GASTON COUNTY, N.C.,None — More focus needs to be put on abstinence-only sex education, said many attending a recent “Let’s Talk” event.
Churches shouldn’t shy away from talking about sex, and parents need to have those sex talks even if they make them uncomfortable, said New Testament Church of the Firstborn Pastor Kevin Kellough.
“The church is a positive place. It’s not about what we’re against. It’s about what we’re for,” Kellough said. “So we’re breaking the silence. If you don’t realize it, you were made to be with somebody….But we’re seeing teenagers having sex outside of marriage.”
New Testament Church of the Firstborn is in the Highland community, an area that’s been identified as having a high teen pregnancy rate and teen birth rate. Gaston County’s teen pregnancy rate is higher than that of the state.
Parents need to start having conversations about sex with their children well before them being sexually active becomes a concern, said Michelle Reese, Gaston Youth Connected community integration coordinator.
Gaston Youth Connected is the program that will use $5.8 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with the aim of reducing teen pregnancy by 10 percent.
The No. 1 reason that teenagers cited for not having sex was that it was against their religion or morals, said Kellough. According to the CDC’s 2006-2010 National Survey of Family Growth, 41 percent of females and 31 percent of males chose “against religion or morals” as their main reason for not having had sex before marriage.
Brent Grigg and his wife Brittney Grigg waited until marriage to have sex. They credited their relationship with their parents and their biblical belief that sex was a gift from God as their reason for waiting.
“That’s why we waited, because it was precious to me,” Brent Grigg said. “It was precious to her.”
Mary Smith, abstinence director for Crisis Pregnancy Center of Gaston County, uses purity as the basis for her school talks about sex. She talks about unintended pregnancy, condom failure rates and the only surefire way to avoid getting pregnant or contracting an STD.
“Abstinence is more than just abstinence,” Smith said. “It’s about discipline.”
Smith offers programs in schools and to groups. The Gaston County Health Department also offers an array of teen pregnancy programs that range from abstinence-based to comprehensive education.
“We want to put value back in you parents. Do not be afraid to dialogue with them. Do not be afraid to be graphic. Chaperone your children,” Kellough said. “We have to show up as parents.”