Sexual abstinence education

Sex in the Media

We receive sexual messages all day long through TV, movies, music and advertisements. The idea of “sex with anyone, anytime” is promoted everywhere. Sex is portrayed as bringing great satisfaction with no risks. It is never mentioned the frightening ways that sexually transmitted diseases spread or the pain of breaking the relationships with those you have shared the most private and intimate areas of your life. They also never talk about the effects of early sexual encounters on the future marriage of a couple. Do movie characters ever contract HIV or syphilis and need to go to a clinic for treatment? No.

Why do we need a sexual education program?

• an increasing number of teens are exposing themselves to the risks of unplanned pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, and emotional scars
• most of them have little to no idea how large the risks they face are
• many teens who become pregnant have abortions without fully understanding what they are, nor what the physical and emotional consequences will be
• some teens are not able to stand up to peer pressure
• violence and aggression is growing among teens
• drug and alcohol abuse is an ever-growing trend among teens
• teenagers do not see themselves as having any value

Wait until we’re married, are you crazy!?

No, not at all. Having multiple sexual relationships is like playing Russian Sexual Roulette. No one expects to lose, but far too many do.
Abstinence means refraining from sexual relationships prior to marriage because of the emotional and physical risks.
Abstinence is the only true way to avoid all premarital sexual risks. Abstinence means being free of emotional risks, sexually transmitted diseases, unplanned pregnancies, and having to face a difficult decision regarding abortion.

• freedom from unplanned pregnancies
• freedom from having to make a decision regarding abortion
• freedom from the emotional and physical problems related to abortion
• freedom from sexually transmitted diseases
• freedom from the risks and negative side-effects of contraception
• freedom from having to marry too soon
• freedom to know that you have not affected someone’s reproductive system
• freedom to follow your goals in life
• freedom to respect yourself and others
• freedom to believe and trust more in marriage
• freedom to enjoy adolescence without unnecessary fear

The effects of sex before marriage

• Sex before marriage can destroy a relationship even before marriage.
• Most men (despite what they say) do not want to marry a woman who has had sex with someone else. It goes like this: “It’s okay for me to have sex with the woman you will marry, but it’s not okay for you to have sex with the woman I will marry”
• People who have pre-marital sexual relationships tend to be less satisfied in marriage because sexual relationships DO NOT provide strong enough foundations to build long-lasting relationships on.
• People who were sexually active before marriage are more likely to commit adultery in marriage. They are actually twice as likely to do so, when compared with those who were not sexually active prior to marriage
• If someone has sexual relations before marriage, they are liable to marry someone who is not suitable for them.
• People who have had pre-marital sexual relationships are generally saturated and therefore less satisfied with sex within their marriage. The sexual experiences they had affect them for the rest of their lives.
• Sex before marriage can lead to varying levels of guilt.
• Sex before marriage destroys virginity – a one-time gift.
• Sex before marriage carries the risk of an unplanned pregnancy.
• Sex before marriage can lead to destroyed reputations.
• Sex before marriage can cause sexual dysfunctions in men.

Most teenagers are under the impression that sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are very rare and only happen in bad fairy tales. They associate them with poor nations and believe that STDs are caught and transmitted only by people who do not use protection. But reality stands in stark contrast to these myths. STDs are more common than viruses and they are the 3rd leading cause of death worldwide. Most of them do not show their symptoms for a long period of time during which people who have them continue to transmit them to others via sexual relations.

HIV/AIDS

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is the virus that leads to AIDS. HIV belongs to the subset of retroviruses called lent viruses, or slow viruses. This means that there can be a long time interval – sometimes years – between the initial infection and the onset of symptoms.
Scientists believe that when the HIV virus enters the body, it begins to disable the immune system. It does this by using the body’s aggressive immune responses to the virus to infect, replicate, and kill immune system cells. Gradual deterioration of immune functions and the eventual destruction of lymphoid and immunologic organs are central to triggering the immunosuppression that leads to AIDS.
HIV infection is most commonly acquired through sexual contact. However, the virus can also be spread through blood-to-blood contact such as in the sharing of needles or in the case of blood transfusions where unscreened blood is used. The virus can also be transmitted from an HIV-infected mother to her child during pregnancy, birth, or breastfeeding.

