From: sjk@strl.labs.tek.com (Steven King)
Newsgroups: misc.kids,misc.education
Subject: Re: Minors right of access to contraceptives?
Date: 15 Apr 92 00:38:33 GMT
Reply-To: sjk@crl.labs.tek.com (Steven King)
Followup-To: misc.kids,misc.education
Organization: Software Technology Research Lab, Tektronix, Inc.

In article <2531@keele.keele.ac.uk>, csz55@seq1.keele.ac.uk (Christopher Wrigley) writes:

|> I have a question which I believe is worthy of debate. Again it concerns
|> both parents and their children in an age where teenage pregnancy is no
|> longer our primary worry.
|> 
|> The question is: Should minors have the same right of access to
|> contraceptives as adults and should parents be notified if
|> contraceptives are provided to their minor children?

They don't hand out free condoms at work.  Why free condoms at school?

Shouldn't we simply allow kids to buy condoms at the store, like
adults?  I know, I know... it's embarrasing to buy them so they might
be too embarrassed and thus risk an AIDS infection.  Hey, it can be
embarrassing as an adult, but we don't argue that adults should receive
free condoms from work/church/civic organizations to prevent AIDS.  Why?

|> The program told of how schools were now giving out free condoms to
|> children at school if they wanted them with the reassurance that their
|> parents would not be informed. They also did not have to give any 
|> reasons or explanations to the teachers for their use. Some parents
|> were outraged at the board of educations decision to allow this at
|> school and are presently fighting a court battle for the withdrawl of
|> this implementation.

It's a real catch-22.  Children under a certain age cannot buy cigarettes.
You could equally well argue that "they're going to smoke them anyway"
and just open up the laws.  They can't buy girly magazines under a certain
age, and we could argue that "they're going to get ahold of them anyway,
so why not just hand them out?"  (How many kids did you know who had
access to these items when you were young?  Now let's be honest!)

|>        i)  The Catholic religion does not allow sex before marriage
|>   and believe their children should not be exposed to this.

Religion is not allowed to impose its' views in public schools, so why
should the public schools be allowed to impose a view that opposses
someone's religious viewpoint?

|>       iv)  Parents felt that the school was teaching the _opposite
|>   ideals to children in contrast to the ideals encouraged in the home.

I find it odd that abstinence is considered a "religious" viewpoint, and
therefore not discussed in many schools.  There are many studies correlate
the teaching of abstinence as birth control with a decline in the teen
pregnancy rate -- whereas we've seen a steady increase in the teen pregnancy
rate during the years that sex ed. courses taught reliance upon birth
control devices.

|> F O R
|>        i)  Primary reason: Will encourage _safer sex and has already
|>   shown a clear reduction of people contracting the virus in those areas
|>   where the new system is in operation.

If we all think back to our teen years... it's usually too late to think
about obtaining a free condom (or whatever) when you're about to have
intercourse.  Let's get real.  The kid might have a condom, but it's
hidden away in a drawer at home, their locker, or in a secret place.
Now, here we are about to have intercourse after lots of foreplay, the 
hormones are raging, and the last thing the kid is going to say is
"Let's drive to my house, I'll dart in and get the condom, and we'll
come back here and start over again."  To use the current teen expression:
NOT.

How many of us were taught the dangers of VD (STD) in school, had
access to condoms, but didn't use them?  Let's be honest now.  I had
access to condoms, thought that my eyes and teeth would fall out if I
caught VD, didn't want to get anyone pregnant, and still skipped the
condom whenever an opportunity presented itself.  Teens tend to 
rationalize away the dangers (e.g. it won't happen to me, Tommy/Jane is
such a good person - they couldn't have AIDS, etc.), and I was certainly
no exception in my youth.  These are fifteen though eighteen year olds 
we're talking about here.

|> What do parents and kids believe is right?
 
I had plenty of "relationships" during high school and college.  There
are none that I can think of that didn't end with one side or the other
being angry or hurt when it ended.  This included both long-term, short-
term, one-nighters and people who used to be friends.  Most people 
can't handle the intimacy with the subsequent end of the relationship.
I could, being the hip and cool (read unfeeling and macho) guy that I was, 
but I lost many potential friends in the process.  My advice to our kids
will be to wait, since the short-term pleasure is not worth the long-term
friendships that are lost. 

I've had the opportunity to talk to alot of teens in recent years.  Many
of them state that the decision to abstain from sex has taken alot of
pressure off during their relationships - both from a disease and an 
emotional standpoint.  One teen girl (very attractive and the head
cheerleader at her high-school) finds this decision very empowering,
giving her total control over her body.

The truth is that condoms are not 100% effective, and we are fooling
ourselves if we think that teenagers are going to be rational enough
to use them 100% of the time.

Abstinence is 100% effective against AIDS, STD, pregnancy and the
potential for emotional mixups. 

Just my perspective...

Steven

"Sometimes if you have a cappuccino and then try again it will work OK."
						- Dr. Brian Reid
"Sometimes one cappucino isn't enough."         - Marcus J. Ranum