Should 'Abstinence-Only' Sex-Ed be Taught in Public Schools?

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Since the first True Love Waits national celebration took place in July 1994, when more than 210,000 covenant cards were displayed on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., an estimated 2.5 to 3 million youth have signed commitment cards pledging sexual purity until their wedding day. That number continues to grow worldwide. Does each person that signs a pledge keep it? No, but scores of young people do keep this commitment to themselves – and to their future spouse. Each one that remains faithful is a victory.

One of the best examples of how effective promoting abstinence can be comes from a place that knows all too well the dangers of widespread sexual promiscuity: Uganda, Africa, which in 1987 had the highest reported prevalence rate (the percentage of people living with HIV/AIDS) in the world.  

In 1993, True Love Waits became a catalyst in Uganda for bringing people together around the abstinence message in schools, youth groups, communities and other places. In the years that followed, Uganda’s HIV/AIDS prevalence rate, which in parts of the country was above 30 percent, dropped to the current rate of 6.7 percent. Some leaders there say that this turnaround has literally saved a generation.  

True Love Waits presentations are routinely made in schools in Uganda and Kenya. One high school principal in East Africa commented that this type of presentation should be made in every high school on the continent because it could change the course of history in Africa.

Giving teens a positive message about the benefits of remaining abstinent until marriage, whether in the U.S., Africa or other parts of the world, produces the same result: More young people with healthy lives, enhanced self-respect and a hope for the future.