by VorJack
To the chronicles of the bizarre abstinence-only crowd, we can now add a “purity ring” app for the iPhone:
For just 59p, consumers can download an application that allows them to take a purity pledge and then display a silver ring on their phone to prove their commitment to abstinence.
Oddly, this application was produced in England. Apparently the “purity pledge” idea has found fertile (pardon) soil across the pond:
In the US, around 8 million people have taken a purity pledge; in the UK, the figure is around 250,000. The country is regularly described as the teenage pregnancy capital of Europe, and last week it was revealed that a £6m campaign to cut teenage pregnancies had failed, leading to an increase, rather than a drop, in the number of girls getting pregnant.
My favorite part of the article comes at the very end:
Asked whether the virtual nature of the ring might lead people to forget their vow of abstinence in the heat of the moment, Bennett replied: “If you’ve taken the pledge, you’re likely to follow it through.”
Then what’s the point of the ring?
Anyway, this guy is clearly naive, but he’s given me an idea. If this crowd will pay for a silly set of silver pixels, imagine what they’d pay for a Virgin Alarm. Remember, it goes off before you do.
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29 Comments
Excellent idea.
(and great film, too :-))
Oh man the perfect Spaceballs reference! I love it!
You suck for beating me to that post
Bennett replied: “If you’ve taken the pledge, you’re likely to follow it through.”
Is that why pregnancy rates among unmarried members of The Silver Ring Thing are even higher than they are in the general population? Or could that be because they’re not taught about contraceptives? I wonder…
I wore a purity ring once.
It didn’t work.
I still have it to remind me how ignorant I once was.
I had one too. My parents gave it to me in the 9th grade. But it was made of nickel silver and it made my finger break out. I told my parents that I was allergic to staying a virgin. They didn’t think it was nearly as funny as I did.
Lmao.
Clever kid ;p
lol, your parents gave it to you?
parent says: “hey, don’t have sex”
teen hears: “go have lots of sex!”
Speaking of which…
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/39100
Creepiest article ever! I can’t get the visions out of my head ………almost need a rape shower.
OMG. Gross beyond my wildest nightmares. I’m horrified. Hardly know what to say. Clearly this classless couple thinks it’s cool to discuss the most intimate details of their sexual encounter. I feel dirty just reading it. I wish they had sex at a normal age like normal people and learned that it’s uncool to talk about it in detail like this. Which most people have figured out by age 16. Disgusting and immature.
Are you not familiar with The Onion?
It’s ironic that pledges don’t seem to work:
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/123/1/e110
Awww… you mean the app doesn’t come with a ‘Purity Ring Tone’ to go with the image? Damn, count me out! – lol
I hope my son decides to take the Secular Pinky Swear instead.
http://www.secularpinkyswear.org/
I attended a private high school, and (of course) there was only one acceptable way to avoid pregnancy: abstinence.
They spent all of this money to get this guy to come in and talk to all of us about how horrible it was to lose your virginity before marriage and blah blah blah. His prime example was his current wife, a sinful, lustful harlot who didn’t wait until marriage. But…he forgave her and let her have a “second virginity.” He then proceeded to have sign-ups for purity rings as well as for a “second virginity”, i.e. a pledge to avoid further sex until marriage.
My friends and I took (smirking) notice how many more “good Catholic girls” ended up in line then boys. It just goes to show that stereotypes often exist for a reason. What a joke.
Oops…meant “than” not “then”.
Study after study shows that those who take chastity vows break them anyway. I’ve actually seen some where the “chaste” actually break them at a higher rate than their peers.
A “second” virginity? Is that like a second mortgage?
“His prime example was his current wife, a sinful, lustful harlot who didn’t wait until marriage. But…he forgave her and let her have a “second virginity.””
Oh, there’s a healthy marriage. He’s bringing up his wife’s previous sexual experience before a horde of high school students. Whatcha want to bet that he brings it up at least once a week at home?
Why are christians so obsessed with sex? I was watching Seinfeld at my (christian) parents’ house. My dad said he thought it was immoral because of sexual innuendo, sex on a first date, etc. I replied that to me, sex has absolutely nothing to do with immorality. If anything on Seinfeld is immoral, it is their utter self-involvement. But seems like christians only pick out the sexual issues, every time. Maybe if they would do it more, they might be able to talk about it less. Other than Hugh Heffner, I’ve never heard anyone more obsessed with sex than christians.
If you can get yourself a second virginity, just like that…then the first one can’t be that big a deal in the first place.
Well said!
At the time, it seemed like a “Get Out of Jail Free” card.
“Um, John, I have a confession to make. You’re not my first. But my preacher gave me a mulligan.”
Where can I get a phone that tells me that sex is wonderful between consenting adults? Maybe the “we-phone”. And the “iphone” could be a celebration of masturbation. Good idea? Think I can make a million off this?
What they don’t mention in the story about the Purity Ring application for the iPhone is that if it overhears you saying naughty things or even heavy breathing, then it wipes out all your contacts’ numbers and then turns itself off and you can never turn it on again (well, maybe if you get a second virginity – I guess that comes with a special PUK code). Everyone knows that without their iPhones, kids will be completely cut off from the world and therefore unable to engage in the sinful act of s e x.
;-)
Unless you could convince the folks at iPhone that you had just come in from a jog when you made a call :)
I like Marcus Brigstocke’s assessment. If you want to wear a ring that tells everyone you’re not having sex you can get married like the rest of us.
@Jeremy — crying I’m laughing so hard!
Bennett replied: “If you’ve taken the pledge, you’re likely to follow it through.
————————
My niece’s ring disappeared about two weeks after the first boyfriend showed.
This is perfect for Hemant Mehta’s iPhone, “Bristol Palin”.