Right: American schools have long been supplying condoms through school nurses and other authorised sources.Further implications
It seems unlikely that condoms will be made available to students in Australian schools. The Victorian Education Department has indicated that it is does not support the proposal. Family Planning Victoria has stated that it has no expectation that condoms will be made available in schools without lengthy and extensive discussions with the Victorian Education Department.Condoms are available in some schools in the United States, despite that country being generally more socially conservative. This may be a consequence of America's opposition to abortion. The fact that abortion is relatively readily available in Australia may actually reduce the pressure to make condoms available in schools. Currently the teenage abortion rate is roughly equivalent to the teenage pregnancy rate. Were abortion less readily available, Australia's teenage pregnancy rate would be twice what it currently is.
It will be interesting to note if Australia's new national curriculum has an impact on when and how sex education is taught in Australian schools. There are those who argue that an effective sex education program is at least as, if not more important, than the ready availability of contraception. It is to be hoped that the new curriculum results in such a development. There are numerous effective sex education programs currently available that could be used as a model.
The larger causes of premature sexual activity among adolescents are far more difficult to address. Family dysfunction and low self-esteem are key factors among young girls who become pregnant. It has been suggested that some of these girls may even want a child for the love attachment it represents.
It is also the case that modern Western society is becoming increasingly sexualised, with sexual images being used with growing regularity both as a means of advertising and as a form of entertainment. As a society we seem to have a high level of anxiety about pedophilia, but are less concerned about the sexualisation of our children and young people. Paradoxically, some critics of condoms being made available in schools seem to see this as another instance of the sexualisation of young people. However, United States studies have indicated that the ready availability of condoms does not seem to increase sexual activity among young people.