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Abstinence program holds mock session in state Capitol
BATON ROUGE, La. -- When LSU freshman Caitlyn Turner started high school, she brought with her values that included not having sex before marriage.
"I thought everybody felt that way," she said at a news conference this month in the House Chamber of the Louisiana State Capitol, where the Governor's Program on Abstinence was hosting its third mock legislative session.
The Morgan City native said she was shocked when she found herself in a minority. That's how she ended up getting involved with the abstinence movement, a health and educational program committed to promoting and publicizing the benefits of abstinence.
"It was a safe haven for me," Turner said.
Lindsay Hardeman, an Albany High School senior, said she got involved with the abstinence program for less-meaningful reasons.
"I saw that we got to take a field trip to Baton Rouge; field trips always sounded good to me," Hardeman said.
She said that going into the program, she believed that if a couple used a condom, that was a mature, responsible decision.
"I thought that a condom protected you from everything, but then I saw that condoms don't prevent heartbreak," Hardeman said.
BATON ROUGE, La. -- When LSU freshman Caitlyn Turner started high school, she brought with her values that included not having sex before marriage.
"I thought everybody felt that way," she said at a news conference this month in the House Chamber of the Louisiana State Capitol, where the Governor's Program on Abstinence was hosting its third mock legislative session.
The Morgan City native said she was shocked when she found herself in a minority. That's how she ended up getting involved with the abstinence movement, a health and educational program committed to promoting and publicizing the benefits of abstinence.
"It was a safe haven for me," Turner said.
Lindsay Hardeman, an Albany High School senior, said she got involved with the abstinence program for less-meaningful reasons.
"I saw that we got to take a field trip to Baton Rouge; field trips always sounded good to me," Hardeman said.
She said that going into the program, she believed that if a couple used a condom, that was a mature, responsible decision.
"I thought that a condom protected you from everything, but then I saw that condoms don't prevent heartbreak," Hardeman said.
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All around her, she saw peers becoming sexually active and suffering consequences that ranged from emotional turmoil to teen pregnancy to early marriages.
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Brad Doyle, a Baton Rouge native and a first-year student at St. Joseph Seminary College near Covington, said many of the students involved with the program come from backgrounds where abstinence is instilled as a value.
"But something changes in high school," he said. "Even if you've been taught these values, friends become a bigger influence than family. We try to present hope in a relevant way that we can live this way."
The program's purpose is to raise awareness of problems associated with out-of-wedlock births and sexually transmitted diseases, said Gail Dingham, state coordinator and director.
Dingham said the program offers a middle school curriculum, high school clubs and includes interactive events and conferences, monthly meetings, newsletters and projects. And students sign a pledge to remain abstinent until they marry.
Dingham wrote the curriculum for the program in the early 1980s under the administration of President Ronald Reagan, but it wasn't until 1998 under President Bill Clinton that the program was funded.
"These young people are creating their own peer group," Dingham said. "They answer to each other. They're growing up, dating each other and even some have gotten married. We didn't expect that."
"But something changes in high school," he said. "Even if you've been taught these values, friends become a bigger influence than family. We try to present hope in a relevant way that we can live this way."
The program's purpose is to raise awareness of problems associated with out-of-wedlock births and sexually transmitted diseases, said Gail Dingham, state coordinator and director.
Dingham said the program offers a middle school curriculum, high school clubs and includes interactive events and conferences, monthly meetings, newsletters and projects. And students sign a pledge to remain abstinent until they marry.
Dingham wrote the curriculum for the program in the early 1980s under the administration of President Ronald Reagan, but it wasn't until 1998 under President Bill Clinton that the program was funded.
"These young people are creating their own peer group," Dingham said. "They answer to each other. They're growing up, dating each other and even some have gotten married. We didn't expect that."
Why does this last paragraph make me laugh?
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