Free Condom Distribution to Schools Essay Example

sex is wrong. Parents are being replaced teachers in their responsibility of being the molders of their children’s morality. Parents and children have always shared the responsibility over children. While parents provide a healthy home learning environment, the schools educate the children and evaluate them. Whilst the parents shape their children’s moral core and consciousness, the schools give opportunities for children to access services, participate in activities and lead groups. Research shows that early sex conversations between children and their parents can delay the time of making a sexual debut and reduce the chance acquiring HIV and unwanted pregnancy (Beasley, Valerio, & Bundy, 2008).

Distributing condoms free to students is good because it goes a long way in protecting the well-being of teenagers and protecting their health. The message of disapproval about sex seems to be more important to some people than the teenagers’ well-being. According to the AAP, the rates of gonorrhea, syphilis, and Chlamydia have gone up over the last ten years as the rates of teenage pregnancy decrease. This shows that the teenagers are smarter on pregnancy prevention but lack knowledge on how to prevent sexually transmitted infections, the reason why condoms should be distributed in schools (Goldstein, & Goldstein, 2001).

It is also better to get condoms from the school than acquiring them from weird places, which may be expired, or not in good condition. The desire to use condoms does mean lack of mistrust. This stigma can be dealt with by creating many opportunities to communicate with young people that condoms are a normal part of safe everyday sex and there is nothing to be ashamed. Keeping condoms away creates stigma on

their uses (Goldstein, & Goldstein, 2001).

It is a fact that many teenagers are having sex today than it was ever before. Availing condoms free of charge makes the sexual encounters safe. Many parents argue that condom availability and sex education increase teenage sex. Studies however across America show that teenagers are already having sex at young ages without the use of condoms for protection against disease and pregnancy. A study by Carnegie Council on Adolescent development showed that by the age of 16 years, twenty-nine percent of boys and seventeen percent of girls have had sexual intercourse. Consequently sixty-seven percent of all children born in 1989 were out of wedlock and gonorrhea increased by four fold in teenagers between age 10 and 14 years (Goldstein, & Goldstein, 2001).

The idea of making condoms available free to teenagers is not a radical idea if it was ever. It may have seemed to be a bad idea long ago but it is no longer since teenagers are making their sex debuts very early in life. The American Academy of Pediatrics issued a policy supporting the notion that children who want condoms should access them free of charge. They association also claimed that schools were the most appropriate site for distributing condoms. The pediatricians emphasized that parents to parents and guardians the importance of giving education to their children about condom use (Kelly, & Lawton, 2001).

Although moral character and sexual abstinence should be highly encouraged, sexual responsibility should also be taught. Sexual responsibility today means the use of the condom as a method of birth control, a method of curbing the spread of diseases that are sexually transmitted and

a way to prevent teenage pregnancy. Guidance counselors, trained peer educators and sex education teachers should be available to distribute condoms and offer counseling. Sexually active teenagers should go them without feeling awkward. Pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases are the consequences of embarrassment. The availability of condoms in schools combined with a comprehensive sex education program can help teenagers to become responsible sexually (Kelly, & Lawton, 2001).

A report by the American Medical Association reveals that making condoms available to school-going children leads to greater condom use. The study found that many students took a large number of condoms from the schools in school health centers with no restrictions. The study however found that the use of condoms among the sexually experienced youths did not increase but decreased. With more use of condoms, the children are safe from diseases and from becoming pregnant (Kelly, & Lawton, 2001).

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, children who have access to condoms and education about condoms do not engage in sex immediately after they have the information. In fact close to fifty percent of the kids with condom access are engaged in sex later than their age mates who did not have the access and education. Children who live in sexually liberated environment more likely engage in sex at their own terms rather than due to peer pressure or the desire to prove delinquency. Children in an environment that supports their sexuality instead of being hostile may tend to be inclined to use of mutual masturbation and oral sex to delay sexual intercourse (McEvoy, 2011).
Abstinence, which is the biggest prevention strategy, should be taught together with intervention strategies for

those already involved in premarital sex. One of the intervention strategies is by distributing condoms to protect the students already involved in sex against diseases and unwanted pregnancies. Teenagers are curious people because of their age and want to try everything including sex despite being taught the value of abstaining from sex. Providing them with free condoms is a sure way of ensuring that they are safe in case they engage in sex. Stakeholders in education should advocate for comprehensive sex education in schools to include both abstinence and the use of condoms (Sanderse, 2012).

In addition, most parents rarely discuss sex with their children. Most society members consider the subject embarrassing and it is sometimes considered a taboo by some societies. At teen age, most children are sexually active since they are in their genital phase of development according to the psychosexual theories of development. The genitalia are the source of pleasure. Parents expect their children to acquire sexual education in school. Availing condoms to students and teaching them on proper use is therefore very appropriate since they will be able to use them as required. Parents shy away from teaching their children yet they expect them to know how to use the condoms well when they engage in sex hence teachers are better placed to give the education and distribute condoms (Sanderse, 2012).

Opponents of condom availability program and sex education argue that the programs go against the parents’ rights to give education to their children about religious values and moral behavior. This is not however true because there is no sex education program in America capable of taking away the right of religious leaders

and parents to instill values considered to be of essence including abstaining from sex. They also argue that schools are for learning mathematics and science not how to use a condom (Van, 2008).

In conclusion, free condoms should be distributed to schools for students because of the many benefits that cannot be underestimated. The primary benefit is prevention from unwanted teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV. It is a fact that most teenagers are sexually active and engage in sex without the use of condoms for protection as they are unable to afford or they are too shy to go for them. This puts them at risk of contracting diseases. The government should thus take the initiative of availing condoms to schools for distribution to students who want them. This should however come after adequate sex education. Distributing condoms to students can significantly reduce the rate of teenagers’ infection with HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases in addition to lowering teenage pregnancies.

References

1. Beasley, M., Valerio, A., & Bundy, D. A. P. (2008). A sourcebook of HIV/AIDS prevention programs: Volume 2. Washington, DC: World Bank
2. Goldstein, M. C., & Goldstein, M. A. (2001). Controversies in the practice of medicine. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press
3. Kelly, W. J., & Lawton, D. L. (2001). Discovery: An introduction to writing. Boston, Mass: Allyn & Bacon.
4. McEvoy, A. L., & Society for the Philosophy of Sex and Love. (2011). Sex, love, and friendship: Studies of the Society for the Philosophy of Sex and Love: 1993-2003. Amsterdam etc.: Rodopi.
5. Sanderse, W. (2012). Character education: A Neo-Aristotelian approach to the philosophy, psychology and education of virtue. Delft: Eburon Academic Publishers
6. Van, D. A. C. (2008). HIVAIDS care
   

& counselling: A multidisciplinary approach. Cape Town: Pearson Education South Africa