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Having a discuss with some people where I live about this. What do you think?
Access to any birth control alone won't prevent it. Combine it with talking to the teens, providing advice, and never stop having those talks. That won't prevent it either, but can help them think things through.
Of course it does, IF they use it.
I think the perfect prevention for teen pregnancy wold be handing off a real live newborn to a teen for a week. No help. No free passes away from the child. That'll make 'em change their mind about unsafe sex really quick. LOL!
Obviously not, since any HS or MS nurse has them to give out, many are like $5 at the store, and there are plently of clinics that will give them out and lots of teens still get pregnant.
No.
If their are teens out their that don't know about condoms and where to get them for free then they shouldn't be having sex to begin with. They are also not expensive or banned for purchase at certain age levels
Just trying to say that If you think you are ready to be sexually active you should know all of your options on how to keep your self safe!
@DarrenTunstall: No, you can go to any gas station and for $5 buy a couple condoms. I think having them handed out at school would only encourage it and is innapropriate. And I also believe if they are too shy to go into a gas station and buy some then they will be too embarassed to go ask the school nurse for a few... I believe many teenagers have unprotected sex b/c it just feels better and with the "superman" complex most teenagers adopt they don't believe any bad will come of it. JMO. lol.
I do think it would help prevent it but only if they use them. I know a LOT of my friends were too embarrassed to buy condoms so they didn't use them. I was never embarrassed by this. I'd be more embarrassed being knocked up at 16 than buying some condoms.
But not having access to them at all is only going to create MAJOR problems. There would be significantly more teen pregnancies if it weren't possible for teens to get condoms.
Access alone doesn't prevent anything. Any sort of contraceptive needs to not only be accessible, but obtainable. Teens need to have the means to purchase condoms, not be embarassed/afraid to buy them, educated in how to use them properly, and empowered enough to use them EVERY TIME.
Access is a good start though :)
They need access to birth control AND education on how and why to use it. The mentality that denying them access to BC will prevent kids from having sex is the most ludicrous line of thinking I've ever heard. I think all kids should have mandatory sex ed, regardless of what parents want, and they should be able to access BC at school/health clinics fairly easily. At least then, they'll be having safer sex rather than unsafe sex because the bottom line is, most kids are going to have sex before they hit the age of 18. I for one would like to stop seeing so many babies being born to young mums who are unable to care for them....so let's do everything we can to educate our kids and provide the means for them to prevent unwanted pregnancies and STDs (not the save the date kind!)
@Ree723: lol everytime I see a save the date post ( STD) I'm like whoa... and then I remember there is a wedding relate acronym
I agree with education as well as access to condoms. I don't agree with abstinence only education because I don't know very many teenagers who do abstain. I feel like once hormones kick in even the smartest and most well behaved teenagers make mistakes. I lost my viriginity to a guy I met at my church youth group for goodness sake! However, I did have very good sexual education classes throughout middle and high school and thankfully have practiced safe sex.
@brandylynnp: EXACTLY. Access to them is only the first step, but education is so important! Not only about the physical logistics, but the emotional side of it, too.
It wouldn't help every teen, but I'm sure it would help some. I really don't think it would cause more sex among teens, as some adults fear. I mean really, what teen that does not want to have sex is going to change their mind because they have access to free condoms if they want one? But some teens definitely end up pregnant after having sex spontaneously and not having a condom with them - and I think it could help in cases like that.
Condoms should be available, to all those who are legal. There needs to be some restrictions. For example, being 18 before smoking and 21 before drinking and going to casinos, 16 before driving (to young in my opinion). Society should place these limitations as an act of responsibility, but most importantly, parents and legal guardians should build the foundation of the meaning of sex. Having a solid foundation of understanding is best, overall. Some might fall, but many will prevail and wait until it's right.
Like PPs mentioned, having access to a resource doesn't solve the problem for all teens, but it can and does solve issues for many.
I'll never forget the time I was working in a grocery store and a couple of kids that were sixteen sent a friend in to buy condoms for them because they really thought you had to be 18 to do so. The kid took out his ID, and I asked him why in the world I would need that. We got into a great conversation, and these kids said a lot of their friends didn't use condoms simply because they really did not know they could buy them before being a legal adult. That just blew my mind.
Kids have so many misconceptions about birth control; making it seem taboo doesn't stop them from having sex, but rather stops them from using BC and increases teen pregnancy.
This poll should have a third option. It prevents SOME potential pregnancies.
I think so, I think (especially in England) teenagers actually view guys who don't use condoms in a bad light.
So I think condoms and free access does prevent teen pregnancy, and above all sexually transmitted diseases as well!
@MissBananaBread: Good thought. Even if they were delivered to minors, there would still be some who wouldn't utilize them.
How about teen pregnancy where you used condoms and still got pregnant...? I fell into that category.
*this was after a year of being intimate so we knew how condoms worked... but they aren't 100% effective.
@Stellar Magnitude: I agree with you about the handing a teen a baby for a week to deal with.
