How should we respond to claims that chastity pledges don't work?

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Tabby

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Recently the news has been filled with the headline that a study has found that virginity pledges “don’t work”; that teens who make them are as likely to have premarital sex as those who don’t; and that the virginity pledgers are more likely to have unprotected sex because they have been given a negative view of the usefulness of condoms. The “conclusion” that the public likely is intended to draw, of course, is that abstinence-only education programs are a danger to youth.

How can we respond?
 
The most effective deceptions are not total fabrications but are twists on a kernel of truth. In this case, it is very likely true that teens whose commitment to chastity is limited to signing a chastity pledge after an abstinence education class are not likely to have a strong commitment to chastity. The story you cited said:
“Five years after the initial survey the study subjects were aged 20 to 23. Eighty-two percent of pledge takers denied (or forgot) they had ever taken such a vow” (emphasis added).
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It is probable that the teens involved in the study who “denied (or forgot)” their chastity pledge did not have follow-up education in chastity and were not assisted in making their commitment to chastity an integral part of their life.

Chastity education and a genuine commitment to personal chastity cannot be limited to signing a card that is tucked away and forgotten. If there is any “take-away” message for chastity educators in this recent study, it is not to give up or to concede defeat, but to develop effective means of inspiring parents to continue their children’s chastity education at home and to actively work with their teens in living out their chastity commitment.

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