Distribution of condoms to public high schools is the project of the Philippine government that can

Transcript of Thesis statement

Thesis statement
Teachers should give more information about sex and help teens practice using condoms,
birth control pills, etc.
1. sex being taught at schools is the best choice out there
a."Young people are going to learn about sex and our question has to be where do we want them
to learn? From the media? From their friends? Or do we want them to lean from an educated,
responsible adult?" - Tamara Kreinin
b. If parents look at teen pregnancy rates and sexually transmitted diseases they would reconsider
about having sex education in schools.
A research has been made on extreme sex guidance and HIV prevent programs that took affect
on young teens behaviors and have helped them achieve make better choices. Outcomes like
reducing sexual activity, the number of partners, and the increase of contraception
2. No sex education is the main reason why teenagers get pregnant.
a. Some people believe that exposing students to this kind of subject will increase teen pregnancy
rates.
That is false because if a student learns the moral values, sexuality, and correct use of
contraceptives it will encourage them to make smarter decisions.
"In my day we didn't have sex education, we just picked up what we could off the television." -
Victoria Wood
"We compared the sexual health risks of adolescents who recieved abstinence- only and
comprehensive sex education to those of adolescents who recieves no formal education.
Adolescents who received comprehensive education were significantly less likely to report teen
pregnancy than those who received no formal sex education, whereas there was no significant
effect of abstinence-only education. Abstinence-only education did not reduce the like hood of
engaging in vaginal intercourse, but comprehensive sex education was arginally associated with
a lower with a lower likehook of reporting having engaged in vaginal intercourse". (Pamela,
Lisa, William)
b. Pamela, Lisa, and William explained how abstinence-only education did not make a big
impact on teens. In their conclusion, they tell you how those who received sex education had a
lower risk of pregnancy than those who attend abstinence-only education or had no education
only.

Condoms should be provided in high schools.

Posted on September 7, 2012 by kaymart

My issues or research question: Does access to condoms in public schools lead to

irresponsible, dangerous, or bad behavior?
My audience: School boards/administrators
My purpose: I would like to express that by providing students with access to condoms
it promotes safe sex, but does not promote them to be sexually active.
Sources I plan to use: Condom availability in high school does not increase teenage
sexual activity but does increase condom use – This article expresses how making
condoms available in high schools does not increase sexual activity among the students.
This could help prove my thesis that making condoms available promotes safe sex, but
does not promote the actual act of having sex.
My preliminary thesis: High Schools should make condoms available in nurses
offices or guidance counselors offices because they would promote safe sex, decrease
teen pregnancies, and to prevent sexually transmitted diseases among the high school
population.
My opponents will most likely say this: This will promote students to start having
sex at younger ages. It will look bad on the school by having them available for students.

Thesis: If public schools implement the distribution of condoms. it would promote safe sex, teach responsibility, and
help to lower teen pregnancy; therefore, condoms should be distributed in public high schools.
Teen pregnancy and the rate at which young individuals are getting sexually transmitted diseases is increasing. If
public high schools implemented the distribution of condoms, it would promote safe sex, teach responsibility and
respect, and help to lower teen pregnancy rates; therefore, condoms should be distributed in public high schools.
This can help decrease the amount of teens dealing with these issues at a young age. Something more needs to be
done in order to prevent high school students from finding out the hard way the harsh consequences that unsafe sex
can bring about. Condom availability can encourage teens to make the safe decision.

The issue of sex education has long been a controversial one. The two basic types of sex education in the
Malawi are abstinence-only and comprehensive. While comprehensive education advocates abstinence
as the primary defence against unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and
HIV/AIDS, it also addresses the inevitability that some adolescents have or will engage in sexual
behaviour. Providing information about contraception and how to have “safer” sex is an integral part of
comprehensive sex education. Providing condoms in schools is a much debated aspect of some
comprehensive programs. In contrast, abstinence-only programs discuss abstinence, or refraining from
sex until marriage, as the only guarantee of protection from the growing epidemics of teenage
pregnancy, STDs, and HIV/AIDS. Some schools and parents are afraid to give student's condoms out of
fear that it will push them to engage in sex before they are ready. Condoms play a key role in preventing
HIV infection around the world. In sub-Saharan Africa, most countries have seen an increase in condom
use in recent years. Even when condoms are available, though, there are still a number of social, cultural
and practical factors that may prevent people from using them. In the context of stable partnerships
where pregnancy is desired, or where it may be difficult for one partner to suddenly suggest condom
use, this option may not be practical. Thengo Kavinya asked several people their opinion:

