Abstinent is a term that everyone knows and hears multiple times throughout their lives. If it’s not from their parents, it’s from health classes in junior high. Now, however, it is the subject of an after school club.

“The reason why I [started Abstinence Club] was because I heard so many pre-teens talking about sex and it was just immoral to me,” senior Karrera Radford said.

Abstinence Club was created this year and it’s a topic that many people are finding interesting.

“So far we’re talking about what it really means to us to stay abstinent, and other ways we can share it with the school, and basically just to get our feet in the door,” Radford said.

The mission statement for Abstinence Club is to prevent teen pregnancy, educate people about teen pregnancy and provide a safe environment to talk whenever needed. They meet every Monday right after school.

“We normally talk about what it means to everyone,” Radford said, “and why they decided to join the club, and if they are abstinent, why are they.”

It’s no secret that some controversy is stirring in the hallways as the club becomes known. Some may feel abstinence club is a good addition to the school.

“I like it because I guess it’s good for people to want to stay abstinent and have support for that so that they don’t feel like they’re alone,” freshman Kiara Clark said.

Others may feel it’s too personal to have a club about it.

“Abstinence is a personal choice and there doesn’t need to be a club promoting it,” senior Nik Schmidt said.

The club also said in the announcements that last year 70 10-year-olds gave birth, which got many people asking questions.

“I know people thought it was inappropriate, and people were saying that they got raped, and I thought that was irrelevant because they are 10-years-old which probably means they were sexually active,” Radford said.

This brought up opinions from the club members.

“It was kind of shocking because you wouldn’t really think that would be happening right now, since they are so young, senior Abishai Guenther said.

It’s a shocker for many people to think of kids at such a young age having sex and not getting taught to prevent teenage pregnancy. According to Guenther a young boy who attended a junior high knew of seven girls in his school who were pregnant.

“I’m very appalled that young kids are sexually active,” Radford said. “It’s not so important that you have to have sex young, it’s okay to wait.”