MIAMI – The numbers might be startling to parents, but according to Advocates for Youth, two-thirds of teenagers have had sex by the time they graduate.
Also, one-in-five girls will become pregnant in high school.
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Those numbers are enough for the Archdiocese of Miami to continue offering chastity education classes to their students.
Hundreds of eighth graders currently attending Catholic schools in both Miami-Dade and Broward County were encouraged to attend one of four Chastity Days.
The classes, which are sponsored and organized by the archdiocese's Respect Life Office with help from members of the Miami Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women, encourage students to wait to have sex.
Rebecca Hofman is just one of several college volunteers teaching eighth graders about chastity.
"When I heard the message of chastity I thought, 'Wow this is amazing,'" said Hofman. "Why didn't anyone tell me about this before? My life would have been so much better if I would have heard this message."
If you think eighth grade too young, research shows ten percent of all 13-year-old teens say they have had sexual intercourse, and by the time a teen reaches the 10th grade, 50 percent of them have had sex.
After the three-hour long presentation, several students seemed receptive to the idea of waiting for marriage.
"I think it's valuable because we have to learn how to use God's gift wisely, and not to misuse it before marriage," said eighth grader Carlos Moreno.