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Should condom vending machines be installed in schools?
Echo Issue Outline 1999 / 44: copyright © Echo Education Services
First published in The Echo news digest and newspaper sources index.
Issue outline by J M McInerney
What they said ...
'Although we do not want to encourage promiscuity, I think it's important to encourage those students already having sex to have safe sex'
Mr Stephen Franzi-Ford, the president of the Association of School Councils in Victoria
'[The 'safe sex' message] doesn't tell the young person he is still putting himself (and his partner) at risk of acquiring a sexually transmitted disease'
Mr Glenn Williams, a psychologist and executive director of Focus on the Family Australia
On October 25, 1999,the Herald Sun reported exclusively that 'Condom vending machines will be allowed in high schools for the first time under the new Labor government.'
The rest of the article indicated that the new Labor Education Minister, Ms Mary Delahunty, had stated that she did not support the former Liberal government's blanket ban on condom vending machines in schools and that she believed school communities should be able to formulate their own policies on the issue.
The change in policy provoked immediate public debate, at least in the letters page of the Herald Sun.
The broader issue of condom use within the general community had been raised three weeks before around Pope Paul II's opposition to this form of contraception.
Background
Within Australia, it appears that only Canberra has a policy of installing condom vending machines in schools. The machines where installed in senior secondary schools in the Australian Capital Territory some years ago.
There have been requests and recommendations that condom vending machines be installed in Victorian schools over a number of years.
Last year a 16-year-old student from Lowanna College lobbied the former education minister, Mr Phil Gude, seeking a six-month trial of a machine in his school.
The request was rejected.
It appears that the Herald Sun, in its first interview with the new minister for education, Ms Mary Delahunty, raised the question of condom vending-machines.
The minister responded by stating she believed it was a decision best taken by school communities. She later added that only exclusively senior school campuses would be free to decide to install the machines.
School policies regarding condom availability appear a more vexed issue in the United States.
Though it appears that condom-vending are not in most schools, condoms are apparently regularly distributed, either on request or without, by the school nurse.
As of October, 1997, some 400 United States schools had a condom distribution program.
There is a number of Internet sites dealing with condom availability in schools.
A good place to start is with two contrasting articles presenting different views on this issue, both published in the student news publication of the University of Wyoming, Branding Iron Online.
One article is titled, Condoms should be given in schools and was written by Branding Iron columnist Jay O'Brien.
The other article is titled, Keep condoms out of schools and was written by Branding Iron guest columnist Damon Gibbons.
Both articles were published in 1999.
They can be found at http://bi.uwyo.edu/opinion99/keep.htm
An article was published in The Daltonian summarising study findings on the impact of condom availability on adolescent sexual behaviour.
The Daltonian is a publication of the Dalton School, New York. The school has been in existence since about 1915 and has a reputation as an academically progressive institution.
The article was published in The Daltonian, Volume LV, Issue 3 (1997-98)
It is titled, New Study Says: Condoms in Schools Do Not Promote Sex and was written by Marina Squerciati.
It can be found at http://www.dalton.org/groups/daltonian/pastissues/issue3/3.6_condoms.html
HIV InSite, an Internet site drawing together news reports and abstracts of research studies on sexually transmitted disease has a more detailed summary of the findings referred to in The Daltonian article sited above.
The article was reproduced from the New York Times and was first published on October 3, 1999.
The article is titled, The Impact of Condoms in Schools.
It can be found at http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/ads/9710/97100301.html
An article, published in the Jewish Bulletin of Northern California, examines the potential impact of school-based condom-distribution on the authority of the family.
It suggests that schools should only take a role in shaping adolescent sexual conduct if parents have clearly indicated that they do not want to assume this responsibility.
The article is titled, Distributing condoms in schools can weaken families.
It was written by Earl Raab and was published on June 2, 1995.
It can be found at http://shamash.org/jb/bk950602/comm2.htm
An article looking at the issue of condom distribution from an Australian perspective can be found at http://www.sympac.com.au/~rboyle/condoms.html
It is titled, Condoms for Scouts and was written by Russell Boyle.
Russell Boyle is an education consultant and a practising teacher with 25 years experience teaching mathematics to Australian teenagers in both public and private schools.
The article suggests there is growing support for condom-vending machines within the scouting movement and suggests that this should extend to schools.
This article was first published in Directions in Education (Volume 8:4; 26 March 1999).
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Arguments in favour of condom vending machines being installed in schools
The major argument offered in favour of condom vending machines being installed in schools is that they would meet a significant need.
According to this line of argument a substantial percentage of senior secondary school students is sexually active.
Dr Michael Carr-Gregg, a consultant psychologist at the Albert Road Centre for Health, has claimed that the average age at which young people first have intercourse is 15 or 16.
