Distribution Of Condoms Essay, Research Paper
Are America?s Youth as Safe as They Can Be?
?Sometimes, moral is not the same as right ? not when people suffer or die as a result.?(Cohen, Richard)
?My first indication that access to condoms did not lead to increased sexual activity occurred when I was a teenager and my friend Irv settled a poker debt by giving me a condom. I placed it in my wallet and there it stayed, unused for so long that, like the trees of the Petrified Forest, it turned to stone. Had I not lost that wallet, it would today be a tourist attraction?(Cohen, Richard). This quote responds to every person out there who makes the assumption that condom distribution will increase the number of sexually active teenagers. The program, as a matter of fact, protects many teenagers who without condoms would be in great danger. The condom distribution program should be a part of every high school?s sex education program.
Access to condoms does not increase the rate of sexual activity. It does, however, increase the rate of condom use by teenagers that are already sexually active, which is, after all, the whole point of the program. The condom distribution program will decrease the number of unwanted pregnancies, the number of people infected with the AIDS virus, and the number of people with STD?s. In fact, of kids in Chicago and in New York, who are both sexually active, the New Yorkers were more likely to use a condom. The New
Yorkers were also the ones who had access to condoms in school. If this isn?t convincing evidence, I don?t know what is.
I don?t understand why certain parents would not allow their children to receive condoms in school. STD?s and teen pregnancy are big problems among American teens that need to be prevented by any way possible. ?There is no difference in sexuality between children in Switzerland and the United States, yet American young people are five to seven times more likely to be teen parents?(Anderson, Kerby). Giving condoms to the American youth will decrease the number of unwanted pregnancies, the number of people with AIDS, and the number of people with STD?s. Of course many Americans will agree with me in saying that all of these things are an atrocity and need to somehow be prevented. Condom distribution is a beneficial method in curbing these evils. In fact, in a poll of students honored in ?Who?s Who Among American High School Students,? sixty-four percent of the sexually active students said they would be more likely to use a condom during intercourse if schools distributed them (Griggs 1). If even sixty-four percent of our nation?s kids who are sexually active used a condom, I am positive that the number of pregnancies and number of diseases contracted will go down. So why not distribute condoms in schools across the country? What harm does it do? Well many parents think that the distribution of condoms condones sexual activity. As said by Thomas Maugh, ?I think condom distribution says to teenagers, ?We think you?re important. We want to protect you from disease and death, so we will provide you with all the information and necessary tools so that you can make educated and informed decisions about your health?.? This is exactly it. We need to protect the youth from
disease and death. We need to provide the youth with as much information as possible. And hopefully then some of the awful things happening as a result of unprotected sex will decrease. Many parents ask why schools can?t just teach abstinence. Well, unfortunately the teaching of abstinence is not enough. Abstinence programs focus on the importance of abstaining from sexual intercourse, usually until marriage. But the fact is that teenagers are continuing to have sex. According to the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS), seventy percent of all high schoolers have had sex by the time they graduate. Should we assume that these seventy percent have protected themselves and their partners form pregnancy, STDs, and death? If we chose to make assumptions without first looking at the facts, we are endangering the lives of teenagers.
?Teenagers have the highest rates of STDs of any age group? (CAPS, 1995). If this is not enough evidence to convince you of the necessity of condom distribution then I should tell that as of November 30, 1997, Florida has had over three hundred and fifty reported AIDS cases among the 13-19 year-olds (Florida Department of Health, 1997). I am sure that in any state, if you were the relative or friend of one of these children, regardless of personal beliefs, wouldn?t you have wanted someone, anyone, to give your child a condom?
I do not suggest that condoms should be distributed without a sex education program. If school nurses hand out condoms to those who need them, then the school nurse can also educate the child of the proper use of condoms, self-respect, and the emotional costs of sex. Catherine Lee, a school nurse, says, ?At the age of sixteen, I knew about condoms, but I would have never gone to the store and bought them, even though I was sexually active, girls just didn?t do that. I relied on the boy to provide them, and I became another statistic, another teenage mother. My mother wished that someone had given me a condom, but I wish someone had taught me about self-respect, I wish someone had told me that anyone who didn?t use a condom didn?t really care about me. I wish that someone had told me that it was okay for girls to protect themselves?. I am sure that more than a few teenage girls feel exactly like Catherine did. The condom distribution program and an adequate sex education program will help to protect these vulnerable girls.
When you search your own values and morals to come up with your own opinion on the condom distribution program, I ask you to imagine that someone you love contracts a horrible STD. Imagine further that it is he or she is infected with AIDS. Finally imagine the intense suffering that the child has to go through as a result. And when it is all over that loved one is gone. Is there anything you wouldn?t have done to save his or her life? Would you have allowed a school nurse to give him or her a condom? I certainly would.
Are America?s Youth as Safe as They Can Be?
