Family and Intimate Relationships, Article Writing Example

I’m reviewing an article entitled “Boston Public Schools Will Distribute Condoms in All High Schools”. This article was written by Susan Jones and published on the CNS News website on June 20, 2013. This article discusses a decision made by the Boston Public School Committee to adopt a new wellness policy that includes the ability to distribute condoms to high school students who request them. Although some of the high schools in the Boston area already allow the distribution of condoms to students to protect against sexually transmitted disease and pregnancy, this ruling will require the schools who are not currently participating in this to come onboard.

This program is predicted to be successful because in addition to acquiring access to birth control methods, the school will help counsel students on related health issues such as safe sex and other topics in reproductive health. Although the services will be available to a majority of students, parents will be able to request their children to be exempted from the program. Ultimately, this plan will also raise awareness and create safe social environments for the LGBTQ community in addition to preventing sexual harassment and assault.

This article is related to course material because it relates to the “Freedom of Choice and Sexual Health” section of the textbook. In a changing society, our values have shifted from the focus of waiting to have sex until after marriage to allowing ourselves the freedom of having sexual partners before tying the knot if we so choose. It is important to note that sexual choices are purely up to the individual and we are not able to truly restrict others from making the choices they believe is right for themselves. Despite this, the textbook does note that two of the main issues of having premarital sex are unintended consequences such as sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies. In addition, the quality of sex may be impaired in a premarital sex situation due to factors like peer pressure that may cause fear.

When deciding whether or not to engage in premarital sex, it is important for the individual to determine how it will impact them. Even after engaging in any kind of sexually activity, it is useful for the individual to determine whether their sexual behavior is considered healthy. Healthy sexual behavior should enhance self-esteem, be a result of a choice rather than force, be enjoyable, and not result in unintended pregnancy or a STD.

I believe that this article is extremely important because schools are a good first line of defense in educating youth about sexual activity and its possible negative consequences. Although it may seem awkward at first to confide in teachers and counselors about sex, it is good for young people to have adults to talk to other than their parents about the topic especially because many parents may not deliver accurate answers and confer myths that contradict the health of their children. It is unfortunate that minors occasionally have a difficult time obtaining birth control purely because of their age. However, it is important for us to understand that simply eliminating birth control from the grasp of adolescents will not make them stop having sex. Instead, they will become more likely to contract STDs and become pregnant at an early age. Therefore, it is important to implement similar sexual health programs in high schools across the country; it is a good way to ensure that the youth of this country are healthy and to prevent the sexual myths that typically spread around high schools.