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The Rochester City School Board in
Rochester, N.Y., has recently made a controversial decision to allow public
schools in the city area to provide birth control and condoms to school
students. A new program will have students participate in counseling sessions
with the school nurse, where they will discuss how to prevent pregnancy and the
potential consequences of risky sexual behavior. Students are additionally
required to attend a class that provides education on STDs before they are
given any types of birth control.
While some parents are objecting,
stating that it is not the school’s role to educate students about sex, city
school officials hope the new policy will reduce teen pregnancies by 30 percent
and the number of teens with STDs by 50 percent over the next school year.
Historically, little or no information about sex has been provided within
school walls, leading to a number of myths among teens. According to statistics
published in Rochester’s Democrat and Chronicle, the area’s Monroe County saw
1,555 girls between the ages of 15 and 17 become teenage mothers between 2008
and 2010. Although parents may think that by discussing condoms and birth
control with their teens they may seem to be giving permission to have sex,
they are really giving them the information that they need to make informed
choices about how to behave responsibly.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
