WINNERS WAIT ADOLESCENT ABSTINENCE TRAINING

Program Summary

WINNERS WAIT is an abstinence-only after-school peer leadership program that communicates the simple truth about abstinence. It is designed to aid in the reduction of adolescent pregnancies, out of wedlock births, abortions, STD's, AIDS/HIV, drugs, alcohol and tobacco use. The program delivery strategy is based on focused research, proven models, and national best practice abstinence curricula.

Teenage sexual activity is a surmounting problem in the United States. The teen pregnancy rate and out of wedlock births are among the highest in the western world. Family planning and safe sex programs may help to reduce the number of births among adolescents, but only abstinence programs promote family values, build self-esteem, and the development of healthy relationships.

Winners Wait recognizes that young people have opinions about sex. Adolescents participating in the program will have an opportunity to address the issues of sexual promiscuity, commitment, leadership, success, and self-esteem. The program will offer youth a safe environment to discuss difficult to talk about issues and equip them to challenge the opinions of popular culture and images that promote unhealthy lifestyles.

There is an overwhelming amount of misleading information concerning the issue of sex, healthy relationships and the consequences of the ill-informed decisions youth make with regard to premarital sex. This misleading information makes it necessary to challenge youth in their knowledge about the risks of sexual activity, its consequences and the power of peer pressure. Since peer pressure is strong among our teens, we want to change that dynamic from negative to positive.

Through a comprehensive Abstinence-Only curriculum, young people will be trained as peer leaders who will champion the message of abstinence until marriage. WINNERS WAIT will provide adolescents with life changing information that will help them understand and embrace the positive benefits of abstinence and empower them to make a difference in the lives of their peers, their schools and communities.

WINNERS WAIT is supported in part by a SPRANS Community Based Abstinence Education Program Grant from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (Title V, Social Security Act), Health Resources and Services Administration, Department of Health and Human Services.