For years the nation has devoted the majority of its assets to curve the effects of drugs, guns and tobacco for the coming generations. Millions of dollars and countless victims later, the nation has found itself at the mercy of yet another predator? sex.

“Teenage sexual activity is absolutely one of the biggest problems facing American teenagers today,” Rob Pennington, executive director of the Right to Life of Central California, Fresno and Madera chapter, said. “With pitfalls like STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) and pregnancies, sexually active teens should have few incentives to continue to be sexually active.”

Today nearly 51% of females and 56% of males between the ages of 15-19 are sexually active or experienced, according to a recent study by the Alan Guttmacher Institute of New York City.

“It seems as though teens have lost all respect for the gift of sex,” Nick Jones, ’02, said. “The only reason sex has become such an issue in America and on campus is because teens all seem to view sex as a right and not as a privilege to be exercised within the confines of marriage.”

This view seems to coincide with an Oct. 30 Feather poll, which reported that 69% of those students responding feel that teenage sexual activity is an issue on campus.

“My heart breaks at all of these statistics and I know the heart of God breaks as well,” Michael Whitford, high school pastor at The Peoples Church, said.

According to the same Guttmacher Institute study, the average young person has his or her first sexual experience eight years before they enter into a marriage relationship.

“The risks are simply too high,” Kristina Nunez, ’02, said. “There is no reason for a high schooler to risk his or her future for some momentary pleasure. Especially with things like STDs, teenage sex is not only stupid but dangerous.”

Each year three million teens from around the country fall victim to STDs. This means that, every year, one in four sexually experienced teens are infected with some sort of STD.

Some notably rampant STDs are HIV, gonorrhea and clamydia, which in certain circumstances can effect up to 29% of all sexually active teenage women.

“I got lucky and didn’t contract any STDs after I messed up and had sex with my girlfriend,” said one campus student who wished to remain anonymous.

Nearly one million teenage women, each year, become young mothers due to teenage sexual activity. Subsequently, 10% of all teenage women, or 19% of all sexually active teenage women become pregnant. Of these one million teenage pregnancies, 78% of them are unplanned; thus 30% of all teenage pregnancies result in abortions.

Abortion has proven not to be a large issue on campus as only 7% of the students polled say they would consider abortion if the need arose. This statistic, however, jumps to 21% when sexually active students are counted.

“Abortion has become a terrorism that we have deliberately created on our coming generations,” Pennington said. “In Fresno alone there have been 200 thousand abortions in only the last 30 years.”

According to Pennington, deaths by abortion over the past 30 years would be equal to that of the September 11 attacks, happening every single day of the year for the next 15 years. This totals over 32 million deaths nationwide from surgical abortions; this number does not include contraceptive abortions, which account for thousands of deaths each year.

While the numbers appear daunting, there is some light at the end of this tunnel, as the Scholastic News Service, Volume 4, Issue 2, reported that in 1997, the latest year for which complete figures are available, the national teen pregnancy rate has reached its lowest point since 1976 and the national abortion rate dropped nearly a third since 1990.

Despite the huge drops in teenage pregnancies and abortions in recent years, Pennington stresses that the nation must increase sexual education. He also asserts that students must not be afraid to raise the issue with coming generations or risk the unraveling of the entire nation.

Yet Whitford believes that youths today are beginning to take a stand for holiness.

“I believe a time is coming, and has already begun, when young people will lead the way with hearts toward heaven and have a jealous passion for the holiness of God and his son, Jesus,” Whitford said. “Through this flood of desire for God, I believe God will revolutionize our nation through the ones who have been so victimized: our young people.”