|
|
 |
|
|
<< Back
Milwaukee Public Schools to Discuss Providing Condoms to Students
|
|
Abstract
|
| Condoms and counseling would be made available to high school students under a program being proposed by health officials in the Milwaukee Public Schools system. If approved, it could take effect in the upcoming school year.
The initiative, as advanced by District Health Coordinator Kathleen Murphy, would be labeled a “communicable disease prevention program.” Under it:
*Condoms would be available only after a student consulted with a nurse employed by the high school.
*A students could obtain up to two condoms.
*The student also would receive literature on STDs and other issues.
*Funding for the program would come from sources other than the school district.
“We really want to make sure it’s not just the provision of a condom, but an opportunity for a student to have a conversation with a qualified health professional,” Murphy said. She said it was unlikely that parental consent would be necessary to receive condoms because state and federal law allows students to obtain contraception in outside clinics.
At least one local group, the Wisconsin Abstinence Coalition, has objected to the program. Coalition Executive Director Sally Ladke said condoms should not be distributed to any student before a full medical exam, STD testing, and a comprehensive personal and family medical history. “Let’s have counseling with the kids. This should be done in careful consultation with a doctor,” she said.
If approved, the program would join similar experiments in Philadelphia and New York.
According to the federal 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 63.1 percent of high school students in the Minneapolis public school system are sexually active. Among the surveyed high school students who reported having sex, 66.2 percent said they used condoms. That percentage is a significant decline from 2003, when 70.5 percent of sexually active students reported using a condom.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subjects
|
Condoms
Counseling
Disease Prevention
Secondary School Students
State Health Programs
|
|
|
|
|
Disclaimer: NPIN provides this information as a public service only. The views and information provided about the materials, news, funding opportunities, organizations, and conferences do not necessarily state or reflect those of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CDC, or NPIN.
|
|
|
cdcnpin.org News Record #54395
|
|
<< Back
|
|
|
|
