Binders, pens and notebooks are staples on most excessive schoolers’ back-to-school procuring lists, however there’s one other merchandise mother and father ought to severely contemplate: condoms.
Condoms could appear to be a surprising addition to the guidelines, however they shouldn’t be. In line with the most recent CDC information, greater than half of younger folks aged 15–24 accounted for almost 20 million new instances of sexually transmitted illnesses reported in 2020.
So it’s price asking: As thousands and thousands of highschool children return to highschool this fall, what is going to their entry to safer intercourse provides and contraception seem like?
Distributing condoms is a part of my job, and I area common condom requests from people who find themselves anxious about with the ability to get contraception once they want it. Mother and father typically attain out to me to request condoms for his or her teenage children and their children’ associates. They fear that their youngsters received’t have entry to free contraception elsewhere and that the price and social awkwardness of buying condoms could dissuade the youngsters from doing so. Mother and father have motive to be involved — the CDC present in 2021 that 48 p.c of U.S. highschool college students surveyed had not used a condom the final time they’d intercourse.
Many mother and father who request condoms report wanting to make sure that their children have the knowledge and sources they want to decide on to have safer intercourse. In 2018, the CDC discovered that 1 in 5 folks in the USA had an STI. In 2020 younger folks aged 15-24 accounted for 53 p.c of recent STIs in the USA. Available and inexpensive contraception, particularly condoms, is a necessary measure to forestall undesirable pregnancies and STIs.
Challenges and Efforts in Implementing Condom Availability Applications
Condom availability packages (CAPs) have been inspired by the CDC for the reason that Nineties to supply free condoms in excessive faculties. However these packages depend on particular person faculties and faculty districts beginning and working their very own packages, leading to uneven implementation.
In lots of states, faculties don’t present intercourse training to college students. In line with the Nationwide Heart for Well being Statistics, solely about half of teenagers aged 15-19 reported that they’d acquired intercourse training that meets the minimal customary. That is regarding provided that 96 p.c of fogeys imagine it’s vital to show intercourse training in highschool, and 84 p.c need it taught in center college.
And even faculties that need to present condoms could not have the funding to take action. Two-thirds of Ok-12 college well being employees say that their faculties or districts don’t present college students with any type of contraception, together with condoms. This leaves many mother and father attempting to fill within the gaps.
A number of legislative efforts to supply condoms in faculties are within the works. Final yr a invoice to make condoms freely accessible to all public highschool college students in California handed the state legislature, solely to be vetoed by the governor over price range considerations. Since present contraceptive packages fluctuate from district to district, efforts like this goal to make condom entry extra equitable. At a nationwide stage, the affect of such a program can be far larger.
Getting ready Teenagers for a Accountable Future
Entry to contraception provides younger folks reproductive autonomy — the power to determine when, how, and in the event that they need to have youngsters. Together with household planning, it could enhance school commencement charges by as much as 12 p.c. Barrier strategies like inside or exterior condoms additionally assist younger folks forestall STIs and decrease the dangers related to sexual exercise. By stopping unplanned pregnancies, condoms additionally help a wholesome planet in a world the place a rising inhabitants means larger demand for water, land, bushes and fossil fuels.
If you happen to’re a father or mother of a excessive schooler, you’re in all probability shopping for highlighters, calculators and different provides for his or her upcoming semester. But when we set our college students up for achievement in a single space, why not put together them for achievement throughout the board? Shopping for condoms for teenagers is a wholesome first step.
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