Benefits of Condom Distribution in High schools

With an extremely high percentage of sexually active teens, the United States holds the title of the highest rate of sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy, and abortion among teens in North America and Europe. Concerned parents, educators, and healthcare workers cannot decide what to do about this alarming problem, caused by unprotected sexual intercourse. Condom distribution in high schools represents an effective way to protect sexually active teenagers from unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Availability of condoms in high schools does not increase rates of teenage sexual activity, but rather increases condom use among already sexually active teenagers.

Among American teenagers, condom unavailability ranks as the number one obstacle for safe sex (“Briefing” 5). A survey conducted by the Center for Population Options Teen Council examined the accessibility of contraception in drugstores and convenience stores in Washington, D.C. and found that: “One-third of the stores kept condoms behind the counter, forcing teens to ask for them. Only thirteen percent of the stores had signs that clearly marked where contraceptives were shelved. Adolescent g

irls asking for assistance encountered resistance or condemnation from store clerks forty percent of the time” (Francoeur 97). For teens, these barriers are significant obstacles to contraceptive access. Condom availability programs within schools eases access and communicates the important message that society prefers protection to disease, teenage pregnancy, and death (“Briefing” 5).

Sexually active students in New York reported a significantly higher rate of condom use in their last sexual encounter than did their counterparts in Chicago. High-risk students in New York City, those who reported having three or more sexual partners in the past six months, were almost twice as likely as those in Chicago to have used a condom at last intercourse. Nevertheless, researchers conclude, that high school condom distribution programs can decrease teenagers risk of contracting HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (Raab 49).

Despite fears to the contrary, research clearly demonstrates that students in schools, which make condoms available, are no more likely to be sexually experienced than students in schools without this service. In fact, at some schools that distribute condoms, the average age of first intercourse was older than at schools without contraception availability (Francoeur 98-99

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