abstinence until
marriage is the only 100% effective way to remain free from
disease and pregnancy. We encourage students to make wise
and healthy choices about their lives and their futures.
toph
Isn’t abstinence education unrealistic and not proven to be effective? Therefore, isn’t promoting condom use the only realistic approach to STDs and nonmarital pregnancies?
Comprehensive ‘safe or safer’ sex programs have been around for many years, are highly funded, and well developed by professional curriculum writers. Despite this, research on school-based comprehensive programs has yielded little proof of success (ie, decreases in pregnancy and STD rates). In contrast programs have been relatively underfunded and are still in a state of infancy. To date, little outcome-based research has been done for
Abstinence-until-marriage programs in the United States.
This is not, however, the case around the globe. The abstinence message has played a dramatic role in a countrywide success story in Uganda—a country that initially led the HIV epidemic in Africa. In the mid-1980s, Uganda’s newly elected president, Yoweri Museveni,
assembled a coalition of governmental, social, educational, and health-related
personnel to fight HIV. Through this union, the entire populace was informed of
the virus and of each person’s ‘patriotic duty’ to help fight its spread. This
unique campaign was christened ABC (Abstinence, Be faithful, use Condoms (within
the context of marriage).
Campaign results were astonishing; HIV rates declined by two-thirds over the span of a decade, dropping in the general population from 15% in 1991 to 5% in 2001. Most of the drop occurred during the first half of the decade prior to the widespread condom social marketing. These results were mainly due to a strong emphasis on the Siamese twin concepts of premarital abstinence and marital fidelity (“zero grazing”), rather than condom promotion. For instance, from 1989 to 1995 sexual activity rates dropped from 60% to 23% for 15- to 24- year old men and from 53% to 16% for same aged women. Over the same time frame, extramarital partners dropped from 41% to 21% for men and from 23% to 9% for women. In contrast, “ever use” of condoms increased only marginally in the time period during which the HIV infection rates dropped most precipitously. According to self reports, condom “ever-use” rates rose from 1% in 1989 to 6% in 1995 for women. (It should be noted that despite its popularity as a measure, “ever use” of condoms has never been show to be associated with lower rates of disease.) It should be noted that condom promotion was targeted to high risk populations such as (HIV) discordant couples and prostitutes. Taken together, these data strongly support the contention that emphasis on abstinence and fidelity, and not condom promotion, was responsible for the dramatic decrease in the proportion of the general population infected with HIV. (copied
in-part from MISH)
toph
Is it
normal and healthy not to have sex until marriage?
Yes, in fact it is the best way to stay physically and emotionally healthy.
Some have heard the old saying, "We use it or lose it," and have believed it
about sexual ability. It is not true. An individual may be abstinent from sex
from birth until marriage, or following divorce or the death of a spouse, and
then enjoy a wonderful normal sex life in a future marriage.
toph
Can parents make a difference in whether a teen becomes sexually active
Definitely. Studies show that parents can have the most dramatic impact on their
children's behavior if they clearly define what they expect their children to do
(and not do) within the context of close family connectedness. According to the
National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health, parental disapproval of their
teen being sexually active and of their teen using contraceptives are
significant factors that influence the delay of the onset of sexual activity in
teenagers.
Source: Resnick, M.D. et al. (1997, September). Protecting
Adolescents from Harm-Findings from the National Longitudinal Study on
Adolescent Health. Journal of the American Medical Association, 278(10),
823-832.
toph
How many people are
infected with an STD?
It is estimated that there are more than 68 million current STD infections among
Americans. Each year, 15.3 million new STD infections occur, including over 3
million infections in teens. The two most common STDs, herpes and human
papilloma virus (HPV), account for 65 of the 68 million current infections.
Source: American Social Health Association. Sexually Transmitted
Disease in America: How Many Cases and at What Cost? Menlo Park, Calif.: Kaiser
Family Foundation; 1998.
It is estimated that 20 percent of all Americans age 12 and older are infected
with genital herpes.
Source: Fleming, D, et al. Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 in the
United States, 1976-1994. N Engl J Med. 1997;337(16): 1105-1111.
toph
What age
group is at greatest risk for acquiring an STD?
