Youth Spotlight
Bou Amaya, age 18
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In Hispanic culture, when we turn 15, we have a big party, the Quinceañera. I’m in a group called the Pueblo Youth Project, where I take a class for teenage girls 13-18 on healthy relationships and abstinence. And for each girl’s Quinceañera there’s a big ceremony with your family. We go up and make a vow to stay abstinent, we sign a pledge. We go to the classes with our moms, and they read letters to us at the ceremony, too.
Even though Pueblo has an office in my school, it’s still only about half of the students that remain abstinent. They only teach in a few classes, they can’t reach everybody, and not everyone’s going to respond to this message. They teach abstinence rather than safe sex. They do demonstrations, for STDs and pregnancy. They once did one about having sex before you’re married, explaining that you take all of your partners and your husband’s partners into your marriage bed. That really stuck with me, because I think sex is such a special thing. It’s a special gift that you want to keep for when you’re married.
I find it kind of hard to tell people to follow my example. Everyone at the Pueblo Youth Project is really passionate, they really get the message across in a way that students want to remain abstinent. I don’t want people to feel that I’m judging them. But my friends know what I believe, and I wear a purity ring, which a lot of people respect. It’s a different way of life, a way to be independent rather than giving in to peer pressure.
It helps me to keep my focus, and also keeps me away from other pressures like drugs and alcohol. Those kinds of activities can lead to losing your virginity, and abstinence helps me focus more on having fun and doing well in school. One of my best friends just had a baby, and I’ve seen how quickly you can go from being a teenager to an adult.
I’m working really hard to be my class valedictorian. I want to go to college, major in math education, and become a high school math teacher. By staying abstinent, I can devote all my energy toward fulfilling those goals.
