WE HAVE THROWN the same “plaster” at sex in prison, sex at Kadooment, homosexuality and general promiscuity. Now we’re throwing it at schools, and discussing giving any sexually active student a condom.
I would sincerely like to hear further ventilation on the issue, especially from St Lucian-based educator and coordinator of Education International, Ms Virginia Albert-Poyotte, who recently started the condoms-in-schools issue raging across the region.
She it was who supported calls for the distribution of condoms in schools, and once again raised a contentious issue that has featured the unresolved discussion on condom distribution in prisons and dispensing of them in public places.
Would these prophylactics be placed in dispensing machines in the schools’ bathrooms, or would they be handed out during and after class? Would such distribution follow relevant discussion to help the children make informed decisions?
Does it matter where or how the condoms are distributed, once they get to the children to ensure their safety?
What message would a country and a ministry of education be sending to children when, in the midst of an environment that is conducive to learning, academic effort and being “all you can be”, condoms are freely available at any time?
Wouldn’t it be slightly ridiculous if, immediately after morning assembly, two students – purportedly a “couple” at ages 12 and 13 – headed straight to some teacher’s office or to the bathroom and grabbed the condoms that are rightfully due to them, so they might have sex immediately, or at some point during lunch?
I’m aware that teachers and others have walked in on students having intercourse on schools’ premises, and this has been occurring for years. In fact, several upstanding citizens today would either laugh loudly or flash a smile of embarrassment if reminded of their escapades in the classrooms, bathrooms, science labs or secluded steps leading to the hall and art room of one prestigious institution!
But educational authorities cannot simply give their students condoms, thereby telling them in one breath that they should “get naked and enjoy yourself”, and in another breath order them to wear their skirts below the knees, show no cleavage and buckle their belts properly.
It is ridiculous the doublespeak and hypocrisy currently pervading the Western world and becoming the norm in this Caribbean region that includes Barbados.
Wouldn’t allowing condoms in school go against one of the most important tenets of what school should be? Those under school authority are children, ages five to 18, seeking to gain knowledge in as many areas as possible in order to prepare for work and adulthood; and while they are also learning to make decisions, the authority of school, like the home, should be paramount until you leave school or home.
How can regional authorities be discussing the distribution of condoms in schools and have not come to grips with having condoms in public places or prisons? And if there’s any need to show that we’re not burying our heads in the sand as a society, it should be in the public domain where condoms could be freely available to consenting adults who can make the relevant choices and bear the consequences.
But schoolchildren are not equipped to make such choices; and if any society believes they are, then why don’t parents also get in on this liberal attitude adopted from the worst elements of Europe and North America under the guise of “freedom” and “choice” and take it to another level by giving their children condoms from the time they become aware of their sexual organs? They know what to do and will eventually do it; so protect them from early!
Both the Barbados Union of Teachers and the National Council of Parent-Teacher Associations have insisted that distributing condoms at schools is not the correct approach. Though they did not outline what the approach should be, I must agree that school is simply not the place for sexual intercourse to be encouraged.
Condoms and birth control tools are on the market, and are also freely distributed at events where sex is expected to be part and parcel of the music and atmosphere. And even in that environment, the distribution of condoms is merely a symptom, and not a treatment, for the promiscuity and unprotected sex that comes with the territory.
Do we really want to propagate mere symptoms in school for children who can irreparably harm their lives with one reckless action?
Instead, let’s look at informing the parents who are most guilty of burying their heads in the sand, and encourage them to tackle in the home the likelihood of early sex.
It’s happening, and parents therefore need to start talking to the kids before they start “doing it” in school.
Meanwhile, the 52.63 per cent of online NATION readers saying “yes” to the suggestion of distributing condoms in schools was instructive, and showed that the main concern is the safety of sexually active students.
This is commendable and shows how realistic many Barbadians are, but the underlying hint of public resignation is rather worrying.