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Massachusetts district considers making condoms available in middle schools

Category: Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Condoms are considered one of the most effective methods for lowering the preventing the spread of infections and reducing a person's chances of receiving a positive STD test. But does that mean that middle schoolers should have free access to them?

This is a question one Massachusetts school district is grappling with. The Springfield School Committee recently voted 5 to 1 in favor of a new sexual health policy that would enable children at all of the city's middle schools to acquire condoms for free, according to the Springfield Republican.

Parents will have the ability to opt their children out of the program, which would deny their kids access to condoms. However, some have said that providing condoms to children as young as 12 is not the right move.

The idea of providing condoms in schools is not necessarily new. A 2000 study published in the Western Journal of Medicine indicated that the effects of such policies have been studied at least three times. These studies have delivered inconsistent results, though two did suggest that students may be more likely to use a condom during intercourse.