Marrying young is a cultural standard in Utah

By Kelsey Koenen

March 20, 2008 | Thin brunettes, voluptuous blondes, petite redheads -- it devours all of them in Utah: young marriage. It's that time of year again, Valentine's day come and gone, Spring, the perfect time for receptions, just an inhale and exhale or less away.

According to a 1997article in the Salt Lake Tribune, in the year 1996, 1,000 teenagers 14 to 17 years old were married in Utah. While the statistics vary from year to year, the overall idea does not seem to be disappearing.

Often the fault is given to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and their immense population in Utah. They have strong beliefs in family and marriage. The Deseret News in 2007 reported that 60.7 percent of Utah's state population were members of the Mormon Church. The numbers were found by school districts and the Internal Revenue Service. Last year they found the lowest percentage of church members ever in Utah.

The Mormon Church emphasizes marriage and family development. A young woman in Utah is unlikely to be ridiculed for a quick engagement or marriage proposal before finishing school or developing into a career.

"Of course, as a woman you can do exceptionally well in the workplace, but is that the best use of your divinely appointed talents and feminine traits?" Richard G. Scott, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve apostles for the Mormon Church said in one of their recent General Conference Sessions. "As a husband, don't encourage your wife to go to work to help in your divinely appointed responsibility of providing resources for the family, if you can possibly avoid it."

Many Utah State University students are living this lifestyle. According to an article on the Hard News Cafe, the 2002-2003 academic school year had the lowest number of graduates in 10 years, according to former USU President Kermit Hall. Perhaps this coincidence is more of a correlation.

Kaylene Jenson, who graduated from USU in 1967, is working on campus now for the LDS Institute staff. Jenson was married at 19. Forty-three years later, she has her doubts about the decision she made. "I had a lot of goals, to travel and to finish my degree," Jenson said. "I wasn't ready to quit dating either but I didn't want to lose him."

When asked if she would advise her own children to marry before finishing school, Jenson said if they were under 20 she would be disappointed. Jenson claims that while she and her husband were able to grow together and develop something in common while attending school, she ended up only teaching while he got his master's degree.

"I was going to go back and teach, but I didn't," Jenson said. She was able to graduate in elementary education but once they started a family everything to do with her original goals changed.

Even successfully married couples today recognize the dangers of their early marriages However, the pattern is not strongly affected by any matter of experienced opinion.

Kenzie Stratford, a USU student in 2006, was enrolled for only two semesters then moved home to Kaysville (an hour and a half south of Logan) to marry at 18 years old. She isn't the only one to have made that decision in her family either. Her sister, age 23, got married the same month she graduated from high school and was having her first child a year later at 19.

"Both my mother and my sister were great influences in feeling like young marriage was OK for me," Stratford said. "Both my mother and my sister were married by age 18, and both had their first child at 19."

Her sister's and mother's marriage decisions greatly effected Stratford's.

"I did feel a little pressure to find a spouse," Stratford said. "After I turned 18, I remember wondering why I had not found an eternal companion yet when I knew my sister had at that same age. I think I worried that I possibly wasn't mature yet like my sister, and I wanted to be. Because of that I pressured myself."

Stratford also made sure to note that her dedication to the Mormon Church played a significant role.

"Fulfilling the role as a mother is a standard that each female in our religion hopes to succeed in. I truly believe that my role on this earth is to bring children here, and because another one of our standards is to be morally clean, I can only fulfill that through marriage," Stratford said.

"In matters of human intimacy, you must wait!" Jeffrey R. Holland, also a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, said. "You must wait until you can give everything, and you cannot give everything until you are legally and lawfully married. On your wedding day the very best gift you can give your eternal companion is your very best self--clean and pure and worthy of such purity in return."

According to Light Planet, an online site devoted to explaining religious practices and beliefs in a fair way, Mormon statistics show that 97 percent of Mormons over age 30 have married. And again that they marry early: 45 percent of women and 23 percent of men are married by age 19. Of that how many marry for physical opportunities and other pressures causing them to marry before fully maturing or obtaining desired goals?

"Studies have shown that females do not fully mature until the age of 21," Stratford said. "Therefore, emotions tend to run a little higher than they may if one were older." Stratford is one of many women who find that a life of motherhood is just as satisfying as a life with an intriguing and rewarding career. She remains however, to turn 21.

Whitney Sant, a friend of Stratford's, still attends USU and has supporting ideas about maturing before marriage.

"Although it's hard to feel good being single when all my friends are getting engaged, I know I have been able to learn so much from all of my relationships, especially the failed ones," Sant said. "I always feel like I can justify myself in not rushing to marriage with the idea that I will experience so much on my own that I will learn from so that eventually I can give and share those experiences with my husband. It's like I will be able to bring more to the table when I choose to spend my life with someone."

Sant plans to graduate in 2010 as a broadcast journalist and will be 20 this May.

"I just have to keep reminding myself that in Utah, it's a little bit different," Sant said.

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