Selective Memory Spoils Adolescent Virginity Pledges

Virginity pledges in adolescents are encouraged by some organizations who want to protect adolescents from dangerous effects of pre-marital sex while others encourage this type of pledge because of religious aspect.

These pledges are often written in a document wherein the adolescents sign the contract that they will remain a virgin until the get married. While most of these pledges have a religious undertone, it could have some significant effect on the future of the adolescent.

If the adolescent maintains his or her virginity until the get married, they could avoid consequences of early pre-marital sex such as sexually transmitted disease and unplanned pregnancy.

But even though there is a potential positive effect in virginity pledges, there is a big revelation about the behavior of adolescents with this type of contract. This revelation can even be considered alarming since it could place the adolescent in a very dangerous situation.

A study was published in the American Journal of Public Health revealing that many adolescents lie about their virginity pledges.

It is already an established fact that those who made this type of pledge may end breaking their promise. But the study has further revealed that those simply lie about their pledge in the past. The study has also shown that those who engaged in sex in the past still sign virginity pledges.

These adolescents simply forget about their previous pledge or their past sexual experience.

The study about the behavior towards virginity pledges was made by Janet Rosenbaum, a researcher from the Harvard School of Public Health.

She conducted the research on 13,000 adolescents wherein she asked them questions related to virginity pledges. The study was made in two stages in two years.

The study revealed that students simply tend to forget about their virginity pledge or their sexual experience. Nearly 30% of those who declared they already have sexual experience still signed the virginity pledge the second year.

Nearly ¾ of the group who became part of the virginity pledge group in the first survey failed to recall they made such a pledge because of their recent sexual experience. The survey also showed that more than half of those who pledged in the first year recanted their pledge one year later.

This behavior of adolescents regarding their virginity pledges paints an alarming story on how adolescents treat their sexual experience. Renouncing what’s convenient for them could place them in a dangerous situation especially on STDs.

If the adolescents do not acknowledge they had any sexual experience because of their pledge, they might not know exactly if they have already contracted sexually transmitted diseases.

Pregnancy could even be a part of the problem since their sexual experience will be most likely unprotected as it’s often kept secret.

This places the effects of virginity pledges in a questionable position. Virginity pledge could prompt “forgetfulness” of the adolescents which increases their susceptibility to various STDs.

On the other hand, direct study of the sexual behavior of adolescents should be a better measurement that should be used in order to determine the susceptibility of adolescents to STDs and unplanned pregnancy.