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ABSTINENCE
Protecting Teens from the Myth of Safe Sex
By Nancy Stellabotta
CBN News Associate Producer
In addition to rising teen pregnancy rates, teens are contracting sexually transmitted diseases in record numbers.
CBN.com – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Lakita Garth travels across the U.S. and around the globe speaking to millions of young people. She is a woman on a mission, and whenever Lakita gets the chance, she hits her young audiences with the truth about sexual abstinence in a lively language that’s right on their level.
As an abstinence advocate, Garth tells high school and middle school students that abstinence is more than saying no to sex until marriage, it's about having a
successful future.
"Abstinence is mastering the art or skill of self discipline, self control, and delay of self gratification because you cannot achieve sustained success in
life unless you have mastered those three skills," she explained.
In Toledo, Ohio public school principals overwhelmingly welcomed Garth's abstinence message.
"She is probably one of the best presenters that I've seen in 30 years," said Johnny Hutton, principal of Scott High School. "She emphasizes
that she's gonna wait till she's getting married and all the positives of not being sexually active at a young age. And it's good for young kids to hear that nowadays cause they don't
hear it often."
Principal Harriet Grier of East Toledo Jr. High said, "Children are more curious now. They're more independent in their thoughts and their actions, and if
this will support some of those who are on the middle of the road then it's well worth it."
These administrators know their teens are fighting the odds. Toledo has the fourth highest teen birth rate in Ohio.
Lakita Garth's appearance came just days before the Libbey High School prom. She explained that more teen girls get pregnant on prom night than any other time
in high school.
Principal Howard Brown of Libbey High School said, "This it the time that most people, if they haven't had sex, they're gonna have sex for the first
time. And to have her come and speak to the kids just before that, it was just perfect for us."
In addition to rising teen pregnancy rates, teens are contracting sexually transmitted diseases in record numbers.
"The common cold is no longer the most commonly reported virus anymore. It is now STD's," Garth told an audience of teens. "Eight out of 10
people that go to the doctor that have a virus have an STD. And the majority of ‘em are coming from your peer group, junior high and up from college."
Each year, three million teens acquire a sexually transmitted disease. More than 100,000 young adults contract Hepatitis B. Twenty percent of young people will
have herpes before they reach adulthood. And teenage girls have higher rates of gonorrhea than any other age group.
Half of all sexually active single adults have at least one STD, and most of those who are infected do not even know it.
And many young people are not aware of the deadly consequences of STD's.
"Did you know that nearly twice as many females died last year of a disease known as Human Papilloma Virus last year than died from AIDS?" Garth asked
her high school assembly. "This disease is the leading contributor to what we call cervical cancer and it also causes cancer of the penis. Isn't that exciting?"
With 12 million sexually active teens in the United States, critics like Joan Durgin with the Toledo Board of Education claim abstinence is unrealistic.
"Certainly we promote abstinence as the most effective form of behavior, sexual behavior, until children graduate from our school system. And that certainly
would be our hope," Durgin said. "But the reality is that we have a lot of sexually active children. So while we emphasize abstinence, and we do in our curriculum and throughout our system, we
also recognize that we have to teach sexual responsibility for those that are sexually active."
But Garth said the mythical message of safe sex misleads teens about the risks of contracting a disease.
"One of the world's leading authorities on condoms, Dr. Thomas Fitch, was talking about how condoms are ineffective. As a matter of fact he demanded that
the FDA, CDC release the information to the general public that condoms were ineffective in preventing the most common viral STD which is HPV," Garth explained. "Young people are not,
they're not given this information."
But Durgin contends that sexually active teens must be equipped. "We have to help those children understand that there are ways to protect themselves besides
abstinence, even though that's the preferred way, and condoms do have an effect, and to say that they don't would be inappropriate," she said.
At a local forum on teen pregnancy, Garth's message stirred up other health officials.
"It is a controversial message when you're talking to people who have whole programs that are centered around teaching teenagers about condoms and
contraception," said Connie Cameron of Partners for Successful Youth.
"And I've been in junior high schools where they have posters on the wall that say: ‘Be smart, use a condom,’" Cameron continued.
"Well, Lakita's message today contradicted that completely. And I know to some people that's quite an affront to what they're doing in their professional lives, and I think it was a good
opportunity to make them rethink their approach to teen pregnancy prevention."
Some teens are already thinking twice about sex thanks to Garth.
"I think it got to some people like some people that was really wantin’ to do it, but the way she explained it, I think it touched some people's
hearts to let them know ‘wait,’ so that they don't suffer the consequences at a young age," said one girl.
"A lot of people in this school are pregnant or already have children, and some people are really already down that road of about to get children or STD's
so it's really preventing people from getting it," said a girl at Libbey High School.
A boy at East Toledo Junior High said, "She made them think about what they have done and what they will do in the future and made ‘em say that safe sex
isn't good and no sex is better at all."
"I don't want to die at a young age or get a major disease or something that will ruin the rest of my life," said another teen.
A 27-year-old who asked not to be identified, but we will call her Abbey, said her problems started with a date rape in college.
"I was in such a vulnerable state and such an angry state, that I just kind of decided, you know, I had waited that long, and here I am 20 or 21 and get date
raped, and I was just like, ‘Whatever.’ I was just like, ‘Forget it, forget all of it,’" Abbey said. "And so that is when I made the conscious decision to become
sexually active."
But Abbey did not realize was that she could easily contract dangerous STD’s, and her next sexual encounter came at a cost.
"We had sex once, and two days later I was in so much pain, I didn't know what was going on and I had to go to the doctor and it turned out I had
herpes," she said. "She was just a horrible doctor: ‘Oh you have herpes, you have it the rest of your life.’ And it was just very eye opening and scary and devastating, and you
know, I felt betrayed again."
Abbey continued, "Here I am, I wait my whole life, I'm going to save myself for my husband, I get into a bad relationship, I become date raped, then I
make a decision and I have sex one time and I have an STD."
It got even worse when she told her partner. "And after I told him what happened he was like, ‘I don't have it,’ and he hung up on me. I
talked to him a couple days later and he just kind of yelled at me for not being able to get over the date rape and told me that I just needed to grow up and get over it," she said.
A year later, she was also diagnosed with another STD — the Human Papilloma Virus, better known as HPV.
Although Abbey is now serving God and has a new husband, she wants young people to know the price she paid for not saving sex for marriage.
Abbey said, "I know that God's forgiven me for what I've done and what I've chosen to do. He's helped me to forgive myself, but it doesn't
change the fact that I have to live with STD's the rest of my life."
Lakita Garth said, when it comes to abstinence parents are the best influences on their teens. But most parents are not aware of this or often do not try. Garth
offered this advice to parents: "If you don't have contact, you'll have no impact."
For contact information on Lakita Garth, visit: http://www.clubvarsity.com/
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