Adolescents and young adults (15-24) are the age groups at the greatest risk
for acquiring an STD. Approximately two-thirds of all people who acquire STDs
are under 25. The Centers for Disease Control states that adolescents and young
adults are at greater risk for many reasons, including:
- They may have less immunity than adults
- They may be more likely to have multiple sex
partners
- They may be more likely to engage in unprotected
intercourse
- They may select partners at higher risk
- Age at initiation of sexual activity has decreased
while age at first marriage has increased, resulting in
more nonmarital sexual experience
Source: Division of STD Prevention.
Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance 1999.
Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta: Center
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), September
2000.
Eng TR, Butler WT, eds. The Hidden Epidemic -
Confronting Sexually Transmitted Disease. The Institute
of Medicine. Washington, DC: National Academy Press,
1997.
toph
What about HIV?
An estimated 25% of new HIV infections are found in
people under age 22. An estimated 50% of all new HIV
infections are occur among people under 25, with the
majority being infected sexually. HIV has already taken
the lives of more than 375,000 Americans. By the way of
comparison, America lost approximately 400,000 people in
World War II.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. HIV Prevention Strategic Plan Through 2005.
September 2000.
toph
What are some results of teens' increased susceptibility
to STDs?
Compared to older women, teen girls have a higher rate
of chlamydia, a disease that is a common cause of pelvic
inflammatory disease (PID), which can lead to
infertility. At least 10 percent of all sexually active
teens are infected with this disease. Among women,
gonorrhea rates are highest among teen girls ages 15-19.
Source: Division of STD Prevention.
Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance 1999.
Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta: Center
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), September
2000.
The risk of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)
is as much as 10 times greater for 15-year-old females
than for 24-year-old females. PID can cause sterility.
Source: Westrom L. Incidence, Prevalence,
and Trends of Acute Pelvic Inflammatory Disease and Its
Consequences in Industrialized Countries. American
Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 1980: 138, 880-92.
toph
What is HPV?
Human papilloma virus (HPV) is an STD that causes
genital warts. It also is the cause of more than 90
percent of all cervical cancer. Cervical cancer takes
the lives of about 5,000 American women yearly, and
condoms provide almost no protection against HPV. It is
estimated 5.5 million new infections occur each year
with at least 20 million people currently infected.
Source: National Institutes of Health.
(April 1-3, 1996). Cervical Cancer: NIH Consensus
Development Statement, Online, 43(1), 1-30.
Source: American Social Health Association. (1998,
December) Sexually Transmitted Disease in America: How
Many Cases and at What Cost? Menlo Park, Calif.: Kaiser
Family Foundation.
Sexual Transmission of HIV and other STDs. CDC Update,
2.
toph
For which STDs do condoms effectively reduce the
transmission?
Condoms provide the best (though not complete)
protection against HIV and gonorrhea. They are less
effective protecting against herpes type 2, trichomonas
and chlamydia. Condoms provide little protection against
bacterial vaginosis and HPV (the most common STD).
Source: Cates, W. Jr. & Stone, K.M. (1992, March/April).
Family Planning, Sexually Transmitted Diseases and
Contraceptive Choice: A Literature Update-Part I. Family
Planning Perspectives, 24(2), 75-84
toph
Is medical
care the answer to STDs?
While medical science has made great advances, the STD
epidemic continues to grow. Chlamydia and gonorrhea can
be "cured" with antibiotics, but can leave scars, which
often require future treatment and may cause
infertility. And certain strains of gonorrhea are
becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics. Viral
STDs pose a major problem, because no medical cure has
been found for any virus-not even the common cold. This
means if a person becomes infected with a viral STD
(such as herpes, HPV or HIV) there is no cure. A vaccine
for herpes has been rumored for years, but has not yet
been produced. Antiviral drugs reduce the number of
outbreaks a person with herpes experiences, they cannot
eliminate the outbreaks entirely. A cure, or vaccine,
for the HIV virus is probably years away. We do know,
however, that even if vaccines or cures for these
infections were available today-the STD problem would
not be solved.
toph
Does loving
someone mean giving them what they want?
First of all, if someone is asking you to risk your future and your health, then
that person may not really love YOU. If you love someone, you want what is best
for him/her. With abstinence, you can give your loved one the assurance that
he/she will be free from unwanted pregnancy, disease, and even death.
toph
Will you ever go into any other counties?
Yes! We are currently partnering with other systems in West TN.
If you'd like us to present our program to your System for their consideration,
please contact us today.
