Teens wear a ring to symbolize their purity Nearly 25,000 American teens have taken the vow of chastity with the group, Silver Ring Thing. The ring is worn like a wedding ring to symbolize their vow of chastity.

　　Silver Ring Thing is part of an abstinence organisation, who hopes to persuade hundreds of their peers to swear a pledge to purity, put a ring on their finger to prove it, and ask God to help them remain chaste until marriage.

　　"I"ve been wearing the ring for about 7 years now," said D.J. Shooter, a sophomore at Yale University, who first slipped it on his finger at age 12. The football player said he and his girlfriend of four years agree sex is something to hold for marriage.

　　He also admits it"s not always the easiest decision to uphold. "There"s a lot of times where you can kind of get caught up in the moment, a lot times I"ll just kind of rub it or see it and it will remind me of the commitment that I made with my girlfriend," said Shooter.

　　美國的大約2萬5千名青少年為貞節立下誓約，組成了團體，銀戒指。這就象戴著的結婚戒指一樣，象征著她們對于純潔的誓言。

　　銀戒指是一個節欲組織的一個部分，他們希望勸說數以百計的同齡人為純潔立下誓約，把戒指戴在手指上來做出證明，讓上帝幫助他們保持貞潔，直到結婚。

　　“現在我大約已經戴了7年戒指了，”耶魯大學的一名二年級學生，D.J. Shooter說，他是在12歲時把戒指戴上手指上的。這個足球運動員說和他交往四年的女朋友都認為性是來支撐婚姻的。

　　他也承認，維持它不是很容易的決定。“有許多次，你能在那個時刻碰到它，很多次我能摸到看到它，提醒著我和女朋友的承諾?！盨hooter說。

　　When the teens take the pledge they"re not making it alone. They can go to a rock concert event sponsored by Silver Ring Thing, with loud music, flashy lights and the chance to buy T-shirts and other memorabilia to generate enthusiasm for their pledge.

　　Do their pledges stick? A Columbia University study of 12,000 teens found 88 percent of those who took an abstinence pledge had sex before marriage. And those who did were 20 percent less likely to use a condom.

　　But The Silver Ring Thing"s director, Denny Pattyn, is convinced his message of faith, purity and chastity will hit home.

　　"When you"re in a tempting or compromising situation, it"s one thing to have made a pledge, it"s a second thing to have put on the ring, but there"s a third thing that comes from inside," says Pattyn.

　　"And we believe the faith component is the final strength you have when you"re in the most compromising situation."

　　當這些人在立誓約時，他們不是孤獨的。青少年們參加銀戒指發起的搖滾音樂會，那里有高聲的音樂，閃爍的燈光和有機會買到與名人或重大事件有關的T恤衫和其他紀念品，能夠使他們產生立下誓約的積極性。

　　他們的誓言能堅持嗎?哥倫比亞大學對于12000名青少年的一項研究發現，立下誓約88%的青少年在結婚前是有性行為的，20%的使用過不止一個避孕套。

　　但銀戒指的組織者，Denny Pattyn確信，他對于諾言，純潔和貞節的信念會深深的記在心中。

　　“當你處在一個被誘惑或容易妥協的情形時，已經做過保證是應第一個想到的，第二想到的是，已經戴上了戒指，但是你心中深處的想法是第三個來到的。”Pattyn說。

　　“而且我們相信，當你在最容易妥協的時候，信念的成分是你最后的力量?！?/p>