Once or twice a year, peer educators, students our age working with Planned Parenthood to educate the public on issues surrounding sexual health, will stand outside of McClatchy. They hand out condoms and other resources involving safe sex. These educators are required to stand out on the sidewalk; the school does not allow them to pass out condoms on campus.
McClatchy’s student support center does not pass out contraceptives to students looking for them, and it is against school policy for students to pass out condoms to other students.
Peer educator and student at McClatchy, Alyssa Perez says on this lack of availability, “I think that condoms are vital to protecting students, and when we make it inaccessible, it’s harder for them to have responsible sex,” she continues, noting the lengths she must sometimes go to do her job as a peer educator, “…and the fact that I can’t hand them out at school, or that I have to be really discreet about it, kind of makes me feel like I’m doing something I’m not supposed to do, which seem counterintuitive when I’m trying to ensure the health of other students.”
There is a condom availability program that was instituted by the school board in 1998, though there are not condoms available at McClatchy. The policy requires the superintendent to designate specific locations where condoms are to be made available. Hongdara Wong, a nurse at the school says, “The district has to work with parents to decide if condoms should be made available. They haven’t designated a location as of yet.”
The PTSA President would not comment on the issue when reached out to.
“The school’s policy has always been, basically, abstinence, and they encourage that. In order for kids to get the condoms, they still have to go through the proper education regarding use and application. It’s out of our hands, it’s up to the superintendent and parents,” says Wong.
According to Wong, because McClatchy does not have a “well space” or clinical center, we are not eligible for designation, as condoms are medical devices, that are required to be given out with instruction and counseling on the contraceptive and safe use.
“It’s kind of equated to the way you can’t hand out ibuprofen, but as far as this being the same degree, I don’t see that health risk, especially if it’s not being immediately consumed or anything like that, and it’s not being taken into their body, I feel like it stems more from a belief system than actual medical risk,” says Alyssa Perez.
Studies have shown that increasing the availability of condoms in high schools will not increase or promote sexual activity, but can instead lower the rate of unintended pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and HIV. According to Advocates for Youth, a study of New York City’s school condom availability program found a significant increase in condom use among sexually active students but no increase in sexual activity.
Schools around the country have implemented condom availability programs successfully in large number. Around 418 public schools in the U.S. make condoms available to students through means such as a school nurses, counselors, teachers, vending machines, and even students.
STD’s are alarmingly high in California. The state has the second-highest rate of congenital syphilis. More than a quarter-million Californians were diagnosed in 2016 with Chlamydia or Gonorrhea, a 40% jump from five years ago, according to state officials. Students that are sexually active are at great risk for the contraction of such STDs.
Access to contraception is a basic health care right. One in which students deserve access to here and now. Not down the block. Let peer educators on campus if we do not at the very least have access to condoms in our own wellness center.
Though there is a condom availability program within the district, there has been a failure to proactively implement said program. According to Wong, there is not one designated location within the district, even as the policy has been in place for twenty years. The convoluted nature of the policy makes it difficult for students to effectively receive condoms The policy has not increased access to condoms to high school students. And still, it is against the rules for students to pass out condoms to their peers.
Access to health care here and now, not down the block.