Whether there was a pregnancy pact at Glouchester High or not, the Massachusetts school made headlines and as a result contraceptives will be distributed there and at other district high schools with parental consent. What's your opinion?
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im 50/50
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I agree Jessie. Kids are going to have sex, so its better that its safe sex
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While I agree with jessie and lolalu about kids doing it anyway, I strongly believe it should be kept out of schools.
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unpopular on here again, I say are you crazy? lol I will not be handing out condoms in my home-school, nor porn, nor advice that advises my children to do anything other than reamin pure ( mentally and physically)until marriage and to put their focus on what God has to say about dating--- and it isn't "B-O-R-I-N-G"! It's fun double-dates, diners and burgers and onion rings and triple-thick shakes; it's going to games and cheering on your favorite team. It's BBQ's and parties with the fam that aren't wierd at all. It's peace knowing that you are right with God. It's a precious gift only to be given to the one and only who deserves it: your future husband or wife. Don't sell your kids short,ladies~ please don't! Kids are so smart, if we only would give them credit for how much self control and wisdom they really can have, if taught it at home and in church, they can make really wise decisions. And, the worst thing that can happen to our children is that they would be far away from God, or contract a horrible disease, kill someone, end up in jail for a long time, not have a baby. If my son or daughter has a baby in High School it's not ideal for them but it's not the worst thing, it's far from it. They know that if they have sex this means that they could get pregnant. And they will have to man/woman up to that responsibility( of course I would help them! and, they will know that they WILL get married!)
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Yes. Absolutely. It needs to happen. If they're going to give us abstinence-only education, these girls are going to get pregnant and herpes will be passed around like a cold. Comprehensive sex ed and protection all the way! A school's job is not to instill us with morals. That is the job of the parents and the kids once they are old enough to make their own decisions. My school's job is to educate me, to tell me the facts, and let me decide on my own. They also should be making materials with which we may protect ourselves available. Condoms in the nurse's office don't make me want to have sex. However, if I want to have sex, I'd rather get them from the nurse's office than the drugstore.
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and justanerd, what if I don't believe in God?
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Justanerd - gotta point out that you said "are you crazy?" followed by saying a policy in a school is masterminded by Satan. I know you're just putting flair in your writing, but...you know what,that's all I got. Enjoy the home-schooling process. Yeah, I think it's a good idea, and I also have to wonder if the condoms aren't being distributed from the nurse's office or health center in the school itself. That's probably a better idea than just passing them out in homeroom.
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KID FRIENDLY. Times are changing people, kids are being tempted and taking control of their lives sooner and sooner than ever before. We can't send them into the world with no respect for their bodies, and no control over how to protect themselves. Take god out of the equation. Not everyone believes in that being and not every child should have to follow guidelines from people who do. PROTECTION IS NOT TEMPTATION. temptation takes control without protection and there are plenty of mothers, not just teen mothers who can speak to that point. justanerd- "I will not be handing out condoms in my home-school, nor porn" you are kidding right? you are equating porn and condoms here and that is just beyond the point of being a responsible adult for your children.
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Justanerd- believe it or not, lots of people don't believe in abstinence until marriage. LOTS. It's better to make sure the kids who are going to have sex are protected from pregnancy and STIs. I started having sex when I was 14 years old, and luckily my parents and school taught me about protecting myself, otherwise I'd probably have been a teen mother. The temptation is there whether or not protection is provided. I think it's ridiculous that some religious people try to force their beliefs on others. I don't want to have to follow any outdated religion's rules, and if I have children, I want them to have the same freedom.
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It's a little uncomfortable for everyone involved, but if it is making kids any safer... why not?
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At my HS I was an assistant to the school nurse, and you would not BELIEVE how many girls, even freshman, would come to us for a pregnancy test. I wish we could have given out free condoms, even if it only helped one girl.
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There was a few times in high school when my boyfriend would come over and say he didn't have money for condoms blah blah blah. Thank God I had my secret stash. Point is easy and free access to condoms for high schoolers is the best thing since sliced bread.
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why just high school? why not in jr high and elementary school? oh, and clean needles, we want to be really safe. and alcohol should be available because if they want it we don't want them approaching strangers. and guns, we'll want protection in every area, right?
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I agree with you lickety split, they should give out condoms to middle schoolers to because they are even dumber than the high schoolers.
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Really. I've had birth control (condoms) in my school since middle school - and both middle and high school had clinics where, if your parents signed one form for the whole year, they could give you health care like prescriptions, checkups, and whatever for free. In addition to normal stuff that any doctor would give you, strep throat medication, shots, or any other needed prescription medical care, they will put you on the pill, and maybe give you other types (not sure on that one). And condoms are very readily available.
