the condom conundrum

Halfway through my first year of high school, the halls were abuzz with talk of the new apparatus in the bathrooms. It wasn't another tampon dispenser. With this machine, if you slipped in a quarter, out came a condom.

Upon hearing this, my friend Jenny and I decided to make a pilgrimage to the bathroom during lunch. There we diligently fed the coin slot, got condoms in return, and did what most thirteen-year-olds with prophylactics will do: we blew them up, bonked each other over the head then ran from the bathroom shrieking.

We did not, as some folks fear, sidle up to the closest pubescent prospect and announce that we were ready to have sex.

That concern was recently raised in Colorado after schools in Denver considered making condoms available to students. Some members of the community thought this was a great idea. Others did not. As a member of the group, Colorado Right to Life explained, "[Providing condoms in schools] will encourage more sexual activity." In reality, the opposite appears to be true. For a long time, research has shown that school condom availability does not lead to an increase in sexual activity.

Not only that, but a new study even discovered that teens who use condoms the first time they have sex have no more sexual partners than teens who don't. Not surprisingly, condom users were also found to have lower rates of STDs than non-users.

If you're a high school student, it's worth finding out what your school's policy on condoms is. Once you find out, feel free to share with us. I can't speak for the rest of the gURLs, but I know I'd love to know.

Photo provided by moxiee

Comments

[Emma]

I think it's totally natural to have condom dispensers in high schools. Why not? the only thing I think is ridiculous is the fact that those also exist in states with statutory rape laws- but that's a different subject. Hell, if they can have an IPOD AND DIGITAL CAMERA DISPENSER in my local MACYS, why not have something as innocent and cheap in a school? Honestly, if I had one of those, I'd buy a whole bunch, fill them up with ranch dressing, then throw some at people. Then maybe get a few and stash them at my house, just in case. It's not as demonic as all those anti-condom, anti-sex, anti-living breathing or laughing people see it.

[crazyloverblue]

I wish my school had a condom dispenser like the one you speak of. When i first heard about these dispensers i thought what a joke but now i think it could help prevent a lot of unprotected sex from going on. People are going to have sex with or without this dispenser. Hormones are hormones and teenagers are full of them. We don't even have tampon or pad dispensers at our school and i think you have to go see the nurse for that or ask a friend. How embarrassing. And buying condoms isn't such a easy thing to do either. You have to go somewhere where you don't run into someone you know or knows your parents and you have to buy enough to last you for a while. There is no casual way to buy condoms when you're 15 or *gasp* younger. Most people think kids that age should not have sex but i think its okay if you're ready for the consequences and use protection and love the person you are with. I, myself, am deeply in love with my bf, use condoms and birth control pills and am aware of what happens and how my life would change if i got pregnant in the next week. And we have discussed what i would do and what would go on.

[Fabby]

Here in the joyous Denver Public Schools, we are terribly lacking in condoms. Well, guess what? You elect not to have condoms, but kids are still having sex. It's sad, actually. I know a ton of people who have sex without condoms, and perhaps some of them might be safe if they could only get their hands on condoms. Honestly, do you really think a little piece of latex is going to encourage someone to have sex? Just because you have a condom doesn't mean you're sexually active! It might save a teen or two from pregnancy or herpes. Believe it or not, some of us actually are too poor to afford a box of condoms. Like me.
Just give us condoms! Please?!
The message that you are sending is not 'we want you to fuck!' because we're doing that anyway. Seriously, you're just saying 'we know you're fucking right under our noses and we want you to be responsible about it because we don't want you to drop out due to pregnancy because that means less money for us'. Get it?

[kayla d]

our school dose not have a condom dispencer but if they did then their would not be 15 girls prego in our school so if u ever want a condom dont go to lake worth isd (texas)

[Roxanne]

Nope, my high school definitely does not have a condom dispenser. Then again, we also don't have tampons or pads in the bathrooms either. I think there's a rule or something that if you need one, you go to the office and pay a dollar (insane, I know). Of course, I'm pushing 18 and still I would blow the condoms up and throw them around school. Possibly some schools want to avoid the improper use of contraceptives?

[jILL]

I think this is a great idea. When I was in high school a few years ago, there were plenty of girls who were having sex, and I'm sure a lot of them needed condoms. I don't think it would encourage sexual activity so much as protect the people who already indulge.

[Baillie]

I think condoms machines are an awesome idea. TEENS HAVE SEX. A LOT. Let's face it, it's happening! So why not do it safely?

