I think virginity pledges are a joke.  I have very young boys and we'll teach them the facts of life early.  Parents of previous generations may have been able to put their heads in the sand about their kids' sexuality, but in the era of AIDS that is almost criminal.  

Abstinence was strongly encouraged in my house growing up, and it worked for me. My mother talked with us openly about sex, her own sexual history, and the risks we would be taking with our bodies and our hearts if we chose to have sex. When I got married, I was a virgin, as was my husband. Our sex was not awkward or unprepared. We were both knowledgeable and very enthusiastic, and we learned together. For me, it was unbelievably special, and I felt cherished and safe with my husband (who happens to be great in bed). I know that not everyone is like me, but abstinence really did work for me, and the payoff was way greater than the inconvenience of waiting.

I have no idea what Bristol Palin has to do with this at all. I had no idea there WAS a virginity pledge.

That said, there is still nothing wrong with telling your kids they should wait to have sex because a) they could get pregnant and be responsible for another life and/or b) they could get very sick.

I think Bristol did the responsible thing and her baby will be loved and well-cared for by a family that knows how to be a family.

:-)

I completely agree. I don't think my child should have sex at the age of 13, but I believe the way to prevent that is through good sex education and access to birth control for teens. I also believe it is through feminist thought, which this concept completely dismisses as encouraging sex. I believe if my daughter has true self esteem and doesn't feel like a second class citizen in her relationships that will give her the will power and control over it to make the decision to have sex when she is ready on her own terms.

There is a huge difference between telling your children to wait to have sex and telling them to pledge to be virgins until marriage. Such a pledge is completely unrealistic. Yes, having sex could lead to disease or pregnancy, but it is not as likely if a teenager is taught ways to prevent that and is allowed access to those devices. I think it is a realistic expectation for a teenager to wait to have sex until they have gone to college or graduated from high school at which point they are adults and could make better judgments when it came to sexual partners and relationships. HOWEVER I also think there is a huge double standard for teens compared to adults in that respect. Many parents are not ready to have children, even if they are well beyond their teen years, many do so out of wedlock, many adults make poor decisions when it comes to relationships. I don't think it is fair to judge a teenager for having sex when adults who are equally as incapable of having a child have sex all the time.  

OK, I'm going to tell them to wait.  Will they??? Probably not.  But you all know, birth control doesn't always work.  I have a 19 year-old son to attest to that.  I just hope they will do the right thing and try to abstain.  If not, I hope that they will use several different forms of birth control.  And if my sons should get their girlfriends pregnant (a much better scenerio than like dying from AIDS), I will encourage them to be a good father and take responsibility for their actions, granted the girlfriend doesn't kill the baby.  

I think that abstinence is only one thing to talk about, along with birth control.  In the end, if they are going to have sex, they are going to have sex, with or without parental blessings.  But that doesn't have to mean I'm standing there encouraging it.

I think what Bristol Palin has to do with this is that her mother (governor of Alaska, though many may not have heard of her) is a huge proponent of abstinence only education.

I have no problem with teaching kids abstinence - I will with my kids, but at the same time, I don't want my kids to get STDs or pregnant should they decide not to abstain.

This isn't true, according to the Wall Street Journal.  online.wsj.com/.../SB123120095259855597.html

I'm going to tell my kids to wait until they are ready for a committed adult relationship, and the possible consequence of children.  That said, they will also be getting a lot of info about how to protect themselves in case they decide waiting is just way too hard.  Some genies cannot be put back in the bottle - babies, aids, etc.