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runningesq: annebreal: that's not why I said satan is the mastermind of all this. I said that because HE IS. If you think that sounds crazy, that's just because your not a believer. If you were a believer, you would know that the Bible says that satan is a real foe, actively roaming the earth looking for whom he may devour, and working very hard to keep our minds off of God, so he can distract us with all the trivial things that don't matter. That way we won't think about God. Frimpled, you just prove my point. I'm sure your mom is quite proud that you believe in teens having sex and that's what you have been doing with your teen years . jessielynn657- giving a kid a condom and giving him porn...hmmmm...right, they are so different because one is telling the kid to watch other people have sex and the other is telling your kid to go ahead and have sex with no consequences.... lickety split, your absolutely on the same path I was on... your just further along. That was what I was saying with the porn comment. So many parents say well i will just give my boy a subscription to Playboy, and then he won't sleep around... this is the most horrible solution to lust I have ever heard of! Why not give them Josh Harris' book, "Not even a hint" instead????????????????Crappy, crappy parents I hate to say it but it's true!! wadewifey...LOL! I just feel sad that a lot of these people who agree with this will be buying into the cultural lie that teens should be left to behave as adults...they are not adults yet. They need to be protected as such. That is our job: to protect them from participating in adult things until they are prepared to be adults. If you don't so that who will?? your child's school?? HA HA HA HA! Nooooo they sure won't! A lot of crappy parents in this world, that's all I gotta say. ....
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even the strongest christian child will be tempted justinnerd...and sometimes whether we like or not...they will have sex....now...rather then them saying ok...we'll just take a chance...hopefully nothing will happen...and more time then not, that is the time that will end up with a pregnancy, because they were not taught of birth control...i'd rather them take a condom use it wisely. as much as we would like our children to remain chaiste until marriage...which is a good idea...in this day and age...its harder and harder to do...kids will give into peer pressure.....even while saying they don't want to........i know its up to the parents to teach their kids....but its up to the kids whether or not they follow thru with it..teenagers have their own minds.....alot of them will try anything once. will having condoms promote more kids to having sex...prolly so...but then i feel it will also promote to those already having sex to have sex safely. even the best of kids will turn....
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Justanerd, you are perfectly entitled to your opinions. I hope you understand mine, as well. Telling people that you "hope their mother is proud of them" for something you just assumed and is terribly insulting is not the way to either win a debate or make yourself seem intelligent or thoughtful. I hope that my children are given the proper information to make a decision that's right for them. If, as a teenager, my daughter decides that she loves her boyfriend and is ready to have sex, I will tell her I hope that she really knows how she feels and buy her some condoms. I don't want my baby living in the shadow of a being if she doesn't think it exists. My children will be open to exploring all religions if they so choose, and will be taught basic morals young. My children will be encouraged to THINK about what they should do in tough situations as it applies to their life, not a book written too many years ago to be realistically followed. The fact that you insinuate that anyone who wants their schools to supply condoms is a crappy parent astounds me. Could you not find a way to share your opinion without being blatantly offensive? No one was suggesting that we buy teenagers PORN SUBSCRIPTIONS. Not wanting to get syphilis and staring at people have sex are not even CLOSE to being in the REALM of sameness. If this is how you feel, then am I safe in assuming you think masturbating is wrong as well? Children need to be taught more about what is normal and natural for them to do, and less what God says will send you to burn for eternity. Unless, of course, that is YOUR lifestyle, in which case I hope you do the educating on that and not expect your school to do diddly squat.
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Also, I found an interesting statistic in my child development class yesterday: 90% of teen girls who have unprotected sex will become pregnant within two months
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I have two boys and when the 9 year old gets to the point where he's locking himself in the bathroom for extended times and really looking at girls he will be given condoms and education about safe sex. I'm not going to depend on the school, especially if we get a VP that thinks teaching abstinence in schools is the way to go (how's that working out for her btw- I'm republican before you flame). Do I think my boys should be having sex before marriage, yes. I don't need my 18 year old running off with his girlfriend to Vegas to get married because he wants to have sex. Talk about something he's not mature enough to handle. Maybe I should get my fanaticism on, as blaming everything on satan when things go wrong sounds so much easier then all this worrying I do.
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No, I don't think birth control should be in schools. I don't believe in abstinence only education, I believe in fully educating children in public schools regarding their options, STDs, etc. I just don't think school is the place to distribute the birth control, especially if we're talking hormonal birth control for the females.
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Yeah condoms should be available. If schools are teaching kids to be safe, they should offer them the protection to do so. When my son was 12, I bought him a pack of condoms and told him to practice putting them on until he knew how to do it the right way. We have had many conversations regarding sex with him and if he has a question, he asks about it. I feel lucky to have such an open, honest relationship with my (now ) teen son but some kids are not so lucky and have parents who do not tell them anything and even worse, some who make sex seem shameful and wrong. There are always going to be kids who are having sex, if we can help make it somewhat safer, I am all for it.
