From: zhu@zariski.harvard.edu (Erin Zhu)
Newsgroups: misc.kids,alt.kids-talk,alt.parents-teens,misc.education
Subject: Re: Minors right of access to contraceptives?
Date: 15 Apr 92 19:08:15 GMT
Organization: Dept. of Math, Harvard Univ.

In article <1992Apr15.001140.27946@leland.Stanford.EDU>
shedevil@leland.Stanford.EDU (Paula Abdul Jabbar) writes: 

>I'd really like to hear more from the teens who read this board.  

Your wish, ma'am, is my command.  :-)

>I have
>recently come to the stunning realization that those for and against
>"education" and "access" are fighting a fairly useless battle..at least
>based on what I've seen in the Palo Alto school system [and let me tell you
>that the education here is quite possibly on the over-kill end, the kids
>have been having "health" ed, always including sex, stds and
>contraception, since 6th grade on a yearly basis, and it goes on ad
>infinitum through high school].

I just turned 18, have been sexually active for two years (and in college
for two years), am very much aware of the risks/responsibilities involved,
etc, etc, and even somewhat familiar with the Palo Alto school system.  As
for the use of the battle, I would have to say that from the perspective of
someone's who's gone through senior high school, the education part is
_certainly_ a good thing for those without the incentive/interest to find
out for themselves.  The popularity of myths concerning sex among teenagers
is incredibly high, not just because of the perceived invulnerability of
youth, but also because of the underground spread of misinformation, often
propogated by teenage boys too eager to persuade the girls to "put out".
The teenagers who manage to get the right information about contraception
and STDs mostly only do so because of the barrage of education at school.

>According to my daughter (8th grade), while we were talking about a
>classmate of her's who thought she (the classmate) was pregnant,
>"nobody" uses condoms or any other protection, even though they have all
>had the education, and all have ready access.  

Personal observation: I once spent a few afternoons in the company of
several gossipy 8th grade girls (attending Palo Alto public junior highs,
as a matter of fact), and the subject turned naturally to boys.  The
general attitude of these "well-informed" and "worldly" young ladies was
that sex (that is, actual intercourse) was a matter for giggles and feigned
bravado;  everyone knew (or heard rumors) of who actually "went all the
way", but at the time they were much more interested in how to find a
"steady" boyfriend, and how to practice kissing (on themselves) in the
privacy of their bedrooms.  They were shocked to find out that I was no
longer a virgin at 17, and their general level of knowledge of sexual
activies consisted only of kissing and a very clinical view of penetration.

(Aside: I, being a mature and responsible woman :-), spent some time trying
to explain what precautions they'd need if they should ever engage in more
than close mouthed kissing, but any mention of loaded words like "condom"
or "penis" immediately provoked uncontrollable giggling.  I told them that
they're certainly _not_ ready for sex, and they agreed without any ado.)

All that, of course, that changes drastically in senior high, particularly
among the juniors and seniors (that's when I started talking/listening to
such things).  Most of the girls have learned, by that time, that putting
oneself at risk for things like pregnancies isn't exactly a smart thing to
do, embarrassing as it might be to take care of condoms or other
contraceptives.

>Why?  Simple...it is near
>impossible to conceive <no pun intended> that IT [any "it"] can happen
>to me/us.  

Again, an eighth grader is far less mature than a junior or senior in high
school;  the younger children would need the education and warnings more,
the older teens would find freely accessible contraceptives much more
useful.  

>Teens today are no different then we were as teens in that
>regard, why do we think that just because the consequences can be more
>severe (i.e. AIDS) that it will be any more *real* to today's teens?

And thus it is of extreme importance that those teens who _are_ aware of
the consequences have easily accessible means of protection.  I have known
girls who, for purely financial reasons, engaged in unprotected intercourse
because she ran out of money for next month's birth control pill, something
that most debaters in this argument tend to overlook.

Having known several devoutly religious girls of my age or older, I can say
that if the teens take their parents' moral teachings to be important
enough, the wide availability of contraceptives certainly can't do anything
that pressure from eager boys can't.  Otherwise, the only effective measure
is to dispense accurate information--meaning, NOT of the sort that says
"Sex kills.  Touch anybody once and you DIE" and passes for "morality"--and
make protection as accessible as possible.  Who knows, it just _might_
teach some teens to be responsible for their sex life...  

  --Erin

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