Should California provide mail-order condoms to teenagers for free?

[Mayhem]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/19/mail-order-condoms-california_n_1287250.html

A new program supported by the California Department of Public Health will allow teenagers throughout various parts of the state to order condoms online for free.

The initiative, launched on Tuesday and available through TeenSource.org, a website that provides information about safe sex for California teenagers, will be available for individuals ages 12-19 in Alameda, Sacramento, Kern, San Joaquin and parts of San Francisco counties. According to the Bakersfield Californian, the effort marks an attempt to tackle "alarmingly high" rates of STDs and teen pregnancies in certain regions.

"We can't keep our heads in the sand and pretend there isn't a problem," Amy Moy, vice president of public affairs for the Family Health Council, a nonprofit co-sponsoring the program, told the Bakersfield Californian. "We know teens are engaging and we want to make sure they're as safe as possible."

But some parents and abstinence advocates are none too pleased by the plan, which sends a package of condoms, lubricant and an educational pamphlet to teenagers' homes in a nondescript yellow envelope. "I would think the overwhelming majority of parents in Kern County wouldn't think this is a good idea," Linda Davis, executive director of the Bakersfield Pregnancy Center, told the Associated Press. "And I don't think their kids would have the nerve to request them."

“Oh no, I do not agree with it,” mother Sharon Tillery added to CBS News.

Repeated studies have suggested that providing teenagers with access to birth control and comprehensive sex education does not encourage the population to have intercourse. On the other hand, "no abstinence-only program has yet been proven through rigorous evaluation to help youth delay sex for a significant period of time, help youth decrease their number of sex partners, or reduce STI or pregnancy rates among teens," a report published by Advocates For Youth in 2009 read.

San Francisco county, meanwhile, has some of the lowest instances of teen pregnancy in the state, with 2,387 cases in 2011 as compared with Kern's 13,861.

Do you think it's a good idea to provide mail-order condoms to teenagers for free? Weigh in using our poll below, and add further thoughts in the comments section.

 

[Will E Worm]

:nono: No way.

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[Mr. Daystar]

No, they should provide the education, and the ability to acquire them, but they should have to buy them...even if it's at cost. The State should not use tax payers money, so they can fuck without repercussion, but they should help by providing easy access, and education, and affordability.

 

[bnaked]

Yes. All states should do that. Think about how much more taxpayer money goes towards unplanned children and STD treatment. The cost of a few condoms would be much less compared to that. Am I wrong?

 

[Mr. Daystar]

Yes. All states should do that. Think about how much more taxpayer money goes towards unplanned children and STD treatment. The cost of a few condoms would be much less compared to that. Am I wrong?

No you are not, but my thought was, if condoms are provided, and a condom breaks, or is faulty, then the State is opened to a law suite. If they sell them at cost, and provide all of the education for free, the users are free to buy whatever they choose, and purchased the discounted condoms KNOWING they were free to go to a drugstore and buy any brand they choose. Plus, before you know it, complaints about a variety of variables will arise. Size, color, lubed, etc.

Just my thoughts on it.

 

[Ulysses31]

Probably, here's why:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2103235/Most-children-U-S-born-wedlock.html

 

[lurkingdirk]

I think the fuckers should have to pay for them, just like the rest of us.

Or, perhaps they should be free to everyone!

 

[Henrik Larsson]

I get mine for free, they give them out at the student union(bar)

Condoms aren't expensive though, they shouldn't have to give them out for free, for young people to use them

 

[PlasmaTwa2]

Isn't California broke? This seems like a waste of money.

 

[Jenkum]

the federal government should have to pay for the condoms, not the state of California. The more I look around and see the new parents and young children in the US, the more I wish that condoms could have prevented the parents and the children

 

[squallumz]

fap. oh wait.

 

[Rey C.]

I wonder what the cost of the average smartphone/cellphone plan is in the U.S.? According to this, 75% of kids between the ages of 12 and 17 own cellphones. The only reason I bring this up is because I'm guessing that the average cost of a basic cellphone plan is about $50/month and for a smartphone, the average cost is probably about twice that. To take a girl to the movies costs what now... at least $30? And even a cheap date at a pizza place is going to run at least $25.

It just seems kind of odd to me that a guy (or girl) can afford to spend probably a couple of hundred dollars a month on the "required" cellphone plans, dinners and movies, yet can't afford 75 cents to $1.50 for condoms. Makes no sense.

And look, whether we agree with it or not, we all understand that some kids are going to be having sex. And I don't think any sane person would argue that a 13 or 14 year old girl will just have to learn her lesson when her belly starts to swell out, or a boy when he begins getting a burning itch. It's not that. But if using protection is based on personal responsibility, what sort of message is being sent if the state provides (for free) what ANY person should be able to afford on their own... especially if they're carrying around a $400 iPhone that costs $100/month to maintain???

So... a state which is flat broke is buying condoms for kids who can afford to buy their own condoms.

I'm sorry, but color me confused.

I think what I need to do is apply to be a foster father to ten or fifteen sexually active, under aged girls in California. No, not because I'm some sort of perv or anything like that! But the way I figure it, as soon as one of these state provided condoms breaks and one of my little bundles of joy gets pregnant, we are going to have one HELL of a pay day on our hands. :nanner: Maybe as much as 900 trillion dollars! With no money in the coffers, Cali might have to pay me in state monuments or something. But that's OK. I know a guy with a truck. I bet I could get the folks at Lake Norman to let me put the Golden Gate bridge up there!

 

[Ace Bandage]

You could just teach them how to pull out. Might save a few bucks for a state already in a financial quagmire. :dunno:

That was my birth control during high school and college, and I don't have any children... that I know of.

 

[Mr_Balls]

I got free condoms in the mail, I just wrote to Trojan when I was a young buck.

 

[Smallville22]

Yes, access to birth control and comprehensive sex education is important.

 

[Ace Boobtoucher]

the federal government should have to pay for the condoms, not the state of California. The more I look around and see the new parents and young children in the US, the more I wish that condoms could have prevented the parents and the children

The more I read of your bullshit posts, the more I wish that condoms could have prevented your parents and their children.

 

[Mr. Daystar]

The only people the Feds are buying condoms for, are our soldiers...and they use 'em to keep sand out of the barrels of their rifles.

They should buy them for the taxpayers...this way we won't catch anything, when they fuck us!

 

[LeyaFalcon]

No it would be a waste of money they're too dumb to use them anyways

 

[CptHa]

No, they should provide the education, and the ability to acquire them, but they should have to buy them...even if it's at cost. The State should not use tax payers money, so they can fuck without repercussion, but they should help by providing easy access, and education, and affordability.

Couldn't agree more.

 

[STDiva]

Free for everybody or everybody pays. More fuck ups get free shit? Only in America.