Jay GradnerTeens and SexAn increasing problem on high school
campuses and one of the mainconcerns of parents, school officials, and
the government is teenage sex. Itis on the rise, and they are worried that
it may get out of control. Teenagesex can be a problem because of the
pregnancies and many diseases it cancause. One solution that has been
proposed is to distribute condoms inpublic high schools. This is a topic
that is controversial and has beenhotly debated for years. There are
people who think it would be a good ideaand those who think it may
worsen the problem rather than solve it.<p><dd>The reason that people
want to distribute condoms in high school is totry to prevent teenage
pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and (Iseparate this from the
category of STD's because it is so widespread, deadly,important,
frightening, etc.) H.I.V infection. The theory is that if condomswere given
out or made available at high schools, then the students would bemore
inclined to use them. They would have them or be able to get them ifthey
need to use them. This would cut down on unprotected sexual
intercourseand prevent the pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases,
and H.I.V.infection. If a student was at a party and decided, on the spur
of themoment, to engage in sexual intercourse, then it is more likely that
theyhave a condom if schools distributed them. This sounds good in
theory, butwill it really work? If schools distribute condoms, shouldn't they
alsoteach the students how to use them and teach them a little about sex
(sexeducation in schools, another controversial topic)?<p><dd>The world
certainly needs to try to decrease teenage pregnancies, STD's,and H.I.V.
infection. In an article from the New York Times, the UnitedNations
reports that women, especially sexually active teenage girls, have ahigher
rate of H.I.V. infection than men in that age group. It cited theslow
development of mucous membranes as the reason for the lower
protectionagainst infection and increased risk of getting H.I.V. It mentions
that inRwanda, 25% of pregnant women are infected, and 17% of those
who have teenagesex will be infected. Those numbers are staggering.
In the United States,if even 5% of teenagers who have had sex become
infected with H.I.V., thenthat would translate to hundreds of thousands of
teenagers. This shows thatH.I.V. could be a bigger problem than it
already is if nothing is done aboutit, and some people think that
distributing condoms would help keep theproblem from getting
worse.<p><dd>Condom distribution might work, but what if the students
do not usethem? Also, distributing condoms might start a student to
become sexuallyactive that otherwise would not be. Wouldn't condom
distribution thenincrease teenage sex thus increasing the chance of
getting pregnant andcontracting H.I.V.? Once this student becomes
sexually active he or shemight not use a condom every time they have
sex. Even if they do, condomsare not 100% effective. I
repeat-CONDOMS ARE NOT 100% EFFECTIVE. Theyare only 92-96%
effective against pregnancy and not at all effective forblocking H.I.V.
transmission. Wouldn't a better option then be to controlteenage
sex?<p>Making love is not something to play around with. When people
decide todo it, they make a life and death decision. If they contract an
STD theyrisk their life for death. And if a woman gets pregnant, the
woman is notguaranteed to live through it (although chances are that she
will), and thechild is not guaranteed to live for many reasons including
abortion.<p>Shouldn't steps be taken to educate teenagers about what
they aregetting into before schools start handing out condoms? This
would be abetter way to prevent the spread of pregnancies and of STD's
and H.I.V.If teenagers do not have sex to begin with the risk of infection
goes downbecause, like I said, condoms are not 100% effective. If they
know moreabout the risks, then they can make an educated decision
about sex, and thenit will be very likely that they will use a condom if they
decide to havesex. This is one alternative and might be a better policy to
implement thancondom distribution.<p>I think that starting in junior high
school, students should learn aboutpregnancy, sexually transmitted
diseases, and H.I.V. There would be a courseor a section of a course
dedicated to health where students learn about thesesubjects. Then in
high school, students should do a more in-depth study ofthe
consequences of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. This
couldbe done as a part of a biology course or as a research project in an
Englishclass. Finally, students should learn about H.I.V. and AIDS, how it
affectsthe lives of those who have it, and what can be done about it.
Again, thiscould be a separate course that is required or a part of another
requiredcourse. Then, pamphlets about all these things should be made
available atthe health (or nurse's) office and suggested for the students to
read beforethey receive condoms. If this is done, then I believe that
teenage sexshould be less of a problem than it is now.
. Jay GradnerTeens and SexAn increasing problem on high school campuses and one of the mainconcerns of parents, school officials, and the government is teenage sex. Itis on the rise, and they are. unprotected sexual intercourseand prevent the pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, and H.I.V.infection. If a student was at a party and decided, on the spur of themoment, to engage in sexual. them and teach them a little about sex (sexeducation in schools, another controversial topic)?<p><dd>The world certainly needs to try to decrease teenage pregnancies, STD's,and