[haleigh]

I live i SIN CITY...and we dont have condom despencers but we do have a project...IN MIDDLE SCHOOL...where we have to carry around 10 pound babies (you can use 10 pounds of anything) that is the form of "birth control" they give us. And in high school i believe you can go to the nurses office and get some condoms BUT at the same point i'm sure that ifhe condom broke they would blame it on the nurse.

I believe that parents go around "the talk" too lightly or in the wrong way.

My mom tried to talk to me but i felt i was just another one her pacients. She is a doctor and it was too akward to finish the talk.

Then i got a life coach but i told her i had been raped (so true, twice too many times) and so instead of talking and bringing out condoms she told me how other parents talk about sex to their kids.

And as for my boyfriend, well his mother gave him "the talk", which is good in away because his dad wants him to have sex but it was also like |your kid is freaking 16 and willbe 17 in 2 months and you have the first talk NOW?| but then his step dad started talking about his first love saying "i was in love when i was 17 and we went all the way and i ejuaculted in her" HOW ARE YOU GOING TO DO THIS?!?! then they gave him a grocery bag full f condoms.

Anyways i believe i have learned more about sex and the correct use of protection here and through expreirence than i ever have.

[kira]

Girls should be educated about birth control when they are old enought to get pregnant: when or before they get their first period. That may be a nine year old girl. You may look at her and think that she's so cute. She can't be interested in sex could she? Well she won't look so cute pregnant. She may not be interested. She could get convinced by a male classmate that unprotected sex is healthy. Girls deserve to be educated.

I remember learning what sex is and how it works. It wasn't from a responsible adult. It was from a male peer. I remember thinking it seems cool and enjoyable and that I should try it whenever I'd get my first boyfriend. I knew nothing of STIs, STDs, or pregnancy risks. I was actually convinced that the man had to make a special fertalizer and use it during sex to get the girl pregnant. I'm lucky I didn't get my first boyfriend until some time after I was educated enough to decide that sex isn't right for right now.

It's scary to think how different my life'd be-how much it'd suck-if I'd gotten pregnant.

[kira]

I go to a nice New Orleans public school where we do not have condom dispensers. Honestly, if there were a condom dispenser at my school, I would be more likely to have sex. That is ONLY if it were up to me to get the condoms and he couldn't.
At my current school they main phrase they use when referring to birth control is "abstinence is key." I disagree with this phrase. If someone wants to have sex, they will. Saying abstinence is the way to go will not convince them. Display the risks and how to combat them (with birth control) so students can make educated, responsible choices.
At my old school (a New Orleans private school), they were much more liberal. However, I didn't like their approach either. I remember being a fifth grader instructed on the basics of penises (what is sperm, the difference between erectiona and ejaculation, etc.), the fact that we should use a condom every time, and that if we giggle when we hear the word penis we're not ready to have sex. So if a fifth grader can keep a straight face when someone says the word penis they're ready? They didn't even show us how to use condoms!
I'm still very confused about sex. In my current sexual educational state, I doubt I could make the best descision. I know that on TV shows they talk about being emotionally ready for sex and I don't understand what that means. I've tried talking to my mom about sex but she is convinced that I'm only asking her because boys are telling me to have sex with them, which is not the case. My boyfriend agreed he will wait until I am ready, but I don't know if I'm ready and I really don't want to be wrong. I'm very confused.
I'ts my lack in faith in school-based sex education that brings me to websites like these.

[Nicole]

I wish my school had a condom dispenser, or some way of attaining prophylactics, but it doesn't. The high school I'm at now, anyway (in suburban GA.). At my old school, in DC, you simply went to the nurse (popped in at any time, I did), a (warning:bias! I love her :D) sweet, Middle Eastern woman who, when you asked for the condoms, would smile delightedly, reach under the desk into a box, and pull out a string of five Durex. She'd hand them to you, well, me, and I'd stuff them in my bag, grab my best friend's hand, and leave, telling her we'd be back soon. I miss that. Not that I'd need condoms now (I've taken a vow of celibacy as my bf still lives in DC) but I feel that this school I presently attend should offer them, considering the fact that they have many pregnant girls and an ignorant student body. I feel that the idea of "condoms makes more kids have more sex" is ludicrous. Unfortunately, the same kids who want to have sex will do it whether they have condoms or not; condoms and education give them a chance to do it right, do it safely.

[Jessica]

I live in a small-ish town in Illinois and go to a public high school. During sophomore year, boys and girls alike are made to take a mandatory Health Education class, in which the topic of birth control and safe sex is discussed for a maximum of two days. Afterwords, students are drilled for two weeks that abstinence is the right thing to do.

