I'm looking for ideas for a paper. Just wanted to know the general opinion of the board.

Yes, I think condoms should be available in schools.

I also think that teenagers (well, everyone actually) should be educated that condoms DO NOT protect against all STDs, namely herpes and HPV (genital warts). I think this is often overlooked in sex education. Course it's been a good ten years since I was in a sex education class.

I beleive we argued this a month ago. Look through this forum.

Well what about schools providing an education not birth control?

I think that schools can and definitely should do both. They should provide condoms, but they should also teach students how to use them as well as that they're not infallible and they don't protect against everything.

My school provided both and found i was just unnecessary pressure, i meant that people ended up thinking that sex was expected of them at a young age and so tried to find as much of it as they could. Sadly no one came my way...

Well, my school has never provided condoms, and people here still think sex is expected of us at a young age. I don't think it makes all that much of a difference; but at least by giving out condoms they're encouraging kids to be safe.

This still doesnt help me wityh my lack of sex... (I think I'm becoming obsessed)

i think schools in this day and age need to have a more conscientious approach to supplying birth control and better education for pupils...cause we dont get it anywhere else (except at home and thats just hell)

my school doesnt supply condoms (as far as i know ) but it doesnt seem to make much of a difference to the pupils here in terms of feeling pressured to have sex, theyre all at it anyways . i'm also not keen on the approach the guidance staff seem to have towrds sex education which is pretty much "i have to show you this video, ignore it if you want". so i doubt anyone here has had any decent sex education since p7...maybe 1st year when you still care about teachers and do as they say...

when i was ready to have sex (after a faintly disasterous first time that resulted in the morning-after pill - but it worked out! yay! oooh...pretty robert *kisses*) i went on the pill myself, its much easier than flaffing about with adults...damn them all...try to teach me moral lesons will you nurse ballantyne? i think not tiny mortal! *rage*

ahem...yes...im done now...

I think school should stress abstainence if they really want to prevent sexual activity. They should also provide information should students wish to become sexually active, though it doesn't take a genius to have safe sex. There are clinics in my parents' town and the city in which I go to school that give ot free condoms. Having condom machines in the bathrooms would be quite helpful (not to mention convenient and an embarassment prevention). However, if schools were privatized (as I feel they should) maybe we wouldn't be having this problem.

It just sucks that society pressures people to have sex so early... but, until the point that society changes and we stop the crass comercialization of sex and promote a healthy environment in which teens can enter into their sexuality at a healthy pace (like *that's* ever going to happen!)... we should at least provide them with protection, to stop the spread of STDs and hopefully prevent teen pregnancy. I just wish that there wasn't so much damn pressure on people, but hey, society sucks.

I think schools should definately provide sex education. Dunno about the condoms thing. You'd have them at convenience without embarassment, but there is that whole "Would it encourage sex?" issue. I don't think they should stress abstinance at all. Many teens don't like doing what people say; they're at a rebelious age. I find having people say "just say no" is very annoying. "Just say no" prevents pregnency like "have a nice day" cures chronic depression." I think we just need the facts, including risks such as childbirth and STDs...a person coming to talk with a child/STD might help. Maybe that would help teens make decisions they won't regret. Having sex is up to them. I don't think they're wrong for doing it as long as they're ready emotionally/physically. Maybe giving the risks would scare them into being abstinent, but definately don't preach it. Just my opinion.

I entered sex at "a healthy pace." I didn't lose it 'til I was eighteen and I aforded myself the opportuniy to lose it to my best friend (who at the time was my fiance, but that's another story ). I wasn't pressured into it nor was I in any hurry. For me, it was the right time and I'm happy it worked out the way it did.

And never did I say anything about "preaching" abstainence. I figure by educating kids on the benefits it'll be enlightening (and scaring them a little wouldn't hurt ).

