With young celebrities like the Jonas Brothers promoting virginity vows with things such as purity rings, many teens are joining the virginity pledge craze sweeping the nation.
Recent studies, however, show that virginity pledges are ineffective. “Pledgers” are just aslikely to engage in pre-marital sex than “non-pledgers,” according to a study in Journal Pediatrics.
Although pledgers lose their virginity later than their peers at an average age of 21 — compared to the national average of 17 — pledgers are more likely to engage in othersexual activities and less likely to use birth control when they do become sexually active.
The pledgers’ unsafe sexual relations can be attributed to a lack of sexual education; they believe that since they “vow” not to have sex, they don’t need to know anything about it, saidWellness Education Coordinator Kathy Saichuk. —-Contact Natalie Roy at [email protected]