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California bill would require high schools to hand out free condoms
- johntiger1 4y agoJust a few unwanted pregnancies prevented would easily cover the cost of the program (not to mention the emotional suffering)
- mtzaldo 4y agoand STDs as well.
- dsfyu404ed 4y agoEdit: I repent for being misinformed.
- thwayunion 4y agoThe level of sexual activity and number of partners may be lower than people in the early 20s (btw, that's certainly not universally true). But that's only one part of the transmission story. The other part of the story is asymptomatic transmission due to a lack of regular STI testing and access to adequate treatment. In other words, high schools are particularly high risk environments not so much because high schoolers are more sexually active or have a greater number of parnters per se, because also and perhaps primarily because high school kids typically have a higher barrier to accessing regular STI testing and receiving STI treatment.
- n4r9 4y agoWhy are you so confident? The 15-19 age bracket has nearly the highest prevalence of STDs: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9241562889 https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9241562889
- oneplane 4y agoExcellent plan; if availability is universal it removes the perceived meaning from 'owning a condom' because if you have one it no longer has to be 'because you had some plans', it can purely be 'because everyone is prepared' (on top of the: simple health benefits due to removing barriers to availability is pretty significant).
- neap24 4y agoMeh. Maybe this would have been a bigger deal when birth control was difficult to acquire, but the price has dropped so drastically it’s practically free these days. Also, I thought the narrative was that High Schoolers were having less sex than ever anyway.
- iXce 4y agoRelying on birth control pills and other primarily woman-oriented techniques leaves 100% of the downsides to the woman (from health risks to emotional challenges and beyond). Comparatively, a condom has barely any downside for anyone involved.
- cm2012 4y agoCome on man. Condoms are a fantastic and effective public health intervention. But they definitely make sex feel 70% worse, there is a downside.
- nickthegreek 4y ago70% is a bit dramatic. The pills do not protect against STDs. Also, when I was a teen, I did the math. Having 70% "worse" sex was actually 100% better than having 0% sex.
- btseytlin 4y agoIt's at least $1 per condom (if buying last minute, at a convenience store) and requires going out of the way to get them. As another comment noted, if having a condom wasn't a signal of intention then I think it would help with usage.
- aradox66 4y agoAlso birth control does nothing for STDs...
- WesternWind 4y agoI mean it is possible that right wing judges like Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas will try to ban birth control nationally. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/12/13/23505459/supreme-court-birth-control-contraception-constitution-matthew-kacsmaryk-deanda-becerra https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/12/13/23505459/...
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- leokeba 4y agoHow is not that a thing already ? Especially in California, isn't it supposed to be a "progressive state" ? As a french person, the US seems totally bonkers about everything related to pregnancies and sex in general.
- Kye 4y agoLike all US states, California is a collection of dense progressive islands in a sea of sparsely populated and variously conservative space. Any progressive policy still has to get buy-in from moderates and conservatives.
- leokeba 4y agoIndeed that's more or less what it looks like, thanks for the explanation though. Reading the article, what seems even more bonkers is the fact that pharmacies refuse to sell condoms to "underage kids", is that a legal thing or just very conservative using their (admittedly very broken) personal sense of moral duty to not comply ?
- comte7092 4y agoI don’t live in California so I don’t know, however, it likely already is the case in many schools in California, this bill is just a mandate. When I was in school in another state, many moons ago, they had free condoms available.
- leokeba 4y agoOh right, thanks for giving a bit of nuance to this, here I was starting to see California as a horror-movie style orphanage from the 1800s.
- dragonwriter 4y ago> How is not that a thing already? Especially in California, isn't it supposed to be a "progressive state" ? It is and has been for a long time, but not everywhere in the state, hence the mandate. Here's a news story about opposition to the existing program in the state's largest district having evaporated... in 1993. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-07-06-me-10392-story.html https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-07-06-me-10392-...
- infinityisbased 4y ago[flagged]
- Filligree 4y agoIn not doing this already? My school was doing this in the early 90s.
- thekingshorses 4y agoAn influential study finds that legalized abortion following Roe v. Wade accounts for a large portion of the decline in U.S. crime rates since the 1990s. But some economists are not convinced. [1] Abortion and Crime, Revisited -podcast [2] https://journalistsresource.org/economics/abortion-crime-research-donohue-levitt/ https://journalistsresource.org/economics/abortion-crime-res... https://freakonomics.com/podcast/abortion-and-crime-revisited/ https://freakonomics.com/podcast/abortion-and-crime-revisite...