Continuing Controversy
In New York City and around the country, the controversy surrounding sex education and condom
availablity programs for teenagers in public high schools continues. Many parents worry that sex
educaton and condom availability encourage increased teenage sex, but studies across the United States
repeatedly demonstrate that teenagers are already having sex at younger and younger ages without
protection from pregnancy and disease.
According to the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development, by age 16, 17 percent of girls and 29
percent of boys have had sexual intercourse. As a result, 67 percent of all births to teenagers in 1989
occurred out of wedlock (compared with 30 percent in 1970), and from 1960 to 1988, gonorrhea
increased by four times among 10- to 14-year-olds.
In the November 1993 issue of Educational Leadership, Thomas Lickona declared that sex education and
condom availability programs have failed. He called for “chastity education” to promote self-control and
the “application of core ethical values” among teenagers. In the following issue, Robert Simonds,
president of Citizens for Excellence in Education, presented his organization's opposition to sex
education, condom availability, and other programs, describing them as “child abuse in the classroom.” I
want to address some of the arguments made by Lickona, Simonds, and others who oppose these
programs.
The Role of Schools
Some opponents of sex education and condom availability programs argue that these programs violate
the right of parents to educate their children about moral behavior and religious values. But as far as I
know, no sex education program in the United States removes a parent or religious leader's right to teach
teenagers the values that they consider to be important, including sexual abstinence. What parents and
religious leaders no longer have is the right to use the public schools to impose their personal religious
beliefs on their teenagers and on other people's teenage children.
Some parents, politicians, and educators have questioned whether making condoms available should be
the job of the school. They argue that school should be a place for learning math and reading and
science, not how to put on a condom. But public high schools are the best place to provide sex education
and make condoms available to teenagers—that's where the teenagers are, and that's where there are
adults who are trained and willing to counsel them. I am convinced that if teenagers openly received
condoms in school instead of in bathrooms or from friends who have had them in their pockets for
months, they would be more willing to use them.
Few educators would argue that schools should not be involved in teaching about values. Sex education
and condom availability programs are an ideal way to teach responsibility for self and others, for exploring
the meaning of human relationships, and for addressing “male machismo” and the lack of respect for
women in our society. A sex education curriculum also helps students to understand their science lessons
on human sexuality, reproduction, and the spread of disease; and to understand their social studies
lessons on social relationships, the development of cultural norms, and the role of responsible citizens.
A Question of Character
Thomas Lickona seems particularly concerned with the development of character and with finding ways
for teachers and schools to help young people examine their values and make responsible choices in
their lives. With that in mind, I would like to share the words of two of my students who have shown that
they can grapple with complex moral and political issues.
Until 1991, I was a high school social studies teacher in a working-class, minority New York City
neighborhood and the faculty advisor to the school's Forum Club. The club brought speakers to the
school to discuss controversial issues, and it organized students to be active participants in our
democratic society.
Dorcas Matos represented the Forum Club at a New York City Hall rally against “parental consent laws.”
She told the audience:
It was not easy for me to decide to be pro-choice. I come from a religious Hispanic family. My father is the
pastor of my church. I attend church every Friday night and every Sunday morning. My father is not
happy with my positions on these issues because he opposes the idea of abortion. But regardless of his
personal feelings, my father has supported my right to choose my own beliefs.

I believe that if I were pregnant, I would be able get my parents' support whatever my choice. But just
because I am able to talk to my parents doesn't mean that I think that informing someone's parents
should be the law....

Often teenagers have bad relationships with their parents, and they are unable to talk with them about
anything. A law that required parental consent before an abortion would not create a better relationship. It
would only lead to explosions.

Novia Condell represented the Forum Club at a New York City Board of Education public hearing on
condom availability in high schools. Novia told the board:
It is certainly not a secret that many high school students are sexually active today. While some are very
conscious and practice “safe sex,” many do not. Many teenagers ... deny that they can be victims of
sexually transmitted diseases. They think that they are invulnerable. Condom availability in the schools,
when combined with a comprehensive program of sex education, would help teenagers become more
sexually responsible. This would lead to fewer teenage pregnancies and fewer sexually transmitted
disease. My advice is “Save a Life—Use a Condom!”