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My high school and college both had birth control available in the Nurses' Office/Health Services. I see absolutely nothing wrong with it. People are going to have sex no matter what, so it would be irresponsbile to turn the other cheek and not give them protection, then shame them when they get pregnant. While I respect your POV, justanerd, I think we're far past the point where God can be used as an excuse for abstinence. Many people, including myself, don't believe in God or organized religion. Also, many people who are conservative and religious have premartial sex, so you can't rest on their morals either. Just look at Bristol Palin.
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I'm with Greggie on the hormonal birth control front- I don't want my daughter getting BC without my knowledge. That's a serious drug (with sometimes serious side effects). I'd rather take her to the doctor and know what was going on with her medically. I am a Christian and don't believe in sex before marriage (and am practicing that now). However, I think people are burying their heads in the sand if they don't think teens are having sex. My mom told me flat out that she would be disappointed in my choice if I did have sex at that time, but would rather me come to her and learn about the forms of birth control as she would be way more disappointed if I was pregnant at 15. I think the education needs to be there. I don't think learning more about it makes people want to have sex more. I know extensively about forms of birth control/STD's/safe sex, etc and it certainly didn't make me want the next person I saw! If a person is going to make a choice to remain abstinent, learning about condoms isn't going to change that IMO.
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Jessie you said that "we would like our children to remain chaiste until marriage...which is a good idea...in this day and age...its harder and harder to do...kids will give into peer pressure.....even while saying they don't want to........i know its up to the parents to teach their kids....but its up to the kids whether or not they follow thru with it..teenagers have their own minds....." respectfully, I still feel that teenagers TwistandShout, I do not mean to be insulting to anyone, and I do see your point. I guess that could have been hurtful, and I do apologize to the commentor. I guess I really need to think more before I type sometimes ;)and my point was that there isn't really a difference between giving a kid porn and giving them a condom: your still introducing sex as acceptable for them. And I don't teach that God will burn my children in Hell if they make a bad choice with sex or anything else, because that is not the truth about God. The only souls that end up there are the one's that reject salvation. macgirl, of course I seem like a fanatic to you, because your not a believer.If you were, you would have read your Bible, which would have told you that satan is the ruler of this world an impurities of all kinds are his love and mission for this world, especially starting kids early in their youth.... I just diagree about putting condom dispensers in schools, and about taking teens to go have abortions without their parents and the both the unborn child's parents approval. K is For Kait, that's why your kids are having sex!
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badkitty, are you really saying it's not shameful and wrong to have sex as a teen?? That is what wer'e talking about here... teens having sex, not adults having sex. And you can teach your kids about sex, sexual diseases, birth control and about abstinence without telling them that the education your giving them means it's Ok that they go out and do what they're learning about... Besides it being obvious that most of us Sugars think that it's Ok for teens to have sex, I think my lone voice crying out here for purity is overrun by the many shouting voices of popular culture.
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Would I be ashamed or feel dirty if I lost my virginity in the next five years? Not at all. Will I? Possibly. I have stayed a virgin unlike my peers because I recognize that I am not ready. How do I know this? I have been taught and fully understand the consequences of sex. Until I feel emotionally capable of having sex, I will abstain. If that happens to be when I'm 16 or 18, then I will not feel wrong or dirty or ashamed of myself. That's entirely the wrong attitude to have about sex.
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Graylen, you go girl. It sounds like your mother is doing a great job I certainly will teach my children everything about it when the time is right. Kids make their own choices (I learned that when my kids were... 1?). They need to be informed, but they also need to know where you stand. While I don't condone the behavior, and I think it's a bad choice, it is still their choice. I disagree with BC in schools simply because I don't think that topic belongs in schools, I think it is up to the parents. (Sadly I think most parents of teens think it is the opposite...) Not to mention the seriousness of a hormonal medication. Anyway, I am personally happy that justanerd is an informed parent trying to instill some sort of morality in her kids. Hopefully when my kids are older they'll abstain and be able to find someone else who chose to do the same
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Justanerd- insulting people is not the way for them to see your side of things. The best way to show people who you feel are not living a christian life who you want to follow your religion is to be the best christian you can be. Teach by example not yelling at them about satan roaming the earth. About hormonal birth control- many many people thought that I was no longer a virgin at a very young age because I have been on the pill on and off scince the age of 12. I would get horrible periods for 2 or 3 weeks at a time so to stop me becoming anemic they put my on birth control. I took a lot of emotional beating from people because I was so young, becuase nobody understood why I needed them if I wasnt having sex. Lots of sleepovers with lots of girls at that age, and I would have to go take my pill. Turns out that I have PMDD- but that another situation/story all together My mom was always very open with me about birth control methods, STD/STI's, and always encouraged me to be very free with any questions I had with her. The rest of my friends had the exact opposite teachings. ( I.e no talk at all or only absisnence - varying religions) Out of all my friends, I waited the longest, until college with my first boyfriend, we were in love and I felt ready for it. My friends started having sex with multiple partners starting sophmore year of high school, and somehow people always came to me for advice, because I knew the most. I never drank in high school, did drugs or anything like that. But I always knew if I did scew up and make a bad choice like that my parents and I would have talked about it, talked about why I made that choice and then I would be punished as such. Grounded for years as I was forewarned Giving a kid a condom isnt saying go run off and have sex! Porn isnt saying go run off and have sex! If you have raised your children the way you wanted them to be raised then they dont have to go get the condoms from the nurse.