- b800h 4y agoI believe leaded petrol is a counterargument.
- mabbo 4y agoThe original freakonomics chapter on the topic talks about this as well, I believe. They said (if I'm remembering this correctly) that there is some correlation to the decline of leaded gas, but the decline in crime occurred at different times in different states- and the states the legalized abortion sooner saw drops in crime sooner. So if it's just the leaded gas, which changed for all of the US at once, why would there be any correlation to abortion laws at all?
- dgrin91 4y agoThe counterpoint here is that if you view abortion as murder (as many people in US do) then the utilitarian tradeoff is obviously balanced in the wrong direction. Whats worse, 600k murders (via abortion) or tens of thousands of general crimes (including regular murder, but mostly not murder such as burglary)? Again, this is if you start with the assumption that abortion is wrong/murder.
- jleyank 4y agoIs a miscarriage murder under this definition? Makes doing anything strenuous or athletic for women if it is.
- threatofrain 4y ago
- vlunkr 4y agoWhere I live they are in a locked cabinet at most stores, we've got a ways to go lol.
- AlexandrB 4y agoThat's so weird. Do you know what the rationale is? Condoms are neither particularly valuable, like jewelry nor potentially harmful, like weapons.
- nonethewiser 4y agoAbstinence is a real option. Sure, not everyone will practice it. But it remains the best way to avoid pregnancy and should be recognized as such.
- imwillofficial 4y ago[flagged]
- oneplane 4y agoIt's not a real option if you want to have sex, and lots of humans want to have sex. So if you want to have sex, but do not want to risk an STD or pregnancy, a condom is a highly effective tool.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- mrleinad 4y agoNot leaving your house seems to be the best way to avoid traffic accidents too.
- nonethewiser 4y agoIt’s important and necessary to leave your house. Do you feel the same way about high schoolers having sex?
- foogazi 4y agoRegardless of how we feel about it wouldn’t that be up to the high schoolers ?
- mrleinad 4y agoYes. It's really important that teenagers get to learn everything they can about the world. And sex is a huge part of it. That doesn't mean they shouldn't be guided or counseled about it, but they should be free to experience it within boundaries. Healthy humans will arise from that.
- endisneigh 4y agoThis is a good bill, but I’m not really sure why the government thinks they should be free. On Amazon now you can get them as cheap as a quarter each. Surely a bubble gum style vending machine and selling them at cost (or quarter or less) would be possible as well? I think I’m mainly jaded of the government giving away things and the generally negative outcomes it creates sometimes.
- scubbo 4y ago> I’m not really sure why the government thinks they should be free. Why do you think they shouldn't be? > I think I’m mainly jaded of the government giving away things and the generally negative outcomes it creates sometimes. What are your predicted bad outcomes of more-freely available condoms?
- endisneigh 4y agoThe question isn’t why they shouldn’t. The question is why they should. Free for instance means over consumption and waste. Either it will be at the schools discretion, which is bad, or bad actors will take everything resulting in some not having access to a condom until a refill. Cheap is better than free imho
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- scubbo 4y ago> bad actors will take everything resulting in some not having access to a condom until a refill It must be extraordinarily scary to live with such suspicion and paranoia.
- dragontamer 4y agoThe delinquents at my high school commonly repurposed Condoms as balloons and had them laying around the school as a prank. And condoms were never free at my school. Just blow them up with your breath, tie up the ends and watch people get disgusted as you leave them around. I mean, yeah, delinquents are gonna be a pain in any case but free anything is just asking for trouble.
- Clubber 4y agoThey did this at my college years ago, and they were the industrial strength, extra-thick, completely lack of any sensation type that was only to be used as a last resort. I hope this has changed since.
- sumthinprofound 4y agohttps://www.nyc.gov/site/doh/health/health-topics/condom.page https://www.nyc.gov/site/doh/health/health-topics/condom.pag... >>Free products are distributed at local businesses, community-based organizations and health care facilities. The Health Department's NYC Condom Availability Program gives away more than 30 million free safer sex products every year to over 3,500 locations throughout the five boroughs. These free products include male NYC Condoms, internal condoms (FC2) and lubricant.
- mdgrech23 4y agoI hate the language used in the title - "hand out" to me a headline like that is meant to inflame certain people.
- orwin 4y agoWhat, you don't hand out free condoms in High school? I had to ask the school nurse, but we had them available in middle school. Weird moment, but the school nurse took a moment to explain basic stuff I didn't know at the time.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]