Although it was described by organisers as a "high-tech, high-energy event with lights, music and drama", the message from the Silver Ring Thing Movement, who visited Dublin for the first time last Friday, was an old one: sex is a precious gift, so why give it away to someone you don't love or trust writes Susan Calnan in Dún Laoghaire?
Over the past two weeks, the Christian-based group, which already has 22,000 members in the US, has been promoting the benefits of sexual abstinence before marriage to teenagers in the UK and Ireland in a three-hour show, presented by young people and consisting of comedy, drama, role-play and video presentations.
The movement, which gets its name from the fact that teenagers who pledge their abstinence wear a silver ring as a symbol of their commitment to the programme, said they received a positive response from young people who visited the show.
The group estimates that about 80 per cent of visitors have since taken the "silver ring thing pledge".
Despite a relatively low turn-out at the Dublin show, which was staged at the Dún Laoghaire Evangelical Church last Friday, Irish teenagers who visited the event were enthusiastic about the concept of pre-marital chastity.
Thirteen-year-old Aisling Byrne from Killiney in Dublin says she will be taking the silver ring thing pledge and agrees that young people should wait until they are married to have sex. "I know of a lot of people my age who have been put under pressure to have sex and who weren't very happy with the experience," adds Byrne.
"Becoming sexually active is something that I take very seriously and I would prefer to wait until I get married to have sex with someone who I love and trust."
Another 13-year old who visited the show, Alice Goodbody from Deansgrange in Dublin, says she will also be taking the abstinence pledge. "I think the concept of the silver ring is a great idea because it gives you a sense of commitment and you feel that you're not alone in taking this pledge," she says.
"Hearing about the number and rate of sexually transmitted infections that are out there has certainly made me nervous about the idea of pre-marital sex but also I think from an emotional point of view in particular, young people are better off waiting until they get married to have sex."
One concerned parent, John Cunningham from Leixlip, Co. Kildare, drove up to Dublin to bring his young son to the show.
"There are so many dangers out there now for young people today, they need every helping hand they can get," he says. "As a parent, I am very worried about the risks of pre-marital sex, in particular the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. I think sex is a wonderful thing but as long as it is in the right context; by waiting until they get married, young people will find sex a much more fulfilling experience.
"Having a group like the Silver Ring Thing visit Ireland is a good positive thing, I feel, because it helps reinforce this message but in a way that young people can relate to and without making them feel that they are being preached or talked down to."
For further information, visit www.silverringthing.com