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My non-existent kids are having sex because I don't believe in God? That's some twisted logic right there. When I do have children, they will be well-educated about sex and how to protect themselves properly. Honestly, I won't worry about my future children and their sexual habits because I will be upfront about the subject with them and teach them to have sex responsibly when they are ready to do so. Ignoring the issues or trying to scare children into believing they'll be struck to hell of the have sex is NOT the smart way to go about it! Sorry! Really, you're being unbelievably rude. Learn to maturely and respectfully disagree with others and stop act as if you're better than those people to disagree with you-- you're not. "I like your Christ, but I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike Christ." -Gandhi
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Justanerd - I am a Christian and I find your assumption that because I disagree with your sweeping generalities and paranoia means I don't believe in the same god you do offensive. Also understand that setting rigid, fundamental boundaries isn't fool-proof. I was raised in a fundamental Christian home, attended a very conservative, tiny Christian school (graduated with 15 others) and was far from a virgin when I graduated. In fact, most of the previously homeschooled kids ended up being the most rebellious and promiscuous in that school. I'm not saying that that'll happen to your kids - although you made assumptions about mine - but don't think that because you set rules and preach doesn't mean your kids won't have their own ideas.
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"My non-existent kids are having sex because I don't believe in God?" hahaha that actually made me lol...
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Kids having sex is a problem, even in high school. Even though MANY people have had sex in high school, and its considered normal now, we can't justify our own behavior and say its fine for our kids to do the same. Sex should only be for one reason, and I know it's hokey, but it is love. It means SO MUCH more when you're in love, and its too risky to have it for other reasons - STDs, pregnancy, emotional blackmail, etc. I waited until I was 20, and I was NO PRUDE. The backseat of my boyfriends car in high school got just as steamy as anyone else's - I just wasn't having sex, and I've never regretted it. However, I could not have made the choice not to have sex if I hadn't been FULLY INFORMED about the consequences and given the option to do what I wanted if it felt right. I always had condoms in my purse just in case. I cherished feeling in control of my own life as a teenager. In fact, it was one of the most important aspects of becoming an adult - feeling free and making concious decisions for myself, rather than doing exactly what my parents told me to do. How depressing is it to tell children they are too stupid to understand they shouldn't have sex, so we just won't let them know about it! Telling a teenager they are forbidden to have sex is a sure fire way to have them go out and have sex immediately. Why not give them all their options, stressing our expectations along the way, and let them choose their destiny? If they're old enough to drive a car, they're old enough to understand how to avoid making terrible mistakes. Let THEM choose and give them condoms just in case their choice is different than what we want it to be. That is true responsibility and parenting. Because, let's face it, in 4-5 short years, they're on their own and they should know how to make even more life altering decisions by then. If we haven't taught them that yet, they'll be even more susceptible to the ever present devil as justanerd1975 seems to think is roaming the earth. (And yes, I HAVE READ THE ENTIRE BIBLE MULTIPLE TIMES, and I didn't see any mention about a mythical devil controlling my mind in there - tee hee!).
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amerikan... I yelled ..? when was that? K.....and, I didn't say lightening would strike anyone. I think you need to stop putting words into my mouth. As far as my saying that your kids will have sex as teens if you have that attitude, I stick by that. I don't mean to be insulting,however. People on here have no trouble expressing to me how they think my kids are going to turn out, so it seems to be par for the course to make speculations... anne, that is a shame. Maybe your church was a failure, but that doesn't mean that it is wrong to stick to the foundational beliefs of Christianity.... I do educate my kids about sex and birth control, as I said before. tinkerbelle, i think that is a shame...that teen sex is considered normal now.And it's not me who says satan is romaing the earth- you say you have read your bible many times-how do you not know that it was the Lord who said that? How do you not know that the devil is real and present toda |
...that was my best shot...
you can't stop them from doing it......if they are stupid enough to do it....at least hopefully they will be smart enough to protect themselves....i think its a good idea......in this day and age...