I don't think access to condems prevents teen preg. they aren't going to use it just cause it's there. They will use it if the have huge consequences. My parents explained to come home with a baby ment the end of everything, no college, no fun, no going out, they would not be babysitters. If i did manage to make it thru HS without being preg, I got to go away to college, got expensive vacations.... it was pretty much a no brainer. That and my mom was a teen mom and her life was full of responsibilities for the children she brought into the world. If they get the consequences of not using BC they will use it.
@brandylynnp: I agree. They need to be talked to as well.
It's great if they have access to different types of BC but that alone won't always help. What if they don't know what they are doing? Most teenagers won't know to pinch the top so it doesn't rip unless they take the time to read the instructions (what teen would really do that) or are told how to use one?
Perhaps reduces, but does not prevent. I think reducing it is a good thing though!
I think it definitely helps- and while it isn't a completely sure method of preventing pregnancy, I don't think that handing them out is encouraging teens to have sex. It's giving people who were going to do it anyway a safe way to do it. Teenagers are going to have sex no matter what anyone says or does. Same with minors drinking alcohol and people smoking pot. Doesn't matter if it's illegal or considered morally questionable- people are going to do what they want to do.
So many younger people have completely misconstrued ideas about sex, STDs, protection, and pregnancy, and I think a lot of times, that's why some teenagers end up pregnant. They are uninformed or misinformed. I think along with sex education, easy access to condoms would prevent a lot of teen pregnancies.
@Stellar Magnitude: agreed. I worked at a daycare. Let me tell you.... 4 infants (between 8 weeks and 9 months) all needing a diaper change at once. Or 12 2 year olds in one room..... holy cow... I don't want kids for a LONG time. Even just the 3 hours in the afternoon that I first had them....
Edit: but you can't just throw some condoms at a kid (and they are) and expect them to know how to use it. You'd be surprised at how many college aged think that if you put a condom on inside out, and take it off and turn it around, it's okay.... most of the time it is... but there is sperm in that precum.
I think my dad did it the right way. Told me where I could get them in the house. And put me on the depo shot. I lost my mom at 14. He sat me down, talked to me. And we decided together that the shot would be the easiest thing for us to remember together. Something he knew I was using. And couldn't forget.
@TheLionQueen: Seconded.
I don't think providing access itself does anything one way or the other, but I am thoroughly of the opinion that denying access on the grounds that teenagers then *won't* have sex is... um, hilariously wrong. As much as I'd like every teenager to have sensitive, informative safe sex counseling, I think having condoms available for free, no questions asked, is going to prevent a few potential pregancies here and there.
I think access to condoms helps when coupled with a thorough education.
however, like PPs have said condoms aren't always effective
@Stellar Magnitude: Great Idea, I know of a girl that once told me that watching her niece, a 2 y.o., was the best birth control she'd ever had. Now the question is where would we find mothers that would hand their newborns to a 16 y.o for the night ? 
Just handing out condoms will prevent a few teen preganancy. But providing access, as well as comprehensive sex education, will do a lot more. Either way though, access is better than no access.
@TheLionQueen: I agree 100%! There has been talk that OCP's will be available OTC in a few years...i think that will help as well!
I think it is far better to have access than to be denied something that could prevent unwanted pregnancies!
Not entirely, but it sure helps! And comprehensive sex ed (that deals with birth control, STDs, relationships, healthy sexuality, abstinence, etc.) helps even more.
No - access to condoms alone won't do anything to prevent teen pregnancy.
Education on how an why to use condoms (and/or other BC methods), the failure rates, the consequences or having a child as a teen, etc will help prevent teen pregnancy.
I agree with a lot of the PPs - its a combination of access AND education. I work for a children's hospital and my patients are teen moms and pregnant teens with HIV. The lack of education about sex and its repercussions blows me away yet our local high schools ignore that we have one of the highest HIV/STD rates in the nation, as well as the highest teen pregnancy rates in the nation, and they go on preaching abstinence only. I've been kicked out of a high school for answering a sex question during an education session they booked me for!
But the responsibility is not only on the schools - it starts at home with parents speaking frankly about the emotional, mental, and physical consequences that can come with sex. *steps off soapbox. Sorry for the rant.
TheLionQueen: I think it's a whole lot better than preventing access to contraceptives.
Agreed!
And I don't think access promotes sexy time, around us there was plenty of access and plenty of people who abstained, especially in their teenage years. And in a high school of over 2000 students there was usually only 1-2 pregnancies/year.
@DarrenTunstall: I think kids use them as an excuse that they can have sex casually, and because they use a condom, they won't get pregnant. Not all kids... but the fact that there is a "way out" of the consequences, means to them that they can do what they want. And I know just about all teens want to do things their way. It's just the way they are.
I'm in favour of freely available birth control in a guilt-free environment coupled with comprehensive sex and relationship education. Condoms alone won't prevent teen pregnancy, but they do help rather a lot, particularly if they're taught how to put them on and when.
There should also be better education for teenage girls on the different forms of hormonal birth control. Condoms plus a reliable hormonal method of contraception (the injection was my favourite) are a great combination to prevent both pregnancy and STDs.
I did not have easy access to them in HS and had a lot of unprotected or dubiously protected sex as a result. Mercifully, I never got pregnant. I would have ALWAYS used condoms if we had them.
I don't think it is a black and white YES or NO answer, like many PP have said. So, I can't vote.
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