The Condom Distribution Debate Essay

Many questions and concerns have come about regarding this promotion of condoms being distributed in public schools. Will it lower teen pregnancy rates? Will condoms reduce sexually transmitted diseases? Will the distribution of condoms in public

In the essay “Condoms: the New Diploma”, by Rush Limbaugh published in his book The Way Things Ought To Be in 1992, Limbaugh talks about how distribution of condoms in schools can lead to teenage promiscuity and encourages sexual activity at an early age. Limbaugh’s use of Reductio ad absurdum counter attacks the opposition’s argument on condom distribution and is effective since it is hard to attack the opposition.

Condoms should be given to middle schoolers because this access does not encourage them to have more sex at a younger age, it makes them more aware. Peaking in the early 1990s, teen pregnancy rates have declined 51 percent and teen births are down 61 percent, said Bill Albert of The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancies. Many schools say that their kids participated in surveys to see if they have been sexually active during their middle school years. In the article by Larsen-Fleming, it pointed out that 8.5 percent of Oakland’s Unified seventh-graders

In the last decade or so, however, the growing awareness of the dangers of AIDS does appear to have contributed to a decline in the rates of sexual intercourse among teens. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that between 1991 and 2005 the percentage of teenagers who are sexually active dropped from 57.4 percent to 46.3 percent among males and from 50.8 percent to 44.9 percent among females. The rates of pregnancy, abortion, and sexually transmitted disease among teens have actually dropped even faster than the rate of sexual activity. So it appears that, in addition to postponing sex, teens are also becoming more responsible in their sexual activities. For example, the Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that 87.5 percent of teens were either abstinent or used condoms. Of course, that means that 12.5 percent of teens were still having unprotected sex, but that is a significant improvement over past decades. Similarly, although the rate of teen pregnancy has declined, more than 11 percent of the babies born in the United States

The article “Birth Control for Kids?” was published in 2007 by Time Magazine, and despite being several years old it offers an excellent analysis of sex education in U.S. schools. A middle school in Portland, Maine decided to take a vote on whether it should offer birth control pills to students through the school’s health center. If passed, the vote would allow children as young as eleven-years-old access to contraceptives aside from the traditional condom. In addition, although parental consent would be needed to allow access to the healthcare center, the parents would not necessarily be informed about the nature of the health center visit. Therefore students could obtain birth control without the information ever being disclosed to parent/guardians.

At this time in the United States, there is no federal law requiring sex education in public schools leaving the decision to mandate sex education at the state level (Planned Parenthood, n.d.). While the federal government does not require states to teach sex education, they do provide funding for sex education programs (Planned Parenthood, n.d.). The federal government has never provided any funding for comprehensive sex education while they have provided funding for abstinence only sex education since 1982 (SIECUS Annual Report, 2016; Donovan, 2017). However, within the last decade there has been an increase in funding for teen pregnancy prevention (Donovan, 2017). This could be largely due to the numerous studies that show a more desirable

Federal funding has played a large role in this increase, as monetary incentives have been the driving force behind much of the change. To put it in numbers, the amount of federal dollars going to schools that adopted abstinence only programs almost tripled in the seven years between 1998 and 2005, increasing from 60 to 168 million dollars a year (Santelli, 75). And among United States school districts that changed their policies, twice as many chose to adopt a curriculum that more heavily focused on abstinence only until marriage as moved towards a more comprehensive program (Landry). This disturbing statistic shows how effective the religious right has been in pushing abstinence only programs in face of a dearth of evidence as to their effectiveness. This effectiveness is mainly due to intense lobbying funded by individuals and organizations on the far right. One man, Raymond Ruddy, has personally put 1.5 million dollars towards advocacy and lobbying for abstinence only programs (Eaton). While lobbying like this commonly happens on both sides of the aisle, in this case public opinion goes against what people like Raymond Ruddy say is necessary. According to a recent study, "Ninety-eight percent of parents say they want HIV/AIDS discussed in sex education classes; 85% want 'how to use condoms' discussed; 84% think sex education should cover 'how to use and where to get other birth control,' and 76% want

