Worried that their children are bombarded with words, clothes and pictures that "talk dirty," six mothers are plotting a revolution against a society seen to be saturated with sex. The women, two Britons and four American expats, from Surrey, a wealthy part of London's commuter belt, will next month launch a very American solution to the "sexual epidemic" afflicting the nation's teens -- a silver ring and a vow of chastity.
They were inspired by the success of Silver Ring Thing in the US, a Christian movement that has encouraged 17,000 young people to take a pledge of abstinence until marriage.
Denny Pattyn, the charismatic leader of the US organization, is visiting Britain this week to help launch Silver Ring Thing's UK wing. The mothers and their backers will go to seven cities in Britain and Ireland presenting a series of free events next month and in July, offering pledges and selling silver rings.
`Deterioration'
"It's thumping music, lights, comedy, drama," said Paula Jacobs, a mother of three teenagers who teamed up with friends near Walton-on-Thames after being stunned by rising levels of sexually transmitted infections and the "deterioration of our youth."
She added: "It's a fun night without any dark dangers or sex, just a good wholesome evening for kids with the same atmosphere as you get in a nightclub."
Silver Ring Thing is strongly rooted in Christianity, but encourages girls and boys of any faith to take the pledge. Its pragmatic aim is to reduce sexually transmitted infections. Cases of syphilis rose by 870 percent between 1992 and 2002 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland; chlamydia rose by 139 percent; and gonorrhoea by 106 percent, according to the Public Health Laboratory Service. The largest increase was among people under 25.
"We've all been taught safe sex. It's not working," said Jacobs.
"Abstention is the way you stay away from STDs. We are not here to convert people, we are here to alert them. We want to help them eradicate this sexual epidemic amongst the teens. We're not going to be able to tell people what they do, we simply want to help those who want to change," she said.
In the US, the 10-year-old True Love Waits movement, helped by federal government funding of "abstinence education" to the tune of US$120m, has persuaded more than 2.4 million teenagers to promise to abstain from sex until marriage. Silver Ring Thing has received US$700,000 from the administration of US President George W. Bush.
`Slow hand'
Here, the organization is self-funded. "We've not got a lick of money," said Jacobs.
Loosely based on the step system pioneered by Alcoholics Anonymous, the program encourages people between 11 and 18 to abstain until marriage. On Silver Ring Thing's US website, teenagers are asked: "Would you eat a cookie that already had a bite taken out of it?"
Teenagers taking up the program are supported by an "accountability partner," a friend with whom they can share thoughts and any worries. The program emphasizes that everyone deserves a "second chance" -- wisely, given that a US study found that almost nine in 10 of those who signed chastity pledges broke them.
The mothers realize that chastity is a tough promise to keep in today's sexualized society. Roseanne Walters, a mother of six from Oxted, Surrey, said: "I've been through everything. You try to train your children in good choices but peer pressure should never be underestimated. Kids are bombarded with sexual images, with songs saying `give me a man with a slow hand' and `let's spend the night together.'
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