This is in NO way helpful. I'm a senior now, and I have had at least five friends get pregnant, some of which "took care of it", two that kept theirs and are now having difficult times as single mothers. Sure, they could have read up on the probability of pregnancy, but they're not stupid girls, just made to be ignorant by the school system and administrators that are "protecting them"...

I'm not sure that schools should be "protecting" students from knowledge.

Fortunately my mother was very liberal with me, when I was a freshman we decided that I should take birth control--just in case, and also for the health benefits. I thank her for it, too, because I'm just as "active" as she assumed I would be, and very happy that I have the freedom to decide for myself when/if I want a family (and thankfully it won't be any time soon!)

I think that schools should provide condoms, no questions asked, in the nurse's office. Also, I feel that separating the sex education among the sexes would make boys and girls both more comfortable in this setting, as sophomores, who are typically 15-16, try NOT to ask questions to avoid being embarrassed.

[shaun]

i go to a small academic school in scotland where there are many kids with different religious beliefs,some with none at all. Unfortunately, our principal rector is very religious and does not believe we should be recieving sex ed as he assumes we know everything already. There is no access to help on std etc within school and definately no condoms in the bathrooms. Personally, being christian im not bothered by this, but i am offended that he doesnt take into consideration other peoples opinions and beliefs on sex ed. its unacceptable in this day and age not to prepare us for sex! Bring on the learning!

[caroline]

Where I live there is an abstinence rule...you dont get to learn about sex ed at all...I mean you will learn bodily functions but nothing about condoms or birth control or anything of that sort....I dont know why we wouldnt...It kinda makes you unprepared.

[perla]

i live n a small town in indiana where im a middle schoolar and one of my older friends n high school said that there makin her take pregnancy test i wouldnt b surprised f they put a condom machine n teh bathrooms 2

[RelapseAndSoda]

I live in a relatively small town in Australia, i go to a public highschool. We do one year of sex ed very quietly and then everyone assumes we're ready and knowledgable...

Riiiiight. I know seven girls my age who are now pregnant or have tiny babies.

A waste for small towns? Only got one group of people who sleep around?

Hey, info check girls, your parents are doing it. The quiet girl in your math class is probably doing it. You just don't hear about it. Providing condoms in schools is just a way of saying "Here, use these if you need to." not "ZOMGODAGE! You can have sexes!"

The introduction of the contraceptive pill was treated in much the same way. Condoms in schools makes them availible to people who are of age and looking for safety and a choice.

Get real, stop being so uptight.

[Heather]

I rather feel if your not mature enough to go out and buy/get your own your probably not mature enough for sex anyway.
To bad people who want to have sex dont think that that

[coolkay123]

OK what schools do have condom machines in them ? ? ? ?

If yours does please put what state and school.

Helps the rest of us

[Kelsi]

my school doesnt have a condom conundrum, but i wish that they did.i mean i dont have sex alot but i now that there are alot of gurls that do and my school complains about the increasing number of pregnant gurls.My school is one of those school that have to be perfect and dont want to believe that kids are fooling around with things that they shouldnt be.

[Kelsi]

my school doesnt have a condom conundrum, but i wish that they did.i mean i do have sex alot but i now that there are alot of gurls that do and my school complains about the increasing number of pregnant gurls.My school is one of those school that have to be perfect and dont want to believe that kids are fooling around with things that they shouldnt be.

[EmilyEmergency]

I really wish my school had condom dispensers it would be soooooooooooooo much easier than having to go to the store to get them.I know i sound like a slut but im not im just a 15 year old sexually active girl who wants to have safe sex after a few mistakes.

[audrey]

i go to a catholic all girls school and though the administration does not condone condoms. in health class in freshman year our health teachers did inform us about condoms and if we do have premarital sex that we should use them.
even though my school is a catholic school the teachers and counselers are very helpful with the issue of sex and things like that. however no matter how liberal my school becomes i dont think we will be seeing a condom machine in any of our bathrooms anytime. especially since its an all girl school.

[Dana]

my school would never put a condom machine. i go to a coed cathoilic school. I am in a sexuality class and they even to refuse to talk about any form of birth control. All they say over and over again is that we should wait to marriage and for the right person. But what i dont understand is if they jsut repeat the same thing over and over again we wont learn anything. They should at the very least teach about birth control like condoms. If they don;t then what about the kids who go out and do it. They don't have accuse to condoms or birth control and that is why i find more cathoilc school kids end up pregant. I think they should have accuse to condom machines. Atleast if we choose to have sex we will be protected

[Beki]

I don't know what its like in the USA but to me it makes more sense to provide condoms to those who are 11 plus than not. Yes, its true that 11 and 12 years olds arw a bit young to be having sex but an 11 or 12 year old practicing safe sex sounds better than a pregnant one to me.

