CWA: Parents, Teens Being Misled About Dangers of Premarital Sex
by Allie Martin
May 15, 2006
(AgapePress) - - An official with Concerned Women for America (CWA) says Americans must be educated with the truth about the consequences of sex before marriage.Recently a study from the Harvard School of Public Health challenged the authenticity of pledges made by teenagers to abstain from premarital sex. According to the Harvard study, teens who pledge to save sex for marriage break their vows within the first year; and those who have premarital sex are likely to say they never made a vow of abstinence in the first place.
Dr. Janice Crouse, senior fellow of the Beverly LaHaye Institute at CWA, has challenged the findings of the study -- which she says are misleading and deceptive -- and contends that it is clear from research that abstinence until marriage is "the best recipe for marital happiness and well being." Crouse contends abstinence education is the only effective tool to teach young men and women the dangers of promiscuous behavior.
But secular society, she says, downplays the consequences of sexual promiscuity and premarital sex, especially when it comes to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). "Every year there are more than three million new cases of STDs, and those affect three million teenagers," she says. "You see advertisements on television all the time that show people dancing around and wildflowers out on a meadow somewhere, [and people] saying they're free of STDs."
But what those ads are talking about, she explains, is something that is medically under control. "They're talking about [having a condition that is] treatable and well-treated, but that's not cured," she notes.
Crouse argues that it is vital that parents and adolescents be given truthful information regarding STDs. "You have a whole movement among the experts [saying] they're sexually transmitted 'infections' -- not sexually transmitted diseases -- because they want to take the stigma away from STDs so that [the message is] 'You know, anybody can get an infection and it's no big deal.'
"Well, it is a big deal," says Crouse, "and parents need to be aware of that. They need to make their teens aware of that."
The pro-family activist says the high rate of teen suicide can be traced partly to the large numbers of STDs in that age group. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says about one-fourth of all new STD infections occur in teens. The CDC reported in 2000 that it was not uncommon to find that more than five percent of male teens and five to ten percent of female teens were infected with chlamydia. Other common STDs include gonorrhea, herpes, and human papillomavirus (HPV).
Read Dr. Crouse's Article "Another Hit at Abstinence"
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