These young women represent the kind of thoughtful, moral high school students that Thomas Lickona
and other advocates of “character education” hope to encourage. Their commitment and their knowledge
empower them. They have a sense of their potential and worth as human beings; a sense of
responsibility toward themselves, their peers, and their families; and an awareness of how to protect
themselves from sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies if they decide to be sexually
active.
A Dual Responsibility
As a parent and as an educator, I agree with encouraging sexual abstinence and moral character among
teenagers. But at the same time that we encourage sexual abstinence, we must also teach about sexual
responsibility. And sexual responsibility today often means using a condom as a form of birth control and
to prevent pregnancy and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS.
Sex education teachers, guidance counselors, and trained peer educators should be available for
counseling and to distribute condoms. Teenagers who are sexually active need to be able to get them
without feeling awkward. Remember, pregnancy and disease, not abstinence, are the consequences of
such embarrassment.
References
Lickona, T. (November 1993). “The Return of Character Education.” Educational Leadership 51, 3: 6–11.
Lickona, T. (November 1993). “Where Sex Education Went Wrong.” Educational Leadership 51, 3: 84–89
Simonds, R. L. (December 1993/January 1994). “A Plea for the Children.” Educational Leadership 51, 4:
12–15.

Sex education in schools has always stirred debate. But sparks really start flying when
discussing whether to provide free condoms in high schools. Proponents claim that making
contraception readily available is a matter of safety while opponents say that morality is at
risk in doing so.

Here are three reasons why it’s important to make condoms accessible to students who need
them and three reasons why it’s a mistake.

Why Free Condoms Should be Distributed in High Schools

Condoms help reduce the spread of STDs

Among U.S. high school students surveyed by the CDC in 2015, 41% were
sexually active. Of these, 43% didn’t use a condom during their last sexual
encounter. The same study also showed that half of the nearly 20 million new
STDs reported in the United States each year are among 15- to 24-year-olds, and
that people aged 13-24 accounted for an estimated 22% of all new HIV
diagnoses in 2015.

These numbers emphasize the importance of condom distribution in high schools

for sexually active teenagers. If consistently used correctly, condoms have been
proven to decrease the probability of STD transmission and are 98-99% effective
in preventing HIV transmission. Whether we like it or not, U.S. high school
students are already having sex. As long as this is the case, schools need to help
them stay safe.

Condoms help prevent teenage pregnancy

While abstinence is encouraged among high school students, the numbers above
strongly suggest that expecting it is not realistic. The American Academy of
Pediatrics (AAP) Committee on Adolescence knows this, and
therefore advocates access to condoms in schools as part of comprehensive sex
education programs to mitigate cases of unwanted pregnancies (as well as AIDS
and STDS).

Over the last 20 years, teen birth rates across the United States have been
continuously declining. Many factors have been linked to this decline, but
especially prominent is the increases in contraception use. As teens spend the
majority of their time at school, it is the most natural and convenient place for sex
education, including condom distribution.

Condoms make teens more sexually responsible

As teenagers are beginning to discover their sexual identities, providing condoms

in high schools helps them establish the concept of safe sex as the norm and
gives them the mandate to be responsible. Introducing the idea of condom use
into their conscious at such a formative age will help teens view contraception as
second nature as opposed to something that either sex will have to continually
negotiate with future partners.

Why Free Condoms Shouldn’t be Distributed in High Schools

It interferes with family and religious beliefs

By providing condoms, high schools are taking away the due right of parents to
decide whether their own teenage children should have access to contraception.
To begin with, many parents don’t think that their adolescent children are
emotionally or physically ready yet for sex. So, having schools introduce condom
use on their teenagers pressures both the parents and teens into having
conversations about sex that may feel premature. It also may interfere with a
family’s values or religious beliefs. For instance, the Catholic Church and other
conservative faiths oppose various forms of contraception. Parents who support
the cause can provide condoms to their teenagers without having schools infringe
on other families’ timelines of talking about sex and/or religious freedoms.

They’re not 100% effective, which gives a false sense of security

Condom distribution in high schools gives students a false sense of security when
having sex. This is because most teenagers lack experience with condom
implementation and use, causing the condoms to be extremely ineffective. When
used perfectly every single time during sex, condoms are 98% effective at
preventing pregnancy. But people, especially teenagers, aren’t perfect, so,
typically, condoms may only about 85% effective. Not to mention the fact that
vulnerable teenage girls still have less control over condom use.

Sends mixed messages and legitimizes sexual activity

In high schools that teach students about both abstinence and contraception use,
these programs are sending mixed messages to students. If a school wants its
students not to have sex, it shouldn’t provide them with condoms to use during
intercourse. Furthermore, making condoms available in schools might send the
erroneous message to students that their teachers and parents are expecting
them to engage in sexual activity.

Bottom Line:

Is it the providence and responsibility of a school or of the parents to educate their

kids about safe sex, when they feel the time is right? Or, in the words of
TV’s Donna martin “It’s like if you have a swimming pool in your backyard, you
can tell your children not to go in it, you can even build a fence around it, but if
you know that they’re going to find a way in to that water, don’t you think you
ought to teach those kids how to swim?”