Next week, young Ayanna Mathews will don a new white dress, walk down the aisle of her church and undertake some life-changing vows in the presence of her family and friends.

Next week, young Ayanna Mathews will don a new white dress, walk down the aisle of her church and undertake some life-changing vows in the presence of her family and friends.

What sounds like a marriage is actually a celebration. The 14-year-old teen is taking a "purity pledge" to remain a virgin until she gets married.

A student at the Early College Academy, Ayanna said she was inspired to take up the pledge after watching a TV program on the topic.

"Me and my mom watched a show not long ago on purity and I liked it," she said.

Her mother, Tiana Walker, said she did not nudge her daughter into taking the vow.

"I was very, very grateful she had that mindset," she said. "But I followed up with questions. I told her, 'I know we saw the show, but what does this mean to you?'"

"I believe virginity is a gift," Ayanna said. "If I unwrap it before marriage, I can't re-wrap it."

Ayanna and her mother designed the ceremony on their own. During the ceremony, Mathews will make a declaration of her intention before all the men in her life. She also will be given a ring, symbolizing her commitment.

IN GOD'S HANDS

"She'll have her dad put the ring on her finger, and her husband will take it off," Walker explained. "She'll make vows that simply will say that her body is her temple, that this is what God requires of her... Our theme is 'In God's hands.' That's the only way she's going to make it.

Walker said she began talking to her daughter about sex at an early age, starting with "good touch, bad touch."

"I was part of the '90s generation," Walker said. "It was so taboo to talk about sex. As a result, a lot girls ended up mothers at a young age. Their kids were seeing things they shouldn't have been seeing... I didn't want to do that with her. We talk about peer pressure, feelings, even same-sex issues."

Ayanna said her best friend also plans to take a pledge, and that other kids who have heard about it haven't bothered her. But her mother said she's gotten some surprisingly negative reactions from other adults.

"I've heard from some naysayers and doubters that she won't be able to keep her pledge," Walker said. "They joke about it. I'm thinking 'really?'...I want people in her life who will support her as 'go-to' persons when times are a little trying for her. I told her to expect temptation, and when that time comes, I hope she will seek out people who will point her back to the cross."

TWO ABILITIES

Ayanna said that many of her peers, encouraged by suggestive music and the popular culture, don't see being sexually active as a game-changing event.

"It's not a big deal to do it," she said. "It's like second nature. I don't think they really think about the consequences."

"I'm teaching her that you have to have two abilities," her mother said. "Accountability and responsibility."

Walker said she knows firsthand how difficult life can be when bad choices are made. She said she grew up in a chaotic and unstable home as the youngest child of a mother addicted to drugs.

"I was a high-school dropout," she said, "Just because of my life. When you come home and there's no lights, no heat, no water — it's hard."

Walker said her family didn't attend church, but there was always a Bible in the house.

"I read it," she said, "I always believed, but I didn't know."

When Walker turned 18, she acquired her GED, then earned associate degrees at Stark State College, and bachelor's and master's degrees from Malone University. Walker said that before her mother died, she became a Christian and overcame her addiction.

NOT PERFECT

An aspiring physician, Ayanna won't date until she reaches high school. She plans to attend Ohio State University like her older sister, Ashauna, a Canton City Schools Young Scholar who's headed there in the fall.

"She said she's thinking about doing the same thing," Ayanna said.

"I tell her all the time 'you never know who's watching you,' " her mother added. "That you can be a role model, even for an older person. I hope people are inspired to talk to their children. (Virginity) is not a thing of the past. It's not unattainable."

Walker said the family will have a celebration following the ceremony.

"No twerking," she said, laughing.

Walker said she knows that once her daughter starts dating, she'll face challenges in keeping her pledge.

"By no means do I think she's perfect," her mother said. "But we serve a perfect God."