Teens And Sex Essay, Research Paper

An increasing problem on high school campuses and one of the main

concerns of parents, school officials, and the government is teenage sex. It

is on the rise, and they are worried that it may get out of control. Teenage

sex can be a problem because of the pregnancies and many diseases it can

cause. One solution that has been proposed is to distribute condoms in

public high schools. This is a topic that is controversial and has been

hotly debated for years. There are people who think it would be a good idea

and those who think it may worsen the problem rather than solve it.

The reason that people want to distribute condoms in high school is to

try to prevent teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and (I

separate 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 condoms

were given out or made available at high schools, then the students would be

more inclined to use them. They would have them or be able to get them if

they need to use them. This would cut down on unprotected sexual intercourse

and prevent the pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, and H.I.V.

infection. If a student was at a party and decided, on the spur of the

moment, to engage in sexual intercourse, then it is more likely that they

have a condom if schools distributed them. This sounds good in theory, but

will it really work? If schools distribute condoms, shouldn’t they also

teach the students how to use them and teach them a little about sex (sex

education in schools, another controversial topic)?

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 United

Nations reports that women, especially sexually active teenage girls, have a

higher rate of H.I.V. infection than men in that age group. It cited the

slow development of mucous membranes as the reason for the lower protection

against infection and increased risk of getting H.I.V. It mentions that in

Rwanda, 25% of pregnant women are infected, and 17% of those who have teenage

sex 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., then

that would translate to hundreds of thousands of teenagers. This shows that

H.I.V. could be a bigger problem than it already is if nothing is done about

it, and some people think that distributing condoms would help keep the

problem from getting worse.

Condom distribution might work, but what if the students do not use

them? Also, distributing condoms might start a student to become sexually

active that otherwise would not be. Wouldn’t condom distribution then

increase teenage sex thus increasing the chance of getting pregnant and

contracting H.I.V.? Once this student becomes sexually active he or she

might not use a condom every time they have sex. Even if they do, condoms

are not 100% effective. I repeat-CONDOMS ARE NOT 100% EFFECTIVE. They

are only 92-96% effective against pregnancy and not at all effective for

blocking H.I.V. transmission. Wouldn’t a better option then be to control

teenage sex?

Making love is not something to play around with. When people decide to

do it, they make a life and death decision. If they contract an STD they

risk their life for death. And if a woman gets pregnant, the woman is not

guaranteed to live through it (although chances are that she will), and the

child is not guaranteed to live for many reasons including abortion.

Shouldn’t steps be taken to educate teenagers about what they are

getting into before schools start handing out condoms? This would be a

better 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 down

because, like I said, condoms are not 100% effective. If they know more

about the risks, then they can make an educated decision about sex, and then

it will be very likely that they will use a condom if they decide to have

sex. This is one alternative and might be a better policy to implement than

condom distribution.

I think that starting in junior high school, students should learn about

pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and H.I.V. There would be a course

or a section of a course dedicated to health where students learn about these

subjects. Then in high school, students should do a more in-depth study of

the consequences of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. This could

be done as a part of a biology course or as a research project in an English

class. Finally, students should learn about H.I.V. and AIDS, how it affects

the lives of those who have it, and what can be done about it. Again, this

could be a separate course that is required or a part of another required

course. Then, pamphlets about all these things should be made available at

the health (or nurse’s) office and suggested for the students to read before

they receive condoms. If this is done, then I believe that teenage sex

should be less of a problem than it is now.