Condoms in Private Schools

Chapter 1 вЂ" Introduction

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to educate young Americans on the risks and effects of teenage pregnancy. It will focus on ways to prevent teen pregnancy such as: abstinence, contraception, safer sex. This paper will also include ways to deal with pregnancy at a very young age such as: planning to raise the child, adoption, and even abortion.

Importance

468,988 babies are born to teenage mothers each year. This being all the reason to focus on teenage pregnancy. Many children are being born into this world without the necessities they need to develop into stable and productive citizens. In writing about teen pregnancy and the problems it produces, I hope to inspire the general public to help America in its efforts to reduce this problem.

Scope

A growing dilemma on high school and college campuses and one of the main concerns of parents, school officials, and the government is teenage and premarital sex. It is on the rise, and they are concerned that it may get out of control. Teenage and premarital sex can be a problem because of the many diseases and pregnancies they can cause. One resolution that has been proposed is to distribute condoms in high school and college institutions. This is a topic that is controversial and has been fiercely disputed for years. There are people who think it would be a good idea and those who think it may worsen the problem rather than solve it. The argument for why condoms should be readily available is simple: unsafe sex leads to unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.

Key Terms

Contraception- the prevention of pregnancy using artificial methods such as condoms and birth-control pills or natural methods such as avoiding sex during the woman's known fertile periods

Abstinence- restraint from indulging a desire for something, e.g. alcohol or sexual relations

Ejaculate- to eject semen from the penis during orgasm

Chapter 2 вЂ" Review of Literature

Each year, almost 750,000 teenage women between the ages of 15вЂ"19 become pregnant. The teenage pregnancy rate in this country is at its lowest level in 30 years, down 36% since its peak in 1990. A growing bulk of research indicates that both increased abstinence and changes in contraceptive practice are responsible for recent declines in teenage pregnancy. Even though teen pregnancy has gone down a great deal it is still a big problem in the United States. Out of those 750,000 teenage women that become pregnant each year, more than half of them decide to keep their babies and try to raise them. Many of these mothers are not in any kind of situation suitable for nurturing a baby, which in result attributes to the overall problem.

There are many ways to prevent teen pregnancy. Birth control is one way for women to prevent pregnancy and to plan the timing of their pregnancy. Today, we have many safe and effective birth control methods available to women such as: birth control implants, patches, pills, and shots. Another way to prevent pregnancy is by using condoms. Condoms are thin latex or plastic sheaths that are worn on the penis during intercourse. Condoms prevent pregnancy by collecting pre-cum and semen when a man ejaculates. This keeps sperm from entering the vagina. Pregnancy cannot happen if sperm cannot join with an egg. By covering the penis and keeping semen out of the vagina, anus, or mouth, condoms also reduce the risk of sexually transmitted infections. Abstinence is also a method used to prevent pregnancy. It is the most effective way to avoid teenage pregnancy. Abstinence is not having sex play with a partner at all. Abstinence is 100 percent effective in preventing pregnancy. It also prevents sexually transmitted infection. Abstinence has no medical or hormonal side effects and is endorsed by many religious groups. Sexual education is the best way to prevent teenage pregnancy. If teenagers are made aware of all the ways to prevent pregnancy then they are more likely to take them into consideration and maybe practice them.

Parenting requires lots of energy and patience. It is often complicated and frustrating. A child's needs will constantly change and so will the parents’ ability to meet those needs. Children, especially infant babies are considerably expensive compared to anything else a teenager might have financially have to take care of. When a baby is born it needs health care, food, possible daycare, and clothing. If pregnancy occurs, teenagers and their families should consider counseling about options available to them, from abortion to adoption. Special support systems, including consultation with a child and adolescent psychiatrist when needed, should be available to help the teenager throughout the pregnancy, the birth, and the decision about whether to keep the infant or give it up for adoption. Whether the mother decides to keep the child or give it up for adoption, she should, with the help of a parent if possible, make arrangements to see a physician on a regular basis to make sure everything is done to make the baby healthy.

The official Seventh-day Adventist position on abortion is that it is permissable only in exceptional circumstances that present serious moral or medical dilemmas, such as significant threats to the pregnant woman's life, serious jeopardy to her health, severe congenital defects carefully diagnosed in the fetus, and pregnancy resulting from rape or incest. While the general tone toward abortion is negative, the individual Adventist may take any position on the political spectrum. Abortions are performed in Adventist hospitals.

Chapter 3 вЂ" Statement of Position

The more condoms distributed means a lower health risk, case closed. While some people will angry reply that making condoms accessible promotes reckless behavior, a 2003 study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that students were no more likely to engage in sex when condoms were given out freely than when they were hard to procure; additionally, they were far more likely to have safe sex.

In addition, if people are concerned with an increase in abortions, just consider that almost half of all pregnancies are unintended, and nearly half of these lead to abortions. Reducing unintended pregnancies means reducing the number of abortions, which, whether you are pro-choice