Should Condoms be Available in Public Schools?
Should Condoms be Available in Public Schools? The topic of condom distribution in public schools has caused many heated debates throughout the country. People in favor of distribution of condoms will ensure that teenagers practice safe sex and that the rate of STDs and pregnancies will decline. Opponents of distribution of condoms state that distribution will encourage sexual activity and put the idea that premarital sex is acceptable. A quote from the National Coalition to Support Sexuality Education, "More than half of American teenagers have had sexual intercourse and face significant sexual health risks. Each year, over one million teenagers become pregnant, one in seven teenagers contract an STD, and one in five hundred students on college campuses are infected with HIV." So with these facts in mind, is there a need for condom distribution programs? Yes, there is a need for condom distribution programs. The support that has come from authority figures such as parents and educators is falling apart because of the introduction to condom distribution programs. It is as though parents and schools have forgotten that some teenagers do not desire to be sexually active, but one has to wonder how
The condom should be the contraceptive of choice for anyone with any risk of exposure to STDs. So, isn't receiving condoms at the nurse's office a step toward stopping teen pregnancy and STDs, especially the HIV virus (Fort 1)? Of course, but people against condom distribution believe that it is promoting sex and saying that it is okay to have sex. Although providing condoms to students will help curb unsafe sex in the future, condom distribution must be coupled with effective education in junior and senior high schools. If this love, support, and respect from your partner, parents, and friends are established, this will result in more beneficial outcomes than any condom can deliver. Sex education programs need to demonstrate that using sex as a substitute for intimacy and love in many teenage relationships is inexcusably wrong. In Santa Monica, California 34 percent of students who had used a condom at last intercourse reported obtaining the condom from the school-based availability program, which was strongly accepted by students; and they indicated overall sexual activity had not increased as the result of condom availability (AAP 2). After years of parents and politicians frequently whining that distributing free condoms in high schools makes children more sexually active, a study from California has proven these claims wrong. It is so much less time-consuming, and less embarrassing, to advocate "safe" sex through condom distribution than to step back and really examine why teenagers are having sex so early. The school left baskets of condoms in several classrooms with signs attached, noting that student could take condoms without asking for permission. Additionally, parents and teenagers need to open up lines of communication. Condoms need to be distributed to students to save lives; people need to realize this. many teenagers are having sex in today's society. Communication is the most effective way of preventing, or at least decreasing teenage sex. The only way to start to solve the problem of teen sex is to make people understand that teenagers are going to have sex, regardless of the risks, and if condoms are not provided, they will most likely not be used (Fort 1). Many know that the reasons for sexually active teenagers go far beyond just hormones, but admitting the true causes require one to take responsibility for a complicated solution, a solution that involves action, not only by the teenagers, but also by parents and teachers.
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Acceptance Essays
