Sex should wait until marriage

February 19, 2007 —

Being in college and just a general member of society, I have noticed that sex is a very "popular" topic/activity in today's world. While I personally haven't felt the pressure to have sex, I believe that many have.

I was raised to not have premarital sex, and those beliefs were reinforced at a recent church service I attended where the sermon's message was not to give into the temptation of premarital sex.

An article published by MSNBC.com at the end of last year stated that nine out of 10 Americans have had premarital sex. The article goes on to say that four-fifths of a subgroup who had abstained from sex until they were at least 20 had premarital sex by age 44.

The article also brought up criticism for federally-funded sex education programs that only teach abstinence.

This makes sense considering abstinence is obviously not being practiced enough, so the priority should be teaching kids about safe sex.

Upon seeing this article, I was shocked. I couldn't believe that only 10 percent of Americans wait until they are married to have sex.

It is often said "life imitates art." Taking a look at movies and television, I see a possible explanation for why many Americans are having premarital sex.

A good example is the show Friends. An ongoing joke on the show is the number of women Joey sleeps with. The other characters poke fun at him but do not act alarmed by his actions. Sex is portrayed as a casual activity that doesn't involve true love between two people.

In the premiere episode of the CBS comedy, How I Met Your Mother, one of the main characters, made reference to when he was "18 and a virgin" and made it sound like it was a bad thing. I don't think being 18 and a virgin is a bad thing, so why must primetime television make it sound like one?

The movie Bring It On: All or Nothing left me with some hope for Hollywood's take on sex. Britney Allen, the main character, refuses to give into her boyfriend's pressure to have sex.

This doesn't mean that this fictional character won't have premarital sex, but she does abstain through the whole movie.

Even though it may not be a completely conscious activity, I believe teenagers learn things from the television programs they watch. So, is television teaching teenagers by having the characters they watch on television having premarital sex and at the same time not always showing said characters using protection?

Another example of television's disservice can be seen on the CW's Gilmore Girls. During the fourth season Rory Gilmore loses her virginity to her married ex-boyfriend. I don't believe there is any reference or evidence that they even used protection.

Now, I'm not saying that this will inspire teenagers to go out and have sex or commit adultery, but if they constantly see this theme then they will think that premarital sex is an okay thing to do.

Morally, premarital sex is wrong. What's the point of having sex with someone if you don't plan on being with them for the rest of your life? Even if you do plan on marrying them, waiting will make your wedding night that much more special.

I believe that when you have sex, you are emotionally connected to that person, so I don't believe that sex can just be casual.

I believe that the 90 percent of Americans who had premarital sex should have waited.