The Resistance: Liberating Youth, Raising the Sexual Standard
Operation Keepsake
Mayfield, Ohio

Sharing the Abstinence Message
The Resistance: Liberating Youth, Raising the Sexual Standard is a program of Operation Keepsake (OK). OK is an abstinence-until-marriage education program that began in 1988 in the Cleveland area in northern Ohio. Seeing the need for young people to reach out to their peers, OK created the Resistance program 7 years ago.

The Resistance team brings peer-to-peer encounters to schools and youth groups. The team is comprised of area college-age students who have made a personal commitment to abstinence until marriage and who share the message with their peers in the 7th through 12th grades. The Resistance team members don’t just believe sexual abstinence until marriage is the smartest and healthiest choice for teens and young adults…they are LIVING it, and want to SHARE this message with other young people. Through skits, talks, and personal stories, Resistance team members engage others and inspire them to save sex until marriage. The message is supported by once-a-month meetings.

The Resistance program recognizes that youth who are choosing to be abstinent till marriage have made a tough decision: it takes a lot of courage and a willingness to oppose the pressures of today’s society. Swimming against a tide of peer pressure, the program’s teens must resist the media-driven sexual attitudes that perpetuate the idea that sex before marriage is okay or even healthy. Young people need the regular support and encouragement of one another—standing together, raising the sexual standards.

Bringing Young People Together
The Resistance team includes 12 students, ages 19 to 23. Each week, team members travel to various middle and high schools to present relevant skits and personal stories. Students committed to the abstinence-until-marriage message are then invited to attend the monthly Saturday morning support meeting.

Students attending the monthly Resistance meeting range from 13 to18 years old (7th through 12th grades). Monthly meeting attendance continues to grow, with 50 young adults attending the most recent meeting. One exciting benefit of these meetings is that young people from different cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds from around the city gather together to meet and work!

At the meetings, college students provide much-needed mentoring and role modeling to the middle and high school students in attendance. The monthly meetings are held from September through May. Usually there are two or three “fun” activities each school year.

College team members present suggestions, ideas, and other needs to the program director. College team members are also involved in OK training, conferences, and in-services. Mentoring by Resistance leaders, as well as by OK employees, is a cornerstone of the program.

Strengthened Families and a Positive Vision
The success of the Resistance team is demonstrated by the positive response of the audience, the ever-growing monthly meeting attendance, and the continual growth of the program (number of schools and size of audience). Furthermore, benefits of the program reach beyond the Cleveland area youth who are involved. Communities benefit from strengthened families and lowered pregnancy cost as well as youth who achieve goals and have a positive vision for life. This program can be replicated with the right students and leadership.

What Works
Components that make the Resistance program work include:
(1) Resistance leadership that has a passion for the message and a love of teens
(2) Support from OK leadership
(3) Quality speakers with a commitment to the abstinence-until-marriage message
(4) Responsible and trustworthy youth leaders who represent OK and the abstinence-until-marriage message well
(5) Accurate health information

Spread the Word
The program is known through word of mouth because of its past success.

Funding
State and Federal grant funding support the program.