Doing It & Doing It Well: NYC Schools Must Teach Kids How To Put On Condoms

(Photo via NPR)

Students across the city will soon be giggling over condom application demonstrations in the classroom, now that the city is requiring public middle and high schoolers to take sex-ed classes covering more aspects of the birds and the bees.

The new mandate, announced last night by Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott, is part of the Bloomberg administration's efforts to improve the lives of minority teens, who city data shows are at a higher risk for STDs and unplanned pregnancies. "While many of our schools have already voluntarily taken steps to include sex education in their curriculum, some have not, leaving us with an uneven system that I believe does not serve our students well...We have students who are having sex before the age of 13; students who have had multiple sexual partners; and students who aren't protecting themselves against sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS," wrote Walcott in an email to school principals.

Under the new system, schools will be required to teach students a semester of sex education in 6th or 7th grade, and again in 9th or 10th grade, covering topics like how to put on a condom and encouraging children to wait until they're older to become sexually active. There will also be an opt-out option for parents who are not comfortable with the lessons on birth control, though they cannot opt out of lessons on anatomy, HIV, pregnancy and STDs. The lessons will be integrated into current health curriculum, so that schools will not have to hire more teachers.

Planned Parenthood officials expressed support for the decision: “As long-time sex educators, we are pleased to see the city finally taking action on this important issue,” said Joan Malin, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of New York City. “For far too long, too many of New York’s young people have been missing out on this vital information.”

Parents had mixed reactions: One Bronx mother, Mona Davids, told the Daily News, "As a Muslim, I'm not comfortable with it. They're encroaching on our responsibilities as parents. They're encroaching on our rights." But Mariana Sanoh, a Brooklyn parent with a 12-year-old daughter, was all for it, saying, "Girls who are younger and younger are getting pregnant. I've seen the boyfriends, the kissing and the drama. I want my daughter to know right from wrong. The more knowledge the better."

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By Jamie Feldmar in News on August 10, 2011 10:15 AM

Comments [rss]

Michael F. Longo

Da Doc is correct....

Da Doc

And if they don't abstain, they need to know that condoms, like everything in life, are not a 100% guarantee. But if I were to jump out of a plane again, I would still choose to wear my parachute.

Da Doc

Parents should teach these subjects, just as they should math, spelling, etc. But many don't.
STD/Reproductive Health should be part of the Health Sciences, with a uniform curriculum to avoid rogue teacher BS. Sorry if it bugs you, but students will have to learn this in a matter-of-fatc way, just as