Condom Distribution in Schools

Essay by sharkbaitCollege, UndergraduateA+, January 2004

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Teenage pregnancy and STIs have been on the decline recently due to more readily available prophylactics. People seem to think that if condoms and other forms of birth control are easier to find that kids will begin to have sex. Research by the American Journal of Public Health has proved this untrue. "80% of adolescents become sexual active before they graduate [high school]". Since teenagers are already having sex you might as well promote safe sex. Just because kids have access to condoms does not mean that they will become sexually active. Condom distribution does not encourage sex, it protects those who are engaging in it.

Although parents and adults do not want to admit it, children in middle and high school are having sex. Bret Kaplan stated in a Rutgers law record that "By age nineteen, 75% of girls and 86% of boys have had intercourse... The vast majority of sexually active teens do not use condoms regularly".

The use of condoms significantly lowers the risk of unexpected pregnancies and helps prevent diseases such as AIDS. "Teenagers appear to be the fast growing group that is contracting the AIDS virus" (Kaplan). With further education and condom distribution, this serious situation can be practically eliminated. Therefore, condoms should be made readily available in a comfortable environment such as the local schools.

If you can't keep people from having sex, education is the key to making sure that they are doing it safely. Successful sex education programs that have had positive outcomes, help students learn that abstinence is the safest route but if you choose to have sex that condom use is smart. But by making condoms readily available will not promote sex or make sex "okay". It actually encourages students to protect themselves smartly. "The condom availability program appears to...