Condoms For 12-Year-Olds: Springfield Massachusetts School Committee Approves Contraceptive Policy

A Massachusetts school has taken its first step toward giving students as young as 12 free access to condoms at school.

The Springfield School Committee voted 5-1 Thursday in favor of the "Comprehensive Reproductive Health Policy," which aims to promote safe sex, prevent sexually transmitted diseases and teen pregnancy.

Under the proposed program, students would be able to acquire condoms from school nurses and high-school based clinics, according to The Republican. Those who receive the contraceptive would be counseled on abstinence and proper storage and use.

The district would notify parents of the program before it takes effect, allowing them to opt out if they don't want their children to participate. The proposal requires a second vote of approval to be implemented.

The sole dissenting vote came from committee member Peter Murphy, who said he's not comfortable with providing condoms to 12-year-olds when the legal age of consent in Massachusetts is 16, according to The Inquisitr.

Springfield's teen birth rate has increased to make it the fourth-highest in the state in 2009, The Republican reports.

Springfield's move counters a number of political efforts on sex education across the country. The Wisconsin State Assembly on Wednesday passed a bill that would impose abstinence-only sex ed in schools. The proposal also requires that sex ed courses discuss parental responsibility and the socioeconomic benefits of marriage.

Utah is also just one step away from legalizing an abstinence-only sex ed policy that would prohibit discussion of both contraception and homosexuality in class. The policy would lift the current requirement that all public schools must teach sex ed in grades 8 through 12, leaving the districts to decide whether to offer sex ed classes that teach an abstinence-only curriculum, or not offer the course at all.

Comments

[Jill Smith10]

06:19 PM on 08/28/2012

I am all for safe sex for teeagers, but a 12 year old having sex even with another 12 year old ia considered sexual assault. How many sex offenders is the state of Massachusetts going to be putting on their registry? This is taken directly from the Massachusetts Commonwealth General Laws (malegislature.gov):

"Sex offense'', an indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 under section 13B of chapter 265; aggravated indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of 14 under section 13B1/2 of said chapter 265; indecent assault and battery on a person age 14 or over under section 13H of said chapter 265;

So does this mean if two 12 year olds has consensual sex that they will not be persecuted by law and put on the sex offender registry? There are a lot of teenagers in jail and on the registry for sexual assault that was consensual with a 14-17 year old. Maybe the schools should read the laws because I see a lot of future sex offenders with this.

[Lila Folster]

06:28 PM on 08/28/2012

I completely agree. Why do those in authority not understand the legal ramifications for these children?? It is not simply a question of stds or pregnancies, it is a punishable sex offense!

[josh slatter]

08:39 PM on 07/19/2012

I remember 20 or 30 years ago people actually got married before having kids and it was a wonderful and happy moment. Now child birth is hated, hated so much that we need to kill them and use condoms and contraception, you dont need that if you would just have even the slightest bit of patients and wait for that man/women of your dreams.

[josh slatter]

08:35 PM on 07/19/2012

THEY ARE KIDS FOR GODS SAKE. This is disgusting awful insane terrible saddistic they are way to young. This is what makes people think slaughtering fetus and birth control is ok. Just have abstinence.

[BigWillyG]

01:27 AM on 05/24/2012

Good idea in theory but if the kids I knew who were that age when they started having sex are any indication they aren't going to bother with the condoms. Be nice if they would. :(

[massimo]

05:25 PM on 03/26/2012

I'm going to chime in on a somewhat different vein. I see a lot of comments concerning abstinence and the failure of abstinence only education etc.. Arguments against that are essentially arguments that stress that you can't fight nature. I used to believe this argument, but oddly enough there was another huffpo article I read a few months ago that made me scratch my head. If you google a bit looking for japanese teen sex rates you will find an article that shows a very low amount of teen sex, or even reported interest. That suggested to me that there is a heavy cultural component to these things, and not merely nature at work. What do you think folks?

[biscuitdave]

12:09 AM on 03/25/2012

I have two friends who became fathers at 14. Tell me again how condoms are a bad idea.

