Shaping the Future of West Virginia

Teen program stresses abstinence

March 25, 2006 •• 353 words 

By BOB WITHERS

The Herald-Dispatch

bwithers@herald-dispatch.com

HUNTINGTON -- High school and middle school students are invited to a sexual abstinence program called a Silver Ring Thing from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, April 1, at Veterans Memorial Field House, 2595 5th Ave.

"Young people hear so much misinformation about sex and dating," says the Rev. Mike Greider, director of Mission Tri-State, which is sponsoring the meeting along with the Charleston-based Believe in West Virginia. "The Silver Ring Thing offers them accurate information about sexually transmitted diseases and the value of saving themselves for marriage."

Silver Ring Thing was created by Denny Pattyn and the Youth FORUM Southwest leadership team in 1995. In 2000, Pattyn became executive director of the John Guest Evangelistic Association Inc. in Sewickley, Pa., and took his program with him. Soon, it was developed nationally and is now operated as an independent nonprofit organization in Moon Township, Pa.

"After having a child at a young age and going through an awful spiral of drugs and alcohol, destruction had overcome me and I felt as though I couldn't go down any further," says Ashley Starcher, 18, of Charleston, who gave birth to a baby boy when she was 13 and who will speak at the Huntington rally. "The program brings reality to the situation that teenagers go through. It helps you realize the many things we don't know about our choices."

The Silver Ring itself was designed by Paul Bensel Jewelers of Yuma, Ariz., and is worn by the youth as a reminder of the abstinence pledge they are asked to make.

The "Thing" is a high-tech presentation that makes the program attractive to the youngsters. Elaborate lighting, video systems, hilarious skits, concert sound systems, high-energy music, and a faith-based abstinence message are designed to make students interested in the concept.

In its first five years, nearly 1,000 teens completed the two-hour program, signed abstinence vows and received silver rings.

Registration begins at 5:15 p.m. and a party follows from 9 to 11 p.m.

Admission is free, but youth are asked to bring $15 to cover the cost of the ring.