?Sometimes, moral is not the same as right ? not when people suffer or die as a result.?(Cohen, Richard)
?My first indication that access to condoms did not lead to increased sexual activity occurred when I was a teenager and my friend Irv settled a poker debt by giving me a co
Access to condoms does not increase the rate of sexual activity. It does, however, increase the rate of condom use by teenagers that are already sexually active, which is, after all, the whole point of the program. The condom distribution program will decrease the number of unwanted pregnancies, the number of people infected with the AIDS virus, and the number of people with STD?s. In fact, of kids in Chicago and in New York, who are both sexually active, the New Yorkers were more likely to use a condom. The New
Yorkers were also the ones who had access to condoms in school. If this isn?t convincing evidence, I don?t know what is.
I don?t understand why certain parents would not allow their children to receive condoms in school. STD?s and teen pregnancy are big problems among American teens that need to be prevented by any way possible. ?There is no difference in sexuality between children in Switzerland and the United States, yet American young people are five to seven times more likely to be teen parents?(Anderson, Kerby). Giving condoms to the American youth will decrease the number of unwanted pregnancies, the number of people with AIDS, and the number of people with STD?s. Of course many Americans will agree with me in saying that all of these things are an atrocity and need to somehow be prevented. Condom distribution is a beneficial method in curbing these evils. In fact, in a poll of students honored in ?Who?s Who Among American High School Students,? sixty-four percent of the sexually active students said they would be more likely to use a condom during intercourse if schools distributed them (Griggs 1). If even sixty-four percent of our nation?s kids who are sexually active used a condom, I am positive that the number of pregnancies and number of diseases contracted will go down. So why not distribute condoms in schools across the country? What harm does it do? Well many parents think that the distribution of condoms condones sexual activity. As said by Thomas Maugh, ?I think condom distribution says to teenagers, ?We think you?re important. We want to protect you from disease and death, so we will provide you with all the information and necessary tools so that you can make educated and informed decisions about your health?.? This is exactly it. We need to protect the youth from
disease and death. We need to provide the youth with as much information as possible. And hopefully then some of the awful things happening as a result of unprotected sex will decrease. Many parents ask why schools can?t just teach abstinence. Well, unfortunately the teaching of abstinence is not enough. Abstinence programs focus on the importance of abstaining from sexual intercourse, usually until marriage. But the fact is that teenagers are continuing to have sex. According to the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS), seventy percent of all high schoolers have had sex by the time they graduate. Should we assume that these seventy percent have protected themselves and their partners form pregnancy, STDs, and death? If we chose to make assumptions without first looking at the facts, we are endangering the lives of teenagers.
?Teenagers have the highest rates of STDs of any age group? (CAPS, 1995). If this is not enough evidence to convince you of the necessity of condom distribution then I should tell that as of November 30, 1997, Florida has had over three hundred and fifty reported AIDS cases among the 13-19 year-olds (Florida Department of Health, 1997). I am sure that in any state, if you were the relative or friend of one of these children, regardless of personal beliefs, wouldn?t you have wanted someone, anyone, to give your child a condom?
I do not suggest that condoms should be distributed without a sex education program. If school nurses hand out condoms to those who need them, then the school nurse can also educate the child of the proper use of condoms, self-respect, and the emotional costs of sex. Catherine Lee, a school nurse, says, ?At the age of sixteen, I knew about condoms, but I would have never gone to the store and bought them, even though I was sexually active, girls just didn?t do that. I relied on the boy to provide them, and I became another statistic, another teenage mother. My mother wished that someone had given me a condom, but I wish someone had taught me about self-respect, I wish someone had told me that anyone who didn?t use a condom didn?t really care about me. I wish that someone had told me that it was okay for girls to protect themselves?. I am sure that more than a few teenage girls feel exactly like Catherine did. The condom distribution program and an adequate sex education program will help to protect these vulnerable girls.
When you search your own values and morals to come up with your own opinion on the condom distribution program, I ask you to imagine that someone you love contracts a horrible STD. Imagine further that it is he or she is infected with AIDS. Finally imagine the intense suffering that the child has to go through as a result. And when it is all over that loved one is gone. Is there anything you wouldn?t have done to save his or her life? Would you have allowed a school nurse to give him or her a condom? I certainly would.
LaBarr 5
Works Cited
Cohen, Richard. ?Up Against Moral Zealots?. The Washington Post. October 2, 1997.
Griggs, France. ?Poll: 80%of Students Admit Cheating in High School.? World African
Network News Media. November 30, 1998.
Lee, Catherine. ?Condoms and Sex?.
Anderson, Kerby. ?The teen sex revolution.?
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Cohen, Richard. ?Up Against Moral Zealots?. The Washington Post. October 2, 1997.
Griggs, France. ?Poll: 80%of Students Admit Cheating in High School.? World African
Network News Media. November 30, 1998.
Lee, Catherine. ?Condoms and Sex?.
Anderson, Kerby. ?The teen sex revolution.?