Teens And Sex Essay, Research Paper

Teens and Sex

Jay Gradner

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.