Health officials and other brave leaders withinMilwaukee Public Schools (MPS) have done a public service by proposing freecondoms be made available to high-school students to prevent the spread ofsexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies.
You can bet that for their political courage MPSofficials will be widely condemned by right-wing radio and some parents whofoolishly believe that, when it comes to teenage sexuality, ignorance is thebest policy.
The statistics tell a different story. Twoconfidential surveys of Milwaukeehigh-school and middle-school students in 2003 and 2009 show sexual activityamong students is increasing andfar more shockingthe use of condoms isdeclining.
From 2003 to 2009, the reported number ofhigh-school students having had sexual intercourse increased from just lessthan 60% to 63.1%. At the same time, the number of sexually active students whosaid they used condoms dropped from 70.5% to 66.2%.
Those figures say more about us than it does aboutour children: We are failing to educate our children about the seriouslife-altering and even life-threatening consequences of having unsafe sex.
As we become more concerned about teenagepregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, how could we possibly be doing apoorer job of educating our children about how to protect themselves?
The answer is simple: We do it on purpose. Wehesitate to provide meaningful sex education in our schools for fear ofoffending extremists who want nothing but abstinence education.
When tumultuous hormones have young people’sinterest in sex at a fever pitch, our primary advice to them is: Don’t even think about it! Fat chance ofthat.
Even worse, abstinence-education zealots are sostrongly opposed to informing young people about birth control and protectionfrom disease they lie and grossly exaggerate to discourage sexually activeteenagers from having safe sex.
Abstinence education spends so much time talkingabout the failure of condoms, you would think those things were bursting withthe staccato regularity of the fireworks grand finale on the Fourth of July.
In truth, condom failure is extremely rare. Use ofcondoms remains by far the most effective method of birth control and diseaseprevention. Scaring young people away from using condoms by lying to them abouttheir effectiveness is irresponsible. In the age of AIDS, it can even be fatal.
Education Beats Ignorance
The truth is abstinence fails far more often thancondoms do. Sex has a way of breaking out spontaneously between two people inspite of advance pledges and without any consultation at all with parents orschool authorities.
Actually, research shows non-education on sex canhave far more serious consequences for young people than providing truthfulinformation and condoms.
Comparing young people who received comprehensivesex education including information about protection from disease and unwantedpregnancies to those who received “abstinence only” or “abstinence first”education showed little difference in the likelihood of students having sex.
There was a dramatic difference, however, inpracticing safe sex. Those whose education emphasized abstinence were far lesslikely to use any kind of protection when they began having sex.
The strictest, most controlling societies on Earthhave never succeeded in preventing young people from discovering sex or, atsome point, from enthusiastically participating.
The approach proposed by MPS health officials is theresponsible one. When surveys show that nearly two-thirds of high-schoolstudents and a quarter of middle-school students have had sex, promoting ignoranceis no longer an option.
The MPS proposal does not freely distributecontraceptives, no questions asked, although that wouldn’t be a bad idea if itreversed the declining use of condoms by sexually active students. A studentwould have to go to a school nurse to ask for a condom. That would give ahealth professional an opportunity to have an extended conversation with eachstudent about safe sexual practices and other concerns in their lives.
In a perfect world, all children would feelcomfortable going to their own parents for such advice and for access toprotection from disease and unwanted pregnancies. Unfortunately, many of usfail our children in exactly those times when they need us most emotionally.Even kids with the best family relationships are afraid we will be disappointedin them.
Others are just plain afraid, with good reason. Fortoo many, admitting sexual activity to a parent can bring condemnation,banishment from their home or even physical violence.
In today’s world, schools often provide a safe havenfor children from the dangers of the streets or in their own homes.
There is nothing outrageous about schools educatingand providing protection for students as they prepare for one of the mostimportant experiences in their lives.