Syphilis

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted bacterial infection that initially causes genital ulcers or sores. If left untreated, the disease will progress to more serious stages of infection, including blindness and nerve damage. An ancient disease, syphilis is still rampant today. Although syphilis rates in the United States declined by almost 90% between 1990 and the year 2000, the number of cases rose from 5,979 in 2000 to 9,7856 in 2006. In a single year (2005-2006) the rate of syphilis jumped 12%.
Syphilis is transmitted through sexual relations but can also be passed through open skin or other body parts. A pregnant woman can also pass the virus to her unborn child. In these cases children can be born with serious mental and/or physical problems as a result of the infection.

Gonorrhea

Gonorrhea is a very contagious bacterial infection, recognizable by thick discharge from the penis or vagina. In addition to the reproductive organs, gonorrhea affects the rectum, the eyes, the blood, skin and joints, in both males and females. Gonorrhea is spread through semen or vaginal fluids during sexual contact.

Human Papillomavirus

Genital Human Papillomavirus is the most common sexually transmitted infection. The virus infects both skin and mucous membranes. There are more than 40 different types of HPV that can infect the genital areas, including the skin of the penis, vulva, anus and the linings of the vagina, cervix, and rectum. You cannot see HPV and most people who are infected with HPV do not even know that they have it.
Sometimes people with HPV do not develop symptoms or serious health problems. But certain types of HPV can cause genital warts in both men and women. Other HPV types can lead to cervical cancer, as well as other less common varieties of vulva, vagina, anus, and cancer in the penis.

Chlamydia

Chlamydia an STD caused by a tiny bacterium called Chlamydia Trachomatis. While most people are familiar with the term Chlamydia, those at risk rarely understand all of its implications. Chlamydia can be treated, but because it shows no symptoms at times, it often goes undetected. Often it is only diagnosed once complications set in and permanent damage is done – then it is too late.

Hepatitis B

Hepatitis B is a liver disease associated with an inflammation of the liver. Inflammation is usually a painful red swelling that occurs when body tissue becomes injured or infected. Often it leads to the improper functioning of organs. Anyone can get Hepatitis B, but there are factors that increase the risk. Those who have had a history of sexually transmitted diseases or who have had more than one sexual partner in the past 6 months are at a higher risk of contracting Hepatitis B.

Despite the epidemic of STDs and broken hearts due to promiscuous sexual activity, few people are ready to face the fact that these diseases could be virtually eliminated if uninfected people decided to remain abstinent until they are in a marriage relationship marked by faithfulness for life.
Most would respond, “That’s impossible!“. Preferring instead to pursue “safer sex“, they put forward the following arguments:

1. Limiting the number of partners that one has sexual relations with. Fewer sexual partners means less risk of contracting a disease. 
BUT: – A deadly disease can be transmitted by a single sexual contact with one infected partner

2. Know your sexual partners past and avoid sex with those who have had more partners.

BUT: – How can you know your prospective partner is completely honest with you about their sexual history, especially if they have something to hide. And how can you ever know the history of your partner’s partners? It’s an endless question. If you consider the STD side of the equation, a person does not only have sex with the person they are with at the moment, but from a biological perspective they are having sex with each and every person down the chain; all their partners, and all their partner’s partners, and so on and so on.

3. Always use a condom
BUT: What if he does not want to? What if it breaks? Condoms have a failure potential of 35%. Condoms are not the most effective method for pregnancy prevention. And remember, wherever semen goes, it can carry STDs.

So then, is it worth the risk for a one-night stand?

After analyzing the results of our high-school surveys, we observed that most teens would consider or recommend abortion as the solution to an unplanned pregnancy, without considering any of the consequences.
Around the world, a child is aborted every 2 seconds. In Romania, there have been over 530 abortions by young women under the age of 15. According to statistics, 1 million teenage girls get pregnant each year in the United States. This means 2,700 pregnant teenage girls every day.