The ball featured formal attire, dancing, a guest speaker and an exchange of purity keys said Lindsay Schell, a freshman at Bradley University in Peoria who has attended all three purity balls.,”Lindsay Schell and her father prayed for her purity.

Last week at a semi-annual purity ball in Peoria, Ill., she and an estimated 400 to 500 other young women pledged their virginity to Christ and their fathers.

The ball featured formal attire, dancing, a guest speaker and an exchange of purity keys said Lindsay Schell, a freshman at Bradley University in Peoria who has attended all three purity balls.

At the ball, the fathers made a promise to their daughters to be the protector of their purity and to be a role model to his daughter by living a life of integrity. Then each daughter presented her father with a golden key, symbolizing the key to her heart, and asked their fathers to protect it until her wedding day, when he would present it to her husband.

This commitment was sealed with a white rose placed at the base of a cross that was at the ball.

"(My dad and I) talked and prayed for my purity," Schell said.

Purity balls first started in 1998 in Colorado Springs, Co. by a group called Generations of Life.

Schell called the ball "something you won't forget because you have this amazing emotional bond with your dad."

During the dinner portion of the ball, the girls and their fathers listened to a guest speaker discuss the importance of the purity pledge.

Schell said her father brought up the initial discussion of sexual activity and integrity when she was 13.

"I'd never really thought about it," she said. "My dad sat me down and he asked me to wait for marriage. We talked about it and read scripture passages."

According to a study conducted by the Journal of Adolescent Health, teens and young adults who make virginity pledges are more likely to postpone becoming sexually active, but the delay may not necessarily be until marriage.

The study also found that sexually transmitted infection rates do not differ from non-pledges because pledges are less likely than others to use condoms at sexual debut.

As a college freshman, Schell said she was surprised by the high number of girls on her floor that are not sexually active.

"For almost all of them, the decision was made on their own, and they have not made a pledge," she said.

Schell said the conversation about remaining pure was just between her and her father.

Katy Suellentrop, senior manager for research programs with the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, said national studies have shown that family connectedness is related to the decreased risk of teen sexual behavior.

"Teens with better family situations are less likely to have sex at a younger age or not use contraceptive," Suellentrop said.

In Peoria, the purity ball is an annual event that switches attendance between fathers and sons and fathers and daughters.

Schell said her older brother never attended the purity balls and has not made the pledge.

While the popularity of the purity balls is rising among young women, there are not many options for young men, Suellentrop said.

She added that the number of sexually active males is still higher when compared to females in their age group.

"I don't understand why we wouldn't hold men to the same standard (as women)," Suellentrop said.

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