STOP AND THINK is a sexual abstinence program that encourages students to delay sexual activity until marriage. The primary purpose of the program is to provide students in middle schools and high schools with common sense presentations that promote abstinence until marriage as the safest and healthiest choice for teens.

    Stop and Think was developed in 1990 by Lane Pregnancy Support Center (LPSC) in Eugene, Oregon. LPSC opened in 1985, with a focus on providing resources to women in crisis pregnancies. LPSC developed Stop and Think as a proactive response to a growing number of young teen clients.  Stop and Think was brought to South Dakota in 2001 as an prevention program for the Bella Pregnancy Resource Center, which is located in Spearfish.  Bella staff also saw a growing need to educate teens in their region about the risks of pre-marital sex because they too were seeing a high ratio of teens with pregnancy related needs.

The Stop and Think program has been presented to classrooms in Western and Central South Dakota, Northeast Wyoming and on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Stop and Think has been well received by students, teachers and parents, and a scientific evaluation conducted by the Institute for Educational Leadership & Evaluation has proven that the program has been effective in changing student attitudes and planned behavior regarding sexual activity. Students who have participated in the program have shown an increased ability to say no to sex, an increased understanding of the consequences of sexual activity, and an increased belief that even students who have already had sex should wait to have sex again.

    The primary premise of the Stop and Think program is that true freedom can be gained when self-control is practiced.The program is interactive and teaches critical thinking skills through three major components. 1) Examining the Influences Around You, 2) Considering Your Personal Values, and 3) Determining the Pros and Cons. Also included in the presentations are sections that teach goal setting, refusal skills and things to do and say to practice abstinence.

    Stop and Think can be used with a wide age group and in multicultural settings. Many of the materials used in the presentations are a direct result of student input. Stop and Think uses a non-judgmental approach in encouraging continued abstinence for students who have not been sexually active and in challenging sexually active students to re-evaluate their decisions.

   Stop and Think is funded in part through a federal grant administered through the South Dakota Department of Health, www.state.sd.us/doh/abstinence.