[C]

My school will never put a condom machine in school - I go to an all girl's catholic high school. They do "sex ed" sophomore year, but basicaly it's "here's all the gross stuff that can happen if you have sex - so don't EVER!!!" and everything is abstinence based. I don't think our teacher ever even mentioned the words "condom" or "birth control." Essentially, sex ed just wanted us to keep it in our pants until we got married. However, in a school where a large portion of girls are sexually active, abstinence based education is unrealistic, and very irresponsible. Maybe we should have a condom dispenser!

[Leah]

My school does not have a condom machine. [Since im in 7th grade]
Buttt..Some people are gonna have sex ONE day in there life.
It is okay if it increase's Sexuality.
Only if it is at home and NOT at school and they ARE ready.
So its helpful in some ways and some other ways its not.
=]

[Leia]

My school has a STD awareness day where they actually hand out free condoms.

[Jadeth]

Putting a condom machine in a school or college doesn't make students think "oh this is the ok for us to have sex". They want to have sex they will with or without a condom dispenser. I can understand why they wouldn't in my college. They caught 2 lots of down sydrom students having sex in college. Once in the toilets and once over the field. I don't think they want to help them out with it at all.

[Mollie]

In response to everyone who says that middle schools shouldn't have condoms available. I think in some ways I'd have to disagree. While some say, "Middle schools are way to young to be having sex!", the truth is, they are. I speak from personal observation, of course, because my school district has 3 junior highs and each have their fair share of pregnant teens. If we're saying that we should respect the decision of people who have sex, I think that should include everyone, high school or junior high. I work at Planned Parenthood in a city with high STD (including HIV/AIDS) and teen pregnancy rates. I personally don't care how old you are when you have sex, or how many people you have with, or how often,
as long as it's consensual and safe.

[daydream11]

In high schools, I think it's a good idea to make condoms readily available to the students. Even though I'm a firm believer and advocate for abstinence until marriage, I'm not an idiot who believes that everyone has the same beliefs as I do. So regardless of what any religious group believes (Christians, Jews, Muslims...) or even just plain parents in general, sex education and birth control should be easily accessible to high schoolers. It's better for us to be prepared and safe than irresponsible with our actions.

That said, keep them out of the middle schools. 11 to 14-year-olds are much too young to have sex.

[Claire]

my school doesn't give out condoms. and i don't think it makes much of a difference. condoms are readily available at the shoppers drug mart up the road. its far easier to be them in packs than one at a time. the only thing i can see school machines good for would be those who are embarrased about buying them (are they really ready?) or for school sex. which shouldnt really be happening anyways.

[Miszx NaeNae]

I really think they should put those in my school! No I really WISH they'd put them in my school. There are soo many pregnant girls and so many girls that have just come back from having their babies. It's really sad to me. And most of them are proud to be pregnant.
I think the problem with my school is that they don't want to offend anyone. There are alot of teen parents. So I yea, it may just be the case of fear of someone getting offended.

[Angela]

Condom machines in high school? Good idea.
Condom machines in middle school? Bad idea.

Middle school is full of kids who basically just got out of elementary school, it's not necessary to be giving children condoms. They're just way too young to be having sex.

However, in high school, it is no secret that teenagers are having sex, with or without condoms. So it would be wise to provide teens with protection, rather than trying to stop them from having sex altogether. Because honestly, that's just not gonna happen.

And schools wonder why they have so many pregnant students...

[roisin]

Condoms only became widely used in Irealand around the 70s or 80s so i doubt there going to put them in schools without a fuss.

[Mercedes]

I think condom dispensers are a wonderful idea.

Since basically half of my school consists of non-virgins, and they're going to have sex whether they've got a latex tube lying around or not, I think they should be made more available to us.

I am a freshman in high school (and a proud virgin), but I do know a lot of people who have had sex and I respect their decisions. And if a condom is going to make them safer, why not give them to us?

[Mari]

I think it's a great idea to have condom dispensers in high school. I'm in college now, and no one blinks twice to see them in the vending machine among the snacks. For better or for worse, people need to just get used to the idea that many teenagers DO have sex, whether you tell them how to have it or not, and that at least helping to provide them with protective devices such as condoms will help prevent the spread of std's and pregnancy.

Wake up and smell the roses, adults... it's never been just kisses and cuddles.

[lovely rita]

Our school doesn't have any condom machines, and while I don't know of any kids that are having sex, I'm sure there are some, and it would be beneficial to add them to the bathrooms. However, we live in a conservative suburban community where the parents won't be very keen, and there's a kind of anti-sex mindset around the "smart" kids. In sex ed, they passed around condoms to look at and I was the only person who actually touched it. I was teased for the rest of the week. But I'm sure there are people for who a condom machine in the bathrooms would be helpful, so they don't have to go to a store and possibly get embarrassed or anything. Just stick it right next to the tampons in the bathroom.

