Since I was in 6th grade, I have been taught about the “birds and the bees” from our public schools. The main thing that is pounded in our heads is “If you don’t have sex, you won’t get an STD and you won’t get pregnant. Stay abstinent!” Even in high school, we our taught that abstinence is the only way to stay safe, and schools all around the world are sticking to this method of teaching. It may be true, but if you walk around our campus, it’s obvious that the “no sex method” is not working and is actually getting worse every year. If the abstinence-only education isn’t effective, shouldn’t schools at least take a chance and try to promote safe sex? Could the distribution of condoms in school really help control the STD and pregnancy rate of teenagers? I think that it could not only help eliminate the dangers of unsafe sex among teens, it could also open up new opportunities for teens to learn a safer way to practice sex if they choose to participate in doing so.
Many people may argue that letting teens get a hold of condoms is actually encouraging them to engage in sexual activities. If they are convinced that they will be safe when using a condom it’s more likely they will participate in dangerous behavior. In my opinion, the truth is providing condoms to students in public education programs could reduce the frequency of underage pregnancy and the spread of STDs. If one can accept the idea that condoms are an effective way of prevention, it may show that their distribution could have a major impact.
A disapproval of this topic that caught my eye was that widespread condom distribution will establish sexual activity as the norm among young teens, creating peer pressure to participate in sex. The added temptation to engage in sexual activity that is "protected" will result in more women having sex at a younger age. According to a website called YouthNoise.com there are about 850,000 teen pregnancies each year, 35% of girls become pregnant at least once before reaching the age of 20, and every hour, 52 teenage girls are impregnated. If these numbers are precise, how is it possible for the public to sit back and do nothing about the rate of unsafe sex among teens due to the fact that no one really wants to admit that the teenage population is going against religious morals and following their own practices for pleasure? It seems like we’d want to improve the well being for the future of America by making something as simple as a condom available to the ones who need it the most, and it just so happens to be teens.
I think that providing the availability of condoms to young adults is sensible because it accepts the inevitability that some young people, regardless of the strength of an abstinence message, will still have sex. We can’t go on living in denial that the majority of the teenage population is smart enough to stay abstinent until marriage. It is argued that taxpayers should not have to fund something such as providing condoms to young people when they find it to be morally wrong. If we stop and think about it really, it’s actually a wise investment in government funds. The government pays a fortune to address the health problems due to risky sexual practices among teens each year. Also, the cost of having to raise children from accidental pregnancies over a lifetime or having to treat a patient with HIV could be enormous.
I find it logical to spend just a few dollars a year to support the provision of condoms in high schools then to have to pay billions for something that could’ve easily been avoided. Although it may not seem morally right to provide young people with a tool that could promote sexual activity, it’s better to be “safe than sorry.” The idea of this practice of protected sex is not meant to encourage teens that aren’t having sex to, but is only meant to guide the teens that are having sex in to a safer and healthier habit. Since abstinence is apparently not being followed, and many studies show it, I don’t think we should continue on ignoring our teenage crisis, but instead, we should step up and make a change. I believe in embracing the idea of safe sex, and that includes making condoms available to teenagers worldwide.

Question:
Does anyone agree with me?

Choices:
Yes?
No?

 

Teens will have sex. Not all of them, but a good number of them. Whether they have condoms or not, they're going to do it. Preaching abstinence to them will only make them have sex more because they want to "rebel against authority", so they might as well do it safely. Obviously condoms aren't 100% safe, but they're better than nothing. Distributing them in school is probably one of the best ways to get them to kids, because most of them won't actually go out of their way to go to CVS and buy a pack. A lot of teen pregnancies and STIs could be prevented if more sexually active teens had condoms and used them.

the most important thing you can do is stay safe. cause no one wants a disease ridden organ touching them.

I just think its pretty ironic how a woman running for the vice president of America right now is pro abstinence only sex education when her very own teenage daughter is pregnant. how is it that abstinence only education can work for a whole country of teenagers if it didn't even work for her daughter? If your school is not teaching safe sex stand up and say something because thats just not right.

I absolutly agree with you. My school is full with tennage pregnancies and std's. I fell that if the schools would distribute condoms to the students it will not promote having sex(most teens are already habing it anyway) but it will keep these consequences from having unprotected sex from occuring. Parents sometimes feel that this isn't right because they don't wan tschools to be giving students the idea that sex is ok but schools arn't giving them that idea......they are being realistic. They understand what is really going on and some parents don't even know that their teenager is sexually active. So therefore I think that they should be distributed in schools

I've been telling people this for a long time. It's not proven that condoms will increase the amount of sex teens have, but it is proven that condoms will decrease the amount of STDs and unwanted pregnancies. Obviously, abstinence-only programs aren't preventing teens from having sex. They're preventing them from having safe sex.