Abstinence Statistics

54% of high school students are virgins.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2002). Youth risk behavior surveillance.

58% on teens surveyed recently said sexual activity for high school-age teens is not acceptable, even if precautions are taken against pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. (2000). The Cautious Generation? Teens Tell Us About Sex, Virginity, and "The Talk". Washington, DC: Author.

82% of teens desire to have one marriage partner for life.
Barna Research, 1998

63 percent of teens who have had sexual intercourse said they wish they had waited.
National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. (2000). Not Just Another Thing to Do: Teens Talk About Sex, Regret, and the Influence of Their Parents. Washington, DC: Author.

87% of teens do not think it is embarrassing for teens to say that they are virgins.
National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. (2000). The cautious generation? Teens tell us about sex, virginity and "the talk." Washington, DC: Author.

Behavioral Risks Associated with Virginity/Nonvirginity Males 12-16
Results: the risk for nonvirginal boys was...

• 6 times higher for ever having used alcohol
• Nearly 5 times higher for smoking marijuana
• Nearly 7 times higher for dropping out
• Nearly 4 times higher for getting arrested

Behavioral Risks Associated with Virginity/Nonvirginity Girls 12-16
Results: the risk for nonvirginal girls was...

• 6 times higher for ever having used alcohol
• More than 10 times higher for smoking marijuana
• Nearly 4 times higher for dropping out
• 9 times higher for getting arrested
• 6 times higher for having thoughts of suicide

Donald Orr, "Premature Sexual Activity as an Indicator of Psychological Risk," Pediatrics,Vol. 87, No. 2, Feb. 1991, pp.141-7

If you have sex before you marry you are more likely to:

1. Breakup before you marry
2. Scare off someone who wants to marry a virgin
3. Be less happy in your marriage
4. Get a divorce
5. Commit adultery after you marry
6. Be fooled into marrying for the wrong reason
7. Be less satisfied with your married sex life
8. Have guilt feelings that may nudge you into a poor marriage
9. Be deprived of the important bonding that sexual intimacy can give a marriage

Ray E. Short, Sex, Dating, and Love 1994 Augsburg Publishing House