I refer to last Sunday's letter, 'Abstinence from premarital sex the healthiest choice for youth'.

The letter asserts that the growing number of youth taking virginity pledges is an indicator that young people today 'still treasure their virginity'.

However, this may not be the case. A recent study by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that teenagers who pledge to remain virgins until marriage are just as likely to have premarital sex as those who do not promise abstinence, and are significantly less likely to use birth control when they do.

This not only shows the ineffectiveness of such pledges, but also suggests that many teenagers may take these pledges not out of a true desire to keep their virginity, but rather because of pressure from their religious or peer groups.

Various studies have indicated that abstinence-only sex education is ineffective in stopping risky sexual behaviour or helping in the prevention of unwanted pregnancies.

I believe the only way for a sex education programme to be effective is to emphasise respect.

Teenagers should be taught to respect their partners enough not to pressure them into having sex, and respect themselves enough not to be pressured into sex prematurely.

Perhaps more importantly, educators and parents should respect teenagers enough to give them full, accurate and unbiased information on sex, relationships, contraceptives and sexually transmitted infections, so that teenagers can make informed choices for themselves.

Moral posturing and demonising premarital sex are ineffective, and will only lead to unhealthy notions about sex.

Felicia Tan (Miss)

This article was first published in The Straits Times on January 18, 2009.