Should birth control be available on campus? Yes.

Sharing is caring. Except with STDs.

Contracting a sexually transmitted disease in high school can lead to a lifetime of health problems and embarrassment.

Seriously, no one wants to end a great first date with “Oh, I had a lot of fun tonight, and by the way, I have syphilis.”

A highly publicized story recently stated one in four teenage girls has an STD. Statistics from the official Teenage Health website show that teenagers are much more likely to get STDs than adults no matter their number of sexual partners.

Beyond the embarrassment and dangerous side effects of STDs, another risk of sex is pregnancy.

Real life for a teen mom is a far cry from just a few odd stares and a bit of parental dissent toward the “cautionary whale” in the film “Juno.”

Unlike Jamie Lynn Spears, the current poster child for teen pregnancy, most teen parents will not be able to afford numerous nannies to watch their child after birth.

Eighty-five percent of teen pregnancies are unplanned and many result in abortion or adoption.

Those unplanned pregnancies that are terminated could have been completely prevented if the teen had successfully used birth control.

According to the Women’s Health Channel, only one-third of teen mothers will graduate from high school, and 80% will eventually rely on welfare.

Most teens are probably familiar with the scene in the film Mean Girls where a teacher warns students they shouldn’t have sex “because you will get pregnant and die!”

Although the sex-ed program at MC is much more comprehensive than that of the fictional movie, teens will still have sex no matter how many times the risks are repeated.

In no way am I advocating just passing out condoms like they were flyers for the spring dance, but encouraging responsible sexual behavior is a much better plan than simply hoping teens will practice abstinence.

One might speculate that having readily available birth control at school would support reckless students rather than help the issue.

Teens who choose to have sex would have it weather or not provided with birth control at school.

Distributing birth control in high schools should be about protecting students’ health if they choose to engage in sexual behavior, not to make it easier for teens to make dangerous decisions.

A teen could currently buy birth control from a drug store or travel to Mira Mesa to ask Planned Parenthood for assistance. Many teens are too embarrassed to buy condoms in a store or are scared someone from their classes will see them entering Planned Parenthood.

One could say that if a teen finds themselves mature enough to have sex, they should be able to conduct themselves with enough dignity to buy birth control to protect themselves. Unfortunately this is a rare occurrence and if birth control were distributed at school, more teens would obtain it and use it responsibly.

Having birth control available for students in high schools would be a way to promote safe sex, rather than the current policy of crossing our fingers and hoping for the best.

Popularity: 2% [?]