[josh slatter]

08:33 PM on 07/19/2012

They are to young to be doing stuff like that anyway its a consequence dont have sex until you are married

[Dallas Dunlap]

05:49 PM on 03/24/2012

OK wingers, here are the real facts of life: As soon as kids reach puberty they want to have sex. If God didn't want them to have sex, he wouldn't have given them puberty.
The reason they didn't have these problems in the good old days is that pregnant teens got married. If you think 15 y/o getting married is a good idea, change the laws back.
The teenage pregnancy rate has been in decline since the 1960s, exactly because of available contraception.
You wingers keep fighting nature and you're going to have a lot more children having children.

[SalesmanForLife]

05:34 AM on 03/25/2012

I am no right winger but I believe children should be taught to understand the urge and resist it becuase they are in no position to be parents. You just want us all to ge feral? What insanity guy.

[Dallas Dunlap]

06:12 AM on 03/25/2012

salesmanforlife - Parents canteach kids whatever they want. But young people have sex and we should deal with that fact. The pregnancy rate was much higher in times when people were more religious and when birth control was not available.

[Someone Out There]

06:34 AM on 03/25/2012

"I believe children should be taught to understand the urge and resist it"

That's called abstinence education, and it's one of the greatest policy failures in history. The simple fact is that it does not work.

[josh slatter]

08:31 PM on 07/19/2012

You are a sick person for thinking its ok for people under 18 to have sex.

[Lila Folster]

06:21 PM on 08/28/2012

People under 18 have had sex for centuries and it was always considered normal behavior.

[Jill Smith10]

09:11 PM on 08/28/2012

Most people 100 years ago and many up to the late 50's were under the age of 18 when they got married and started a family. It is very normal for teens to have sex. If parents want their kids to abstain, then they need to be talking to their kids at home and teaching them what they want them to know before they learn it from friends or tv. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good "adult" tv show, but I also think that after 8:00pm is appropriate. We just keep throwing sex at kids, then tell them it's wrong and illegal. I believe that this is sending a mixed signal as well.

[Acert]

03:32 PM on 03/23/2012

It's better to hand out condoms too soon than too late.

[been2there]

12:28 AM on 03/22/2012

As I once pointed out to a right-wing school teacher, all those pregnant minors do not have a signed permission slip on file somewhere! Advertising, TV, MTV, radio, and magazines keep teens and even tweens in a state of arousal all the time. That reality won't change, so we had better start dealing with the fall-out--and supplying condoms is a start.

[Qcislander]

01:28 AM on 03/22/2012

The "problem" of pregnant minors in today's proportion predates the *Bible*, let alone modern media... and hasn't changed in thousands of years.

Yes... supplying condoms is a start. Barely the first *inkling* of a start.

The goal is a society in which every minimally educated 8 year old knows pretty much everything vital there is to know about reproduction (hence sex) except experience of its actual practice... and knows just as clrealy what precautions are necessary in any sexual situation.

Only in such a society (after perhaps 5 generations of its existence) can we expect puberty to be a perfectly normal and manageable time of life for both parents and children alike.

[CASnyder]

06:12 PM on 03/24/2012

Yes, the media diet is intended to keep everyone focused on sex, and few parents make the effort to control kids exposure at home, much less anywhere else, since many are media addicts themselves. And abstinence only education doesn't work well in that environment, particularly coming from authorities during the years when rebellion is sufficient motivation on its own. Giving access to the tools of self-protection doesn't preclude the teaching of caution and the wisdom of waiting for a committed relationship.

[Qcislander]

04:38 AM on 03/21/2012

It really seems to me that very few people here are willing to accept and deal with the *reality* of late childhood, puberty, and very early adolescence. At that first major surge of hormones, some kids (as young as 8 or 9 sometimes) get horny enough to totally overwhelm their undeveloped common sense. Once they've had a single experience of orgasmic sex or nearly so, can you imagine *anyone* giving it up?

