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Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club’s annual For You I Will Ball
The Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club will hold its annual Teen Etiquette and Abstinence “For You I Will” Ball on the evening of Friday, April 30 from 6-10PM at The Robinson Theater.
This ball is the culmination of an 8-week “For You I Will” program at The Club that aims to teach teenagers about building healthy relationships, marriages and families through open group discussions, guest speakers, and engaging exercises; “planting the seed of promise for a lifetime of joy and fulfillment for tomorrow.”
Each week, the issues facing today’s youth are addressed and topics range from self-image to boundaries to peer pressure with the ultimate goal and hope that the program will equip Club youth with the necessary skills that will enable them to avoid common mistakes and correct the misconceptions of sex and relationships. The positive and beneficial choice of abstinence is also a “For You I Will” program topic.
“Our hope is that this program will help play a role in lowering teen pregnancies and STD transmission in our neighborhood,” said Paul Granger, The Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club Teen Director, “and we also hope to increase healthy life choices and create stronger family units.”
The teens enrolled in the Club’s program are given the freedom to openly discuss the different topics as a moderator guides the dialogue with sessions such as; “Respect yourself: Self-image, integrity, boundaries,” “Respect others: Group Discussion,” and “Can you really not have sex before marriage?”
“We encourage them to remain involved in the Club, so that staff and peers can continue to encourage them and hold them accountable as they practice a healthy lifestyle during a time when the opposite is glorified,” added Granger.
The program concludes this year with the “For You I Will” Ball where the teens will enjoy a catered meal, dancing and the King and Queen on the Ball awards presentation.
Prior to the event, ten Club teens that have shown commitment throughout the duration of the 8-week program will be rewarded with a limousine ride, concluding at the Ball with their very own red carpet entry.
For more information about The Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club, please contact Hugh Jones, Executive Director, at (804) 591-3831.
If there are organizations with teens that would be interested in participating in the Ball, you can contact 2222.3122 to RSVP
Unfortunate choice of headline wording…and I guess the event name, too. Coffee literally sprung out of my nose…
Uh, did anyone else read the title
as “For you, I will ball”
instead of “For you, I will” ball ?
Maybe it would be better to call it a dance. Punctuation makes a big difference in meaning here.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lets-eat-Grandma-or-Lets-eat-Grandma-Punctuation-saves-lives/276265851258?ref=ts
There are still tickets (free) available to the Teen Absitnence and Etiquette Dinner & Ball. It is shaping up to be a great and memorable event (and, again, free.)
A chaperone should plan to join the group.
Call 222-3122 to RSVP.
Special prize to the first 10 teens.
I know the people organizing this Ball have only the best of intentions but the truth is abstinence-only education is not an effective way to reduce the teen pregnancy rate.
This is different than an abstinence-only education, though… Modern kids get a decent eduction in contraception. The abstinence program is an overlay on that education, and the participants are self-selected. This abstinence approach in this case helps to reinforce the behaviors that these particular young men and women believe will be best for them, and gives them a structure and language to talk about it.
Thanks John for the clarification.
I concur on that thanks.
John’s right. We’ve run the programs as open discussions, allowing them to share their thoughts and opinions, giving them the freedom to say if they think abstinence is ridiculous. We then push them to explore why they believe what they believe; ie. are you saying that because you agree, or because of the pressure you face. We want them to make their choices for the right reasons. During the session that dealt with the potential consequences of sex, we said, “Today we’re not going to say ‘Sex is bad. Don’t have sex.’ We do, though, want you to get to the point that you see that sex is serious enough to warrant thinking before acting.”
So in short, we’re emphasizing healthy choices and planning, and along the way we explore abstinence as a safe and realistic option.
Check out Mark Holmberg’s segment:
http://www.wtvr.com/videobeta/1f4437e9-8325-4d8d-a171-272ca2c1bff5/News/For-You-I-Will-Teen-Ball