Condoms in High School
Jennifer Lowe Speech 101 T & Th 8-9:15
I. Introduction
A. Attention
Did you know that AIDS is the sixth leading cause of death among those from ages 15 to 24 years old; and each year approximately 1 million teenage girls in the United States will become pregnant?
B. Background
A heated topic of debate among many parents and public high schools is sex. Further, what message would distributing condoms at high school say about sex? A majority of parents would agree that it sends a negative message out to impressionable teenagers, that being sexually active is socially acceptable and even expected. In Seventeen Magazine the article “Sexual Reality” by Anne Fearon it states that most school officials, and even doctors agree, that it does not send that message at all. It promotes safe sex. Two-thirds of all STD’s occur in people 25-years-old and younger. Some people say this startling statistic is caused by teaching any objectives in health classes that are not abstinence. They believe that making condoms available upon request and teaching different forms of contraception promote sexual promiscuity. I agree with Dr. Victor Strasburger, of the New Mexico School of Medicine, who claims “Until Americans get over their hysteria about giving teenagers access to birth control, we will continue to have the highest teen pregnancy rates in the western world. If we want to attack this problem, we must not be afraid to fight it. Each year, an estimated 3 million adolescents are infected with STDs, accounting for 25 percent of the estimated 12 million new STDs occurring annually in the United States. In 1997, one-half of all new HIV infections in the United States occurred in people under the age of 25. One in four new HIV infections in the U.S. occurs in people under the age of 22. Making condoms available in public high schools would help to lower both pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease rates among teenagers. C. Specific Purpose /
I. Introduction
A. Attention
Did you know that AIDS is the sixth leading cause of death among those from ages 15 to 24 years old; and each year approximately 1 million teenage girls in the United States will become pregnant?
B. Background
A heated topic of debate among many parents and public high schools is sex. Further, what message would distributing condoms at high school say about sex? A majority of parents would agree that it sends a negative message out to impressionable teenagers, that being sexually active is socially acceptable and even expected. In Seventeen Magazine the article “Sexual Reality” by Anne Fearon it states that most school officials, and even doctors agree, that it does not send that message at all. It promotes safe sex. Two-thirds of all STD’s occur in people 25-years-old and younger. Some people say this startling statistic is caused by teaching any objectives in health classes that are not abstinence. They believe that making condoms available upon request and teaching different forms of contraception promote sexual promiscuity. I agree with Dr. Victor Strasburger, of the New Mexico School of Medicine, who claims “Until Americans get over their hysteria about giving teenagers access to birth control, we will continue to have the highest teen pregnancy rates in the western world. If we want to attack this problem, we must not be afraid to fight it. Each year, an estimated 3 million adolescents are infected with STDs, accounting for 25 percent of the estimated 12 million new STDs occurring annually in the United States. In 1997, one-half of all new HIV infections in the United States occurred in people under the age of 25. One in four new HIV infections in the U.S. occurs in people under the age of 22. Making condoms available in public high schools would help to lower both pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease rates among teenagers. C. Specific Purpose /
Cited: Dodd, Keri J. “The Facts: School Condom Availability”. Advocates for Youth. February 1998. advocatesforyouth.org. 9 Nov 2004 Fearon, Anne. “Strategy doesn’t work; schools need parents’ trust”. Should schools permit condom machines? 2004. Liverpool Daily Post. 15 Nov. 2004. Freudenberg N, et al. “Condom availability in New York City public high schools: relationships to condom use and sexual behavior.” American Journal of Public Health. (1997): “Sexual Reality.” Seventeen. Sept. 1998. 16 Nov. 2004. Hanes, Tracii.Livestrong.com, August 9,2010. ” HIV & AIDS and Teenagers”