Silver Ring Thing

What is the Silver Ring Thing read more here. The youth group at our church is taking part in this curriculum. It has opened up conversations in our home. So many people are scared to have "the talk" with their children, but (as stated in the video the parents of the youth saw today) if we don't tell them someone else will. I want my children to know the truth - God's truth about sex. We are an open family - we have told the kids if they have any questions they can ask us.

Purity is something they have heard about before - thank you, Jonas Brothers. The Jonas Brothers have been very open and honest about wearing their purity rings and what it means to them. They were picked on in the media for their stand for purity. What is up with our society? Making fun of teens who have decided to save themselves until marriage.

Here are some statistics from Next Equipping Parents to Lead... Inspiring a Generation to Wait (a parent resource from Silver Ring Thing). These statistics are "based on a national research and analysis report published in 2005 by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

• Nearly half of all high school students (9th through 12th grade) are sexually active
• Approximately one-third of young women get pregnant before age 20.
• Around 10 percent of girls and boys have sex before turning 14.
• Eighteen percent of high school boys and 11 percent of high school girls have had four or more sexual partners by the time they graduate.
• Approximately one in four sexually active teens contracts an STD every year.
• An estimated half of all new HIV infections occur in people under the age of 25.
• Nearly one in four high school students claim they feel pressured to have sex.
• One in four teen report that they "did something sexually they did not really want to do" as a result of feeling pressured.
• One in ten high school students reveal they have been forced to have sex against their will at some point."

Pretty alarming - right? What if these teens had parents, family members and church youth leaders that were willing to talk to them about purity instead of contraception? We can not bury our heads in the sand or turn a deaf ear -

I thank God for our head youth leader, Pamela, the other youth leaders and our church body who are helping and supporting us and our children along this journey of purity. Thank you to our families for praying for Wooten and the youth group.