A Position Paper on Giving of Condoms to Senior High School students

By: Cristine Joy R. Villarosa

Introduction

Giving of condoms to Senior High School students is very important to the

successful prevention of STDs, early pregnancies, and other incurable diseases. By
providing condoms in high school students, it could give protection against pregnancy
and STDs to otherwise at risk teens. We need to face the reality that teens like us are
engaging in unprotected sex because of the lack of availability of protection and the
curiosity of doing so without any knowledge. Teenagers are tempted, pressured, or
willing to have sex. The least that schools can do to help decrease teen pregnancy and
STD rates is to provide utilities like giving of condoms.

Every day, thousands of teenagers are putting themselves at risk for early
pregnancies, STDs, and other incurable diseases because instead of thinking about all
the consequences, more teens are becoming sexually active without completely
understanding the preventions that need to be taken when doing such thing.

This paper will explain the benefits of giving condoms to Senior High School
students and also disprove the side of the opposition regarding on the distribution of
condoms.

Counter Argument

Those who opposes on giving of condoms say that giving students with
condoms encourages early sexual activity, can offend people from different religions,
and it will distract students learning.

Encourages early sexual activity. If teenagers believe that they will be safe when
using a condom, they will be more encouraged to do that thing and the rate of teenagers
who are affected by STDs will increase. Yes, I admit that the other side has a point on
his/her counterarguments. But let me clarify to you the really essence of distributing
condoms to Senior High School students. The counterargument of the opposition is that
giving of condoms can encourage the teenagers to early sexual activities. But we know
that today we are experiencing many problems like STDs and early pregnancy which
is concerning the teenagers. Schools are not giving out condoms to promote sex. It is to
promote “safe sex” due to an extremely high rate of sexually transmitted diseases and
early pregnancies.

Second, it can offend people from different religion. Followers of different

religions, who do not believe in birth control find the evident encouragement of sexual
activity as an insult or offend to their religious traditions. It is false, giving condoms
does not undermine religious doctrine. Religious doctrine does not prohibit sexual
relations, but encourages the safe of responsible management of it.

Lastly, it can distract students learning. Opposition side believed that

distribution of condoms will distract student’s learning because some of the students
will only come to school for condoms and would not focus in class. Actually, giving of
condoms has nothing to do with the students learning. The contributing factors is
teenage hormones.

My Argument

We all know that the rate of getting early pregnancy and STDs are rapidly
increasing. In this case, giving of condoms would be a great help to decrease such
problems. First, it will promote safe sex due to an extremely high rate of STDs and
early pregnancies. We can’t deny the fact that the most of the students nowadays are
already engaged on sexual activity, that’s why giving of condoms is the best action to
prevent teenage pregnancies and the spreading of incurable diseases. Giving condoms
does not mean that the schools are tolerating students to have sex with their partners. It
is just that thee schools together with the government units wants to prevent teenagers
who are getting pregnant at a very young age to prevent teenagers who are getting
pregnant at a very young age and to prevent catching sexually transmitted diseases.

Furthermore, the data from several studies demonstrated the percentage of

women age 15-19 who have had a birth or were pregnant with their first child at the
time of the survey, according to background characteristics. Overall, 9 percent of
women age 15-19 have begun child childbearing: 7 percent have had a live birth and 2
percent were pregnant at the time of the interview. The proportion of teenagers who
have begun childbearing raises rapidly with age, from 1 percent age 15 to 22 percent at
age 19.
 In May 2017, 64 adolescents aged 10-19 years where reported to HARP. All
were infected through sexual contact (8 male-female sex, 40 male-male sex, 16 sex with
both males and females).

Second, it would minimize the numbers of population in our society. Giving

condoms not only prevent early pregnancies and STDs, this also be a great help in
minimizing the rapidly growing number of population in our society. The Philippines
hold one of the highest population densities and fastest growing populations in Asia yet
they lack government funded family planning methods (Cabral). This clearly state that
there should be a need to give contraceptives like condoms to Filipinos most especially
to the Senior High School students who are engaging in unprotected sex because of the
lack of availability of protection.

And lastly, providing condoms to student is a wise investment of government

funds. The funds of our country was spent by our governments each year addressing
the public health problems created by risky sexual behaviour of each year addressing
the public health problems created by risky sexual bahaviour for many individuals.

Conclusion

If we fail to prevent the teenage pregnancies and incurable disease, most of the
teenagers will be affected. The country will also suffer from overpopulation and the
risk of poverty will occur.

In conclusion, it is of great importance that the government and school should

support the teenagers on their problems by providing free condoms to Senior High
School students and establish organizational support for condom distribution.

In this way we can minimize the spread of sexually transmitted disease and can
prevent early pregnancies.