[Serena]

I don't even KNOW whether my secondary school supplies condoms or not. I don't even know whether there is any kind of working dispensers in the washrooms. Our school is half ghetto [ half is left from 20 years ago] and the other half is new.

[Mari]

I think it's a great idea to have condom dispensers in high school. I'm in college now, and no one blinks twice to see them in the vending machine among the snacks. For better or for worse, people need to just get used to the idea that many teenagers DO have sex, whether you tell them how to have it or not, and that at least helping to provide them with protective devices such as condoms will help prevent the spread of std's and pregnancy.

Wake up and smell the roses, adults... it's never been just kisses and cuddles.

[jess]

i go to a catholic high school and the even work of sexual or condoms would give all my teachers heart attacks its rediculace you know that new movie juno?? well we where talking about it and the teacher flipped!! we not have a ban in process or so iv heard
id love to have a condome machine in my school id be so much easyer to have b-day celebrations!!{condom balloon}

[cz]

I think dispensers are a good idea, but where i go to school, if you don't use abstinence, you DIE. That's what a teacher actually said. I think that it wouldn't encourage sexual activity, it would actually remind the sexually active students to protect themselves.

[Laura]

Okay, has anyone else noticed the number of gurls on here who go to Catholic high schools? Just an observation.

Anyway, I think having condom dispensers in HIGH SCHOOL bathrooms is a great idea. I mean, if condoms are more easily available to teens and inexpensive, more teens will take advantage of the resources. I'm still a virgin, but I'm sure if the time came and I just felt ready to have sex, I would probably buy condoms from the dispensers. I actually have two now (one in each of the two wallets I have) just to be ready, safe, and responsible (and to make sure the guy can have no excuse for not using protection.)

Plus, the Sex Ed at my school is crazy; the teacher I had passed around three different condoms for us to look at (latex and latex-free and female condoms) and told us all the dos and dont's. She even encouraged a discussion one day on sex. I loved that class.

But, as for having condom machines in MIDDLE SCHOOL (which some of you say that you middle schoosl don't have any condom dispensers) is a bad idea. Kids that young shouldn't even be thinking sex is anything they should be involved in; most aren't even teenagers until the eight grade.

[Arion]

I dont think that would be a good idea to put something like that in my school...seriously like the first day all the condoms would be gone..most of everybody i know is having sex..i really dont understand the message a school is trying say by putting something like that in school...but my school doesn't even have sex ed..so i think it would be pretty useless

[nicole]

my school doesn't have that...it should though. we just have to go to the office and take one. i think that is somewhat more private than that machine. ut it is a good idea to supply a dispenser of condoms for teens. protection is the right direction =)

[Winnie]

I am in middle school and at my school, I do not think that it would be used, and would be a waist of money. I go to a public school in a fairly small town, and most of the kids are not sex-crazed. There is a group of girls and guys who are like that, but there are not very many of them. If my school got one, it would never be used, and with the low budget my school is on, it would be a waist of money.

[...]

Nope my high school does not have one. I've never heard of such a ridiculous thing.It shouldn't be the school's responsibility to supply contraceptives to underage students.

[Mahalia]

Ummm ... my high school doesnt have a condom dispener instead they have a the health teachers give the students Condoms or the sex ed consulor.. i dont feel dat giving condoms in school is going to make more students have sex... it depends on the student if they wanna have sex or not. i feel dat all schools should give condoms.. its better that they use condoms than not use them and get an STD.
True or not true tell me

[gwen]

my school has been debating putting in condom machines because my school has alot of the younger girls,(like 8th grade), pregnate rather than the older ones.
my mom thinks it a good idea because she would rather kids be using condoms while having sex and lowering the risk of pregnancy ..
it's been brought to the school board but there are some parents in up-roar so we dont know what will happen.

[Kristie]

I do not believe in pre-marital sex, and since I go to Catholic school, condoms are not supported and constantly discouraged. Unfortunately, as times change, kids (in my experience) are less inclined to stay true to their faith. This is indeed sad and disappointing, but as times change, so do the rules of Catholic school. It is irresponsible of society to allow the youth of today go out into the world unaware of contraceptive methods. I personally think that the youth today, however much I myself may disagree with it, are making mature decisions earlier, and need to be prepared for them.

[Olivia]

i think it is ok yo have a place where you can get condoms but come on you know your school is too rich if you have the money for a condom despencer