Free Rubbers for BSGE

School is only truly safe if its students are having safe sex.  Today, BSGE is one step closer. As of October 20th, our high school students, whose parents have not chosen to opt-out, will have confidential access to free condoms and counseling.
Many students speak highly of BSGE’s effort, “It’s good that [our school] is taking a more active role. We spend a lot of time here and should be able to get help here if we need it,” says 10th grader, Kristin O’Connor.
In the Guidance Office, room 109 and the Dance/Yoga Studio room 214, students will be able to talk to trained staff members, request condoms and information on condom use, HIV/AIDS and other health issues.
In the letter to students Ms. Johnson wrote, “Together, I am confident that we can help stop the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STD), and look foward to long, healthy lives.”
She went on to write that the goal of the new program is to encourage responsible decisions regarding HIV, the virus that causes AIDs.
The NYC and DOE condom availablity program began in 1991 but many high schools have yet to adopt it; one reason is that the controversy attached to teens and sex.
BSGE sophmore, Meghan McCullough says she thinks all teens should have access to condoms but feels the program is “encouraing sex in high school” and that the ideal situation is plain and simple asbstinence.
But in a culture where sex is glorified, is abstinence realistic? The popular teen show Gossip Girls advertises a season of “sex, lies and scandal” and popular teen movie Superbad, which stars two high schoolers on a quest for booze to get girls drunk so that they’ll have sex, grossed $170 million.
60% of all NYC high school seniors report being sexully active, but a few years ago only 54.4% reported using a condom during last intercourse.