Dr Carr-Gregg further claims that 30 per cent of year 11 students and 50 per cent of year 12 students are no longer virgins.
Those who accept these statistics often go on to claim that this level of sexual activity among adolescents suggests the need to encourage them to practise 'safe sex'.
Dr Carr-Gregg claims that currently less than 50 per cent of sexually active teenagers use any form of contraception. He states that as a consequence 20 per cent of sexually active female adolescents become pregnant within a month and 50 per cent within six months.
It has also been claimed that sexually transmitted diseases are more common among adolescents than would be the case if condoms were more readily available.
It has been suggested that for many sexually active teenagers purchasing condoms from standard retail outlets is embarrassing and so they do not do so.
Condom vending machines within schools, it has been argued, would make the purchase of prophylactics less difficult with the suggested result that there would be fewer teenage pregnancies and a reduced incidence of sexually transmitted diseases.
The next argument offered in favour of installing condom vending machines within schools is that the easy availability of condoms is unlikely to promote further casual sex among youth.
According to this line of argument, in states or other countries where condoms are readily available to young people there has not been a dramatic increase in adolescent sexual activity.
This point has also been made by Dr Carr-Gregg who has pointed to the situation which he claims exists in Canberra. (Canberra installed condom vending machines in secondary schools some years ago.)
Dr Carr-Gregg claims, 'Rather than creating a situation where young people suddenly started satisfying their carnal lust during recess, student welfare co-ordinators [in Canberra] reported a decrease in teenage pregnancy and the transmission of sexually transmissible diseases.'
It has further been claimed in support of the current proposal being put by the Victorian Labor government that it is very limited in its scope.
After the release of the first report of her statement on the issue, the Victorian Education Minister, Ms Mary Delahunty, noted that condom vending machines would only be available in schools with exclusively senior campuses.
Ms Delahunty stated, 'I should stress we're only talking about senior campuses here, very senior students and I think we have ... less than 30 senior campuses in the state.
A similar position was put by Mr Ted Brierley, the president of the Victorian Secondary Principals' Association.
Mr Brierley expressed general support for the proposal but further noted, 'Obviously you would not put them in a very public place, and you would only make them available to senior students.'
The concern here appears to be that sexual experimentation not be potentially promoted to young students and that condoms only be available to students a significant proportion of whom were already likely to be sexually active.
This point was made by Mr Stephen Franzi-Ford, the president of the Association of School Councils in Victoria.
Mr Franzi-Ford has noted, 'Although we do not want to encourage promiscuity, I think it's important to encourage those students already having sex to have safe sex.'
Finally it has been argued that there is nothing coercive about the new government's policy.
Schools are not, it has been noted, all going to be forced to install condom vending machines. Instead, the decision will be one taken by individual school communities.
Ms Delahunty has stated, 'My view is that's a decision to be made by the school community ... If devolution means anything, it's got to mean school communities make those very sensitive decisions ... you can't have a minister dictating that.'
Arguments against condom vending machines being installed in schools
There is a number of arguments offered against the installation of condom vending machines into secondary schools.
The first argument is that it sends young people the 'wrong message'.
A number of things appear to be meant by this.
In part this argument suggests that having condom vending machines in school toilet blocks may serve to encourage sexual experimentation among adolescents.
According to this line of argument, the presence of the machines suggests to teenagers that their schools accept and approve their sexual activity. For some students, it has been suggested, this may be an encouragement to begin sexual experimentation.
In addition it has been maintained that it would be extremely difficult to isolate the machines from the wider school community and so they may serve as an encouragement toward sexual activity for students younger than 15 or 16.
Being able to easily purchase prophylactics may also, it is argued, remove a fear of pregnancy or disease which is currently inhibiting students who might otherwise begin to experiment.
Similarly, it has been argued, there is nothing wrong with the embarrassment factor which, it has been suggested, sometimes prevents students buying condoms from standard retail outlets.
According to this line of argument, students who are not emotionally ready to purchase a packet of condoms are not ready for sexually activity.
Those who wish to discourage adolescent sexual activity generally stress that it is more than simply an issue affecting their physical health.
Concern is expressed about the psychological impact of premature sexual relationships and of the potential they may have to undermine values such as restraint, fidelity, self-respect and respect for one's partner.
This point has been made by Glenn Williams, a psychologist and executive director of Focus on the Family Australia.
Mr Williams has stated, 'There is more to life than just sex. There is intimacy, open and honest communication, not having to live in fear of contracting a disease ... and having a healthy self-respect ... and a healthy respect for others.'
The 'wrong message' argument also appears to refer to the supposedly questionable effectiveness of condoms as a safeguard against either pregnancy or disease.
