Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2008. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Associated Press (11.28.08) - Friday, December 12, 2008
Shajia Ahmad
"My parents raised me to wait," one girl said, reading aloud her abstinence pledge. "I want to wait and it be special and wait for that one man." "We have to respect our bodies until we are prepared physically and mentally," said another.
"It's going to be tough," warned Stacy Gonzalez, a county disease intervention specialist and one of the program's facilitators. "Sex is great, but it's even greater when it's with the right person." She encouraged the youths to talk with their parents or turn to her or Martha Perkins, the area Fort Hays center director, for advice.
"We'll always be here for you," Gonzalez said. "And, if you break the pledge, don't worry because stuff happens. It's not the end of the world."
Without accurate information, the practices surrounding the modern Quinceanera can sometimes increase a girl's chances of early sexual debut and pregnancy, Gonzalez said. "In my mother's generation, the girls, they were probably all virgins at this age," she said. "But girls nowadays, they are fast, and more and more are becoming sexually active at a younger age."
"They don't always know the meaning" behind the coming-out party's rituals, said Blanca Sandoval, a parent. "None of my aunts, not my grandmother, no one talked to us about this," said Marta Alvarez, who said the course helped her communicate better with her two daughters. "I would like my daughter to keep her virginity until her marriage, but it has to be up to her," said Luisa Frayre, who has a 15-year-old daughter. "My job is to keep reminding her about what is important and what makes her happy."
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