The Growing Popularity Of Sexual Abstinence

For reasons both religious and health-related, abstaining from sex before marriage is a trend that appears to be gaining momentum at area high schools and universities - and not just those with religious affiliations.

“This is the hottest thing in Spokane,” says Shadle Park High School biology teacher Vern Page. Through a formal mentoring program, upperclassmen are talking to younger students about their decisions to abstain.

“Our Lilac Princess, Crystal Stoehr, seven of our 10 cheerleaders, three basketball starters, numbers of athletes … (are) saying, ‘We don’t want to have sex.’ They’ve made this commitment to themselves and their future spouses,” he says.

Those taking the vow of abstinence are buying covenant rings in record numbers to symbolize their decision.

Evangel Book Centers, the area’s largest chain of Christian bookstores, have seen a dramatic increase in the amount of covenant rings sold within the last five years.

“Abstinence is not a fad like The Pet Rock,” says Lea Weatherred, the stores’ chief buyer. “It’s something people are really taking to heart.”

Ferris High School principal John Bense says conversation about abstinence is definitely on the upswing and out in the open. “These kids are not ashamed to be making these pledges and wearing these rings,” he says. “This gives the signal to others that this is an option.”

Private schools, not surprisingly, are also in on the abstinence movement. Northwest Christian High School’s student counselor Kathleen Hume is seeing a steady increase in wearers of covenant rings - she guesses that about two-thirds of the student body wear them. And Valley Christian High School also reports that 97 percent of its students have taken the vow of abstinence from sex before marriage; most have signed vow cards posted on a banner at the school.

At the college level too, many students appear to be embracing the idea of abstinence. Dr. Gretal Leibnitz, director of Washington State University’s Sexual Information Center, said a survey of WSU’s student body showed a majority of respondents practicing abstinence, which surprised the researchers.

“We were assuming that most people were having sex,” she says. “We found that a sizeable portion of students were not. These kids’ original intent appears to be a commitment to faith or to a value system. Then comes the intellectual reasons - pregnancy, diseases, etc. Either way, people that postpone sex tend to value themselves and have a strong identity. These kids don’t have to act to prove their sexuality.”