Should condoms be available in elementary school?
The Cape Cod public school district in Massachusetts passed a policy regarding the issuance of condoms to its students. The policy goes into effect this fall. It authorizes the distribution of free condoms to all public school students in the district without the knowledge of their parents. This includes students in elementary school.
Photo by Jo Jakeman
The policy has generated a heated debate over student privacy rights, the role of education and parents’ rights. Any student who requests a condom from the school nurse must first receive counseling which includes information on abstinence. A spokesperson for the District said that despite the wording of the policy, it would be applied practically. The nurse would ask the student a series of questions and likely deny the request.
Does your school issue free condoms? Is this a subject covered in your Student Handbook? Do you think it’s something schools should be involved with or should it be left to the parents and their kids? What do you think about elementary school children becoming sexually active? Is it a subject you can talk about with your younger brothers and sisters?
Read more about parental consent for birth control here.
This post was written by Tom Jacobs. Judge Tom is the founder and moderator of AsktheJudge.info. He is a retired juvenile judge and spent 23 years on the bench. He has written several books for lawyers and judges as well as teens and parents including the recently published 'Teen Cyberbullying Investigated' (Free Spirit Publishing). When he's not answering teens' questions, Judge Tom can be found hiking, traveling and reading.
