The joy of abstinence

I AM ONE of the senior peer educators for Healthy Futures' abstinence-education peer program "Code A," which I have been part of since it began in the summer of 2004. Being in this program has helped increase my level of maturity when it comes to making healthy decisions and to be able to voice my opinion on the decisions that I make. I strongly believe in this program, and I am concerned that recent efforts to end Healthy Futures in middle schools across the state will have a negative effect on my peers.

I had just finished my first year in high school when I joined the program. Although I did not fully know how I felt about being in an abstinence education training program, I decided to fill out the application because I did not want to spend another summer sitting in my house with my two younger siblings. I did not know that making this move would change the course of my life forever.

In the first stage of the program, I learned different reasons why it was healthy to be abstinent. Though I had always known having sex was not something to be taken casually, I never had a concrete reason for why I wanted to be abstinent. Learning about the scientific and emotional reasoning behind the decision to be sexually active and the possible outcomes let me know that the goals I had set for my life were much more important to me than a moment of "fun."

Toward the end of the summer program and the next school year, we were able to learn how to share our message with others through speaking and performing at various community events and programs. Not only did I learn to speak out to those in my community, but I learned to share my views with the hardest crowd I would have to speak to -- my own friends. Although some of my friends did not agree with the choice I had made, and some of them ended up not being my friends in the end, I still had a group that was supporting me 100 percent. As I look back and evaluate everything that happened during this time, it feels like a lot of pressure has been lifted off of my life.

Now that I am a senior in high school and a senior peer educator in the program, I feel that I too must share the information that I have learned through Healthy Futures to a friend, relative, or even a complete stranger. If it weren't for Healthy Futures I do not know where I would have ended up in life. Sharing this information with someone else could save them from traveling down the wrong road, like it did for me. As I prepare to go to college in the fall, I know that I will be able to look back and see that I have a group of people that will always be cheering me on to be the most successful person I can be in my own life.

I urge Governor Patrick and the state Legislature to support the continuation of Healthy Futures education in Massachusetts. This program has had a positive impact on my life and many of my peers, and I would hate to see it end.

Arielle Spivey is a senior at Concord-Carlisle Regional High School.