It’s no secret that the breakdown of marriage and family has had disastrous consequences on the culture. But for too long, people have been trying to treat the symptoms of the problem and not the root. Thankfully, Scott Phelps from the National Marriage Campaign is on a mission to revolutionize how the next generation of Americans view sex, marriage and family.
“Since the sexual revolution, non-marital birth rates have skyrocketed from 4% to 40%,” Mr. Phelps recently told The Washington Times’ Higher Ground. “Forty percent of American children today [are] born outside the context of marriage. That’s a real concern and we think that the only way to address the problem is to help a new generation of American youth understand and appreciate the value of marriage and family and why waiting for marriage matters.”
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The effectiveness behind the campaign is that it’s not just about being against sex outside of marriage. It’s about supporting and elevating something that has proven to set young people up for a lifetime of success.
“We have a curriculum division called the Success Sequence Program. And what that does is it provides a curriculum to schools across the country as a replacement to sex education,” he explained. “Ninety percent of American high school seniors say they want to get married and have a family someday. We have curriculum that’s going to show them how to make that happen. We’re going to walk them through the steps of what’s called the success sequence: get an education, get a job, and then marry before having children.”
And with 2 million kids having already gone through the program, Mr. Phelps is proud to say that it’s working. In fact, one group in Tennessee witnessed a 90% flip in students’ perceptions about saving sex for marriage after going through the Success Sequence Program. Before the program, 90% of students said they were unsure or completely against saving sex for marriage. After the program, 90% were strongly in favor of saving sex for marriage.
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“When you tell me kids aren’t going to listen, they’re going to do it anyway … What you’re telling me is that you can’t figure out a way to communicate to young people the beauty and the value of marriage and why waiting for marriage matters,” Mr. Phelps said. “What we’re teaching kids is factually, objectively, provably true that reserving all sexual activity for marriage is your very best option. That’s inarguable. You can’t debate that.”
But despite the facts, many of those in power continue to push sex education in schools that has proven detrimental to our children. That’s why the National Marriage Campaign is desperate to continue to grow and reach more and more young people with the truth.
“One of the reasons why our program works so well is I say, you know, the darker the night, the brighter the light, right? And so, as they live in this increasingly gray and confusing culture, when we lift up something that is clearly beautiful and true, they’re like, ‘Oh my goodness, where do I sign up for that?’” Mr. Phelps noted. “The truth is so powerful and it cuts through the darkness in a very beautiful way. And kids are just hungry for it.”
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Marissa Mayer is a writer and editor with more than 10 years of professional experience. Her work has been featured in Christian Post, The Daily Signal, and Intellectual Takeout. Mayer has a B.A. in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing from Arizona State University.