It has been almost thirty three years since the first federal funding was put to use in “. . . sex education programs that promote abstinence-only-until-marriage to the exclusion of all other approaches . . .” according to the article “Sex education” (2010) published by “Opposing Viewpoints in Context;” a website that specializes in covering social issues. Since then a muddy controversy has arisen over whether that is the best approach. On one hand is the traditional approach of abstinence (not having sex before marriage), and on the other is the idea that what is being done is not enough, and that there needs to be a more comprehensive approach. This entails not only warning against sex, but also teaching teens about how to have

Today, sexually active teenagers can get contraceptives to protect themselves from unplanned pregnancies or sexual diseases without a parent’s permission. In some states federal lawmakers have taken away the ability for teens to protect themselves, they want to prevent sexually active teenagers from getting birth control and condoms unless they get parents permission. Preventing teens from getting contraceptives unless they tell a parent will not stop them from having sex. It will drive them away from the services they need to protect themselves, leading to higher rates of unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases

Statistics from recent studies suggest that only 13% of U.S. teens have ever had sex by the age of 15. But by the age of 19, seven in ten teens of both sexes have had sex. Between 1995 and 2006-2008, the percentage of teens aged 15-17 who had ever engaged in sexual intercourse declined from 38% to 28%. Among teens aged 18-19, it declined from 68% in 1995 to 60% in 2006-2008. The pregnancy rate among young women has declined steadily from 117 pregnancies per 1,000 women aged 15-19 in 1990 to 70 per 1,000 in 2005. However in 2006, the rate increased for the first time in more than a decade, rising to

Thesis Statement: Condoms and contraceptives should be freely given to high school students because of its effectiveness against the risks they face caused by their sexual lifestyle of today.

One day in a class, a student named Michael was sitting in class and over heard one of his female classmates say that she was pregnant also hearing from her friend that she should've used a condom but the girl said "I would've but we didn’t have any." In 2015, 41% of high school students reported having sexual intercourse. For that reason all school should give out free condoms. Each year there are many unwanted babies born, or even worse aborted in this country. Many which are born to young people with little or no education about condom use and sex. With a little education about condom use and safe sex many of these unnecessary pregnancies could be prevented. Many parents do not educate their children about sex; therefore the burden usually falls on the schools. Condoms should definitely be readily available in the school system, along with a Sex Education program that includes how and why to use condoms properly. Some of us have the memory of the day your mom or dad finally had that embarrassing conversation of the “birds and the bees.”Trying your hardest to pay attention to the subject at hand; but the constant thoughts of the word sex and your parent being in the same room are surely distracting. You may have not known it at the time, but you were truly lucky if your parents manned though the embarrassment and actually discussed the matter with you. Unfortunately, many kids do not get this awkward, but valuable conversation about sex. So if sex is not discussed at home,

As the United States becomes increasingly progressive, the age in which adolescents perform sexual activity is becoming younger. Education in the United States encourages abstinence to students in middle school and high school, but the resistance against adolescent sexual intercourse is futile because adolescents are historically rebellious at nature. Abstinence courses do not trigger any emotional response in adolescents nor do they personalize the situation for students, making them essentially futile. Students are not going to care about the dangers of sexual intercourse unless it directly affects them as an individual. In order for the resistance against adolescent sexual intercourse to be effective, abstinence

Teenagers, your first thoughts are typically immoral, rebellious, wild, and promiscuous. The way in which older generations evaluate the younger generations is that they always appear to be getting worse. Is this truly the case or are teenagers being misjudged today? When it comes to sexual behaviors amongst teens of today it is certainly a false statement. Especially, when compared to the teens of the eighties, who are most likely their parents. Do these changes appear to be caused by improved values and morals, a better attachment with their parents, or a stronger tone placed on sexual education?

Coinciding with the onslaught of the new millennium, schools are beginning to realize that the parents are not doing their job when it comes to sexual education. The school system already has classes on sexual education; these classes are based mainly on human anatomy. Most schools do not teach their students about relationships, morals, respect, self-discipline, self-respect, and most importantly contraceptives. Everyday students engage in sexual activity, many of them with out condoms. This simple act jeopardizes these students' futures and possibly their lives. An increasing amount of school systems are starting to combine messages involving abstinence from sexual activity,