Forbidden Fruit: Sex & Religion in the Lives of American Teenagers!!!

In a new book, Forbidden Fruit: Sex & Religion in the Lives of American Teenagers by Mark Regnerus, a professor of sociology at the University of Texas at Austin, he confirms what has already has many flaws that teens are still having sex despite virginity pledges and purity balls. His research is based on several surveys of young adults about their sexual habits (or lack thereof).

"The fate of the True Love Waits movement, which began with the Southern Baptist Convention in the '90s, is a perfect example. Teenagers who signed the abstinence pledge belong to a subgroup of highly motivated virgins. But even they succumb. Follow-up surveys show that at best, pledges delayed premarital sex by 18 months -- a success by statistical standards but a disaster for Southern Baptist pastors.
...When evangelical parents say they talk to their kids about sex, they mean the morals, not the mechanics. In a quiz on pregnancy and health risks associated with sex, evangelicals scored very low. Evangelical teens don't accept themselves as people who will have sex until they've already had it. As a result, abstinence pledgers are considerably less likely than nonpledgers to use birth control the first time they have sex. "It just sort of happened," one girl told the researchers, in what could be a motto for this generation of evangelical teens".

Justice MH's Fianl thoughts: This is something which everyone should be aware of. President Bush's abstinence-only programs have already been discredited by growing amount of research by medical officals. It's sad that these kids don't have the knowledge of safe sex and contraception. Like his war policies, President Bush's abstinence-only programs are deeply flawed!