Home Youth Leaders Articles for Youth Leaders What’s a Purity Ring (Plus Research Findings About Teen Sexuality)

What’s a Purity Ring (Plus Research Findings About Teen Sexuality)

The good news? We can drop all the time and energy spent on those commitment devices and use resources more productively. And how exactly is that? I thought you’d never ask!

We need to equip teens with knowledge and tools for making better decisions and increasing their self-control. Rather than drawing an arbitrary line in the sand about “how far is too far,” we must help kids understand why certain physical expressions of love are appropriate in some relationships (marriage) and not others.

Instead of practicing some form of “just say no,” we need to teach decision methods that help teens process big issues. Let’s help them be able to see right from wrong when they’re alone with a boyfriend or girlfriend.

We must view all this in light of God’s presence in the world. We also must place it in scriptural context and discern it in partnership with other members of the body of Christ.

That is what’s behind my approach to sex education in the UMC Resource Sex: A Christian Perspective on our Bodies, Decisions, and Relationships. It doesn’t have purity rings or pledges. Nor does it tell students to draw a line somewhere between holding hands and having intercourse.

Rather, the lessons equip middle-school students (sixth- to eighth-grade) to live holy lives in relation to their sexuality. Check it out!

This article about what’s a purity ring for is by Jeremy Steele, author of Now That You’re a Youth Leader.