This line of argument is an attack on the 'safe sex' position. It appears to suggest that there is no such thing as 'safe sex' as condoms all have failure rates and their ineffective use is, it has been suggested, particularly likely among the eager and relatively inexperienced.
This point has also been made by psychologist, Glenn Williams.
Mr Williams has argued that the 'safe sex' message 'doesn't tell the young person he is still putting himself (and his partner) at risk of acquiring a sexually transmitted disease.'
Mr Williams went on to claim, 'While the failure rate of condoms has dropped significantly, there is still much concern about the reliance on a condom in the heat of the moment, when "normal" use does not always occur.'
It has further been argued that condom vending machines are not necessary as condoms are readily available in the general community.
This point has been made by Herald Sun commentator Andrew Bolt. Mr Bolt has claimed that the statistics indicating that 70 per cent of sexually active year 11 girls use condoms and that more than 50 per cent of year 11 boys also carry them suggests, 'If children want condoms, they can already get them.'
Finally, on the question of school autonomy and individual school communities being able to make up their own minds on this issue, Ms Delahunty has been criticised on a number of levels.
Firstly it has been argued that this is not a decision about which a consensus school community view is appropriate.
According to this line of argument, even if a majority of school councillors or a majority of parents decide that condom vending machines should be installed in a particular school, there is still likely to be a substantial minority of parents who do not want their children able to purchase condoms at school.
For this set of parents the installation of condom vending machines in their son or daughter's school would undermine the values which they as a family were trying to inculcate.
This point has been made by Herald Sun commentator, Andrew Bolt. Mr Bolt has stated, 'If a school voted to put condom machines in its toilets, there will always be some local parents who will object.'
It has also been noted that while Ms Delahunty has been promoting limited school autonomy regarding condom machines, the 51 previously self-governing schools within Victoria have now been fully returned to the control of the Victorian Education Department.
It has been suggested that the government's position on school autonomy is inconsistent. This point has also been made by Herald Sun commentator, Andrew Bolt.
Further implications
The Victorian Labor Government's decision to allow certain school communities to determine if they wished to install condom vending machines does not seem likely to have far-reaching consequences.
Firstly, as already noted, the policy will be very limited in its scope. It will apply only to exclusively senior campuses of which the Education Minister has suggested there are only some 30 in the state.
(It seems possible that the Education Minister's very careful restriction of vending machines to those schools with exclusively senior campuses may in part have been prompted by the generally negative community reaction to the first media report on the government's policy on condoms in schools.)
Secondly, most schools that have commented on the issue do not appear to be in any haste to install the machines.
Mr Ron Lake, the Bendigo Senior Secondary College principal, has stated, 'The minister's policy is fine ... but this is not a burning issue for us.'
A similar position has been put by Mr Chris Corcoran, the principal of Lowanna College, Moe.
Mr Corcoran has stated, 'I don't think any school would want to be a trailblazer in this sort of thing.'
This would appear to be a community relations hot potato and a policy issue on which most schools seem likely to want to tread carefully.
However, the liberalisation of government policy on the issue may well serve as an encouragement to groups of students interested in campaigning for the installation of condom vending machines.
Last year a student at Lowanna College led a student campaign to have condom vending machines installed. The position of the new government on the question may appear sufficiently encouraging to student activists to prompt further student action.
Sources
The Age
11/10/99 page 15 comment by George Monbiot, 'Why the Pope should be indicted'
18/10/99 page 15 comment by Bishop Denis Hart, 'Why the Pope is against condoms'
26/10/99 page 6 news item by Farah Farouque & Sandra McKay, 'Schools show little ardor for plan to sell condoms'
28/10/99 page 18 letter from Keith Donovan, 'Little thought in condom plan'
28/10/99 page 18 letter from Cliff Strahan, 'Roll up for your condoms, kids'
The Herald Sun
25/10/99 page 1 news item by Michelle Edmunds, 'Condom sales OK in schools'
26/10/99 page 7 news item by Michelle Edmunds & Rick Wallace, 'School condom push'
26/10/99 page 18 editorial, 'Schoolyard condoms'
26/10/99 page 19 comment by Dr Michael Carr-Gregg, 'Condom conundrum: yes'
26/10/99 page 19 comment by Glenn Williams, 'Condom conundrum: no'
27/10/99 page 16 three letters under the heading, 'Condom idea right out of left field'
27/10/99 page 16 letter from Michael Scully, 'Cop-out on condoms'
27/10/99 page 16 letter from Des Saunders, 'Message on moral decay'
27/10/99 page 16 letter from Peter Stokes, 'Wrong idea for students'
27/10/99 page 16 letter from Brian Askew, 'ALP's open door policy'
28/10/99 page 18 comment by Andrew Bolt, 'Social engineer Mary roars in swinging'