It's natural... lamentable for sure, but natural all the same.

Face it, people: it's not a large percentage of the population, but many, many tens of thousands of 12 year old boys and girls *regularly* have sex in North America... and in terms of population-percentage, this has been the case for as long as humanity has lived here.

Nothing attempted by any society in history has ever reduced (let alone prevented) this sort of behavior... and simply ignoring the facts (abstinence-only education IS ignoring the facts) has never served *anywhere* but to make the numbers of early pregnancies and STDs higher.

Condoms should be available (*parents* should provide them) even for 9 year olds if 9 year olds are having sex. No, it won't prevent many pregnancies (how many 9yo's are fertile, after all?), but it will sure help minimize the spread of STDs.

[litwahf]

02:22 AM on 03/22/2012

Mediterranean countries

In some countries, such as Italy and Spain, the low rate of adolescent pregnancy (6 births per 1,000 women aged 15–19 in 2002 in both countries) may be attributed to traditional values and social stigmatization. These two countries also have low abortion rates (lower than Sweden and the other Nordic countries) and their teenage pregnancy rates are among the lowest in Europe. (wikipedia)

*******************
The real problem is not that young people do not understand what sex is or how to avoid pregnancy and disease; the real problem is the "breakdown of the first institution of moral education, the family,". Italy also has a 16% divorce rate.
All the type of stuff that people in a liberal sexual environment where it's normal to get drunk and sleep with whoever, just don't want to hear.

[Qcislander]

06:14 AM on 03/22/2012

Italy's divorce rate has nothing to do with functional families and everything to do with overwhelming social (read, "Church of Rome") pressure to accept and normalize almost any evil in preference to the dissolution of a dangerous union. That's perfectly in keeping with the Church's centuries of protecting its own pedophiles.

The rest of what you've said above is raving.

[Qcislander]

06:25 AM on 03/22/2012

In your own words:
"Complete parental control that involves extended family and trusted, like minded, community. I will not accept that I have no say in what my minor children do or don't do and insist that situations are not tolerated where I may not be in control."

A rational person does not seek to control human beings... even his/her own children... (s)he seeks to *teach* them.

Grow up and get real. PLEASE. You have children whose futures depend on it.

[CASnyder]

06:16 PM on 03/24/2012

There is evidence that children in industrialized countries are becoming sexually mature and fertile far earlier than ever before in history, and it accelerated drastically in the last century, the timing of which correlates to the ubiquitization of plastics in our lives. All plastics tend to shed particles over time, often into the food cooked or served in them, and the plasticizers do mimic the natural hormones that bring on sexual maturity, and also increase the incidence of cancers of the genitals and mammary glands. Concerned parents might want to get rid of plastic food containers from their lifestyle to reduce the risk of early sexual maturity and of cancer later in life.

[cliffhammond]

12:17 AM on 03/21/2012

Uuuuuhhhh, I want an orange one.

[Qcislander]

01:31 AM on 03/21/2012

12 year olds wouldn't ask like that. You have to be between 14 and 17 to be that dumb. I think there's a law that says so.

[jamiefoxer]

12:16 AM on 03/21/2012

There's a LOT of things that need to change. Teen Pregnancy is a symptom. It cannot be tackled on its own. it must be tackled holistically. In the meantime, until that policy is developed and implemented, handing out condoms will help in reducing teen pregnancies and STD transmission.
Get with it, prudes. Sex is happening, even at ages as early as 9 or 10. You're not gonna stop that by railing against it or talking about the "good ol days" when no one even thought of sex. The environment where these kids are being raised has changed dramatically and while we waste resources fighting wars and giving tax cuts for the rich, dedicated people that would be the ones on the front lines to help these childrens are being laid off.

I know. I WAS ONE OF THEM (budget cuts). Thanks Republican anti-education policies.

[Qcislander]

01:08 AM on 03/21/2012

"Sex is happening, even at ages as early as 9 or 10." (occasionally much, much earlier... and I'm not talking about "abuse")

Amen! Keep shouting that (especially at the parents of 2-7 year olds) until you're blue in the face. None of us likes that fact... hell few of us want to acknowledge it, let alone *accept* the truth of it...

