Lots of teens think that waiting to have sex is cool! In fact, a recent study done by Seventeen Magazine and Kaiser Family Foundation showed that 92% of teens ages 15-17 think being a virgin in high school is a good thing. (SexSmarts, October 2003). As more and more teens are making commitments to saving sex, they are sharing with their peers their commitments and the reasons for them.

“I’m Michael, age 17, my little brother looks up to me - he tries to do everything that I do. I stay away from sex, drugs and gangs because I know that is the best for us.”

"Hi, my name is Sarah and I’m seventeen years old. When I was fifteen, my best friend was dating a twenty-two year old. One day, she pulled me aside and said: ‘Sarah, I have herpes.’ She disappointed her family, her friends, and mostly herself. She will have that disease the rest of her life. I don’t think I could handle that."

“I’m Jose, age 15. I want to be a professional soccer player. Risky behaviors will prevent me from reaching my goals. I have a little sister, too, and I want to be a good example to her.”

“Hi, I’m Nicole, and I’m sixteen years old. Imagine you’re eighteen and you’re all dressed up for prom. Your date should be there any minute and the phone rings. It’s the baby-sitter calling to tell you she can’t baby-sit your one-year-old son. When you have sex too soon, you might miss a lot of opportunities that you’ll never again get to experience. And I don’t want to take that chance."

“Hello, my name is Josh and the reason I am committed to abstinence is because sex is one of those special things in life that once you give it away, you can’t get it back. There are a lot of smaller things in life such as loosing your first tooth… your first kiss, but sex is one of those bigger things that I don’t want to be giving away to just anybody especially somebody I am not in the committed trusted relationship of marriage. When I get married, I want to give away a new man and not a used man.”