Well, no, you didn't say that exactly. You said they [sex education teachers] should "stress" abstinence. If you mean telling them to abstain from sex, then I don't agree. I don't think it prevents sex at all. And education on benefits of abstaining would be good, but just by telling us the risks...along with some statistics perhaps... Not by saying not to have sex. I don't know which way you meant it.


...oh, great av btw Tiger.

By "stress" I mean to focus their sex ed cirriculum, to teach the benefits of waiting e.g. not getting an STD. And NEVER think that I believe that teachers should ignore safe sex education. I knowotall of the students re going to listen so it would be a good idea to teach them how to protect themselves if and when they have sex.

Careful, that ius a very slippery slope you are trying to create.

Condoms have never given out at my school, but you can get them easily at planned parenthood(or go buy them, it's easy enough) . And it is in the curiculum for us to learn Sex Ed in Grade 9, so we know (or will know) all the ghastly details.

Schools shouldn't teach abstinence. Teachers telling us to abstain wont work, they should focus on how to do it safely. Kids want information, not lectures.

lol, no kidding.

Yeah, Righteous, I entered sexuality at a healthy pace as well... it's just there is a whole lot of crap out there saying "you're not cool if you don't have sex." I know I felt it, and I was the geekiest loser in the school. Although perhaps that's why I felt it, dunno.

Ocean!, I have to disagree. Schools should teach abstinence, but only as an option. To say "abstinence is the only way" just makes kids want to rebel (see above). It should be taught that it's just as acceptable to abstain (and preferable, in many cases), as it is to practice sex. It is the only 100% safe sex, after all. But that doesn't mean that safer sex practices shouldn't be taught... they definately [B}should[/B] be.

It seems like I must have had a very liberal sex education experience... started at Grade 4, with "where did I come from" type stuff, progressed into about 4 years of safe sex, etc., culminated in Grade 10 with it beign all rehashed in Sceince 10 class.

Hm.

Well, I've always said my hometown was secretly communist.

secretly communist....hehe
i just think that if people were more informed a lot of young people's problems wouldn't happen (relating to sex, they'll still end up in a puddle of their own vomit after trying vodka and not realising that a whole bottle is a little too much)
i lost my virginity at the age of 15, and i guess that sounds really bad, but it wasn't at all a sudden thing and i still believe 100% that it was alright to do and i never have regretted it. but i think that itself depends on circumstances, feelings, who it was with, your views and your mentality. if you're clingy and it was a one night stand it'd muck up your head etc.
but that's just what i think. i'm out of practice really

Education in general, from before conception to after birth, would be the best. It's a good idea to teach kids not only the "to screw or not to screw," but also what pregnancy and birth entails. I learned about that stuff from a young age and that, combined with my values and upbringing, let me to have sex when I did. I really don't see anything wrong with having sex if it's consentual and if both partners are mature and know what they're getting into. My brother Rick and his girlfriend are sexually active and I'm cool with it since they're in a deep, loving relationship and they're both mature and responsible (and rate their going, they'll get married at 18 and move to New Zealand [long story]). I was (and still am) sketchy about some of my brother Tim's sexual exploits, but that's another story...

Maybe. I'm not so sure, but I guess in high school and above, it's only necessary. In middle school, if you offer them, it might be like you're encouraging them...

I still say education is the key. We had sex ed in fifth grade and it continued through middle school, the how-to of it at least. The ethics of sex was only taught in eighth grade and my high school health class. Condoms, I think, should be available in the bathrooms for a quarter and not be handed out. Education is what's most important. You can't expect kids to just know these things. All of it should be taught: Biology, ethics, abstainence, safe sex, STDs, the whole nine yards. That way, when someone decides to have sex, it will be an informed descision instead of, "Hey, let's f*ck." (which isn't bad if you're already in a relationship with that person, but it can be detrimental when it comes to jumping into a sexual relationship)

I agree with Righteous. I think Sex-Ed should be taugh in all grades, starting in Kindrgarden and building up through the rest. So that way it's not such a big thing when they start to teach about it, and kids would be more brought up around it.