... but that doesn't make it not fact. Denying reality in any form is really no different from wearing a blindfold: the real world is still there no matter how tightly you cover your eyes.

[jamiefoxer]

12:16 AM on 03/21/2012

a lot of people here are talking smack without knowing jack-squat about Springfield. I'm not only a Springfield resident, I taught at a majority Latino and African american school here in the city. These kids come from backgrounds where either the parents are unable to provide them with sufficient sexual education at home, or they simple don't care, don't want to, or cannot give it to them (because the parents don't exist). These kids get their cues mostly from friends, TV, music, and other surrounding environmental media on what's acceptable. They get the opposite of abstinence education, which is a daily dose of sexualization at an early age. You cannot counter this with a regular class on abstinence taught by some goofy goody-tooshoes who will be promptly be laughed at in class and disrupted constantly (I know cause I saw it happen to teachers). You don't attack the teen pregnancy problem with abstinence only education. It's a multi pronged attack that requires propping up the economic and social level of resources and education for the parents. You teach the parents how to raise their children. You allow them to have access to public programs where they can enroll their children so that the children are not truant after school hours (a key moment where many of these children engage in unsupervised sexual activity). You reform schools following a model like the one Finland uses, etc.

[Qcislander]

12:45 AM on 03/21/2012

"You teach... You allow... You reform..."

You forgot to mention one thing: the topic.

"You provide simple barrier contraception and prophylaxis to anyone remotely interested in sex."

Condoms for 9 year olds if 9 year olds are having sex. No, it won't prevent many pregnancies (how many 9yo's are fertile, after all?), but it will sure help minimize the spread of STDs.

[litwahf]

03:11 PM on 03/20/2012

So you'll give a 12 year old the keys to the car because it has airbags and and they'll probably do it behind your back anyway?

[Qcislander]

09:02 PM on 03/20/2012

No. I'll teach my kid the rules of the road, beginning the day he can talk.

That way, if he's stupid enough to steal my keys and my car, he might survive.

[jellybiscuit]

03:18 AM on 03/21/2012

So... you remove the airbags from your car because they deserve to die if they take it behind your back?

[Qcislander]

04:49 AM on 03/22/2012

I'd wager good money he thinks they also deserve to die if they take it from the rear.

[aralpharetta]

10:31 AM on 03/20/2012

RiDICKulous instead of promoting abstinence/(c)elibacy SODH

[jessicadevyn]

11:28 AM on 03/20/2012

Teaching abstinence only has proven to raise teen pregnancy rates and STDs in all cases. Students are more likely to delay sexual intercourse if they have comprehensive sex education because

1. It's not this strange, taboo subject ie Forbidden Fruit

2. They know what they are avoiding.

[Arge]

04:58 PM on 03/22/2012

Ok, so people say that abstinence = "sex is something we shouldn't talk about. Avoid sex." ??

I was taught to be "abstinent" but I was taught what sex was. My parents taught me what sex is, what it's about, but they also told me not to engage in sex at my age. And I understood WHY because they also taught me that sex is not only physical; it's psychological, it's emotional. They told me about all the baggage it brings in a relationship, and also the dangers that could possibly come with sex (STDs). I decided that I don't need to have a sex life right now, and I came to that decision because I was informed, not because I ignored it's existence.

So, I'm abstinent because I'm informed. This is the sort of abstinence education I support. But I've read some people's comments here saying that the only sort of informed education is just the physical, "this is how you do it safely" kind instead of the holistic kind that involves it's affect in a relationship, (beyond pleasure).

That's the only way to keep children from having sex. They hurt themselves and overcomplicate their lives so much; it's something they shouldn't have to deal with until they're old enough to responsibly handle that much intimacy in a relationship.

[Madim]

08:14 AM on 03/21/2012

Celibacy is unnatural in the living world. Why promote unnatural behaviour in normal kids ?