I agree. By the time we really learn sex ed in school, most've us are already in sexual relationships or have been in them.

personally, i think sex is what life is about.. so they might as well teach it and not discourage it. It's like saying.. ''i know breathing is natural, but we don't let you do it here and we don't want to talk about it incase you are embaressed''. well actually, it's not realy like that, but it COULD be..
*ramble ramble mutter mutter*

I say schools should do more in depth sex-ed, trying not to be too encouraging about it. Problem with free condoms is that people would just take handfuls and use them as balloons or put pins through them or something. Condom machines in school toilets seems like a good idea, as long as theyre cheaper than in pubs. Problem is, in my school, they'd get pulled off the wall .


Sort of relevant, and quite funny... have a looksee at this

It depends on the kind of high school you go to. It may have happened at my high school, but at other high school condom machines would be helpful. This gay and lesbian organization was giving them out on club day at my college. I grabbed a handful and stowed them under my futon at my sister's place, so in that case, the condoms were useful.

I'm all for the education and handing out of free condoms, but really, how many schools do that? I don't know whether or not my school does, but I *really* doubt they do since I go to an all-girls school and we generally don't need them or anything... ; But, erm, yeah... I don't know how many of you are still in high school, but at least at my school they're pretty open about sex ed. and all... We had it like, 3 times. e_e; *reads over post* I'm not really sure if that was at all helpful or purposeful, but I hope so.

I think that schools should have a LOT more sex ed. Like, a whole year-long class devoted to it...not just a little section in Health. There's certainly enough information to last that long.

I also agree that abstinence should be taught...but only as one option of preventing STDs. Because it is an option. It shouldn't be favored over any other option by the school, but the idea should be put out there anyway. It doesn't mean they'll reject it automatically (although if the school tried to say abstinence was the way the kids should go, it would be...).

I figure teenagers are going to have sex no matter what adults do. Might as well give them all the information and supplies they need to protect themselves.

Holy crap. Candice and I are actually in agreement on something. Miracles really do happen. I'm serious. I agree with her on every point. That's kind of scary.

At my school, all they teach is abstinence. It doesn't help, and many people end up oblivious about the dangers. No one will stop kids from having sex.

Luckily, my school is right across the street from the local health department, where you can get condoms for free. I live in the Central Valley of California, and we dominate the top 5 counties in the USA for teen pregnancy (Tulare, Kern, Kings (where I live), Fresno, and I think LA), so we have an excellent sexual health department--- free condoms, free STD testing, free pregnancy tests, free birth control pills. The only problem is there's no abortion providers in the county.

They also come in to our freshman year class during sex ed and give us a talk about all the different kinds of birth control that's available. They passed around condoms, diaphragms, spermicide, etc.etc.

However, people are very immature at this age: someone went and got a bag of condoms, unrolled them, and put them on all the coat/purse hooks in the bathrooms. It was totally charming.

I don't know if condoms should be passed out, per se. People would waste them. Perhaps if they were just made available, and you'd go get some when/if you needed them.

Teenagers are going to have sex, they need to know how to protect themselves.

I feel like I live in a very liberated society or something. Wow. Didn't realize my home town was that left wing. (See above for my communist comment). But really, I just assumed that by now most schools taught sex ed almost to the point of annoyance, from grade 4 onward.

School is probably the main reason people meet, go out, and are pressured into having sex. It is where we are educated on safe sex. They should most definitely give out condoms. Because kids are going to have sex no matter if they have them or not. So let's hope that they have them!

I do find it amazing as well how little many kids know about safe sex, they taught us quite a bit about it. Although many just don't listen. Many schools really don't put enough emphasis on it at all.

I learned about safe sex mostly on my own for my own good. You could say I prepared for sex long before I became sexually active. The problem is too many teenagers don't have that kind of drive. They just want to get it done as quickly as possible. The problem is that they end up with STDs or kinds (like my brother Tim's ex Dawn whose kid, in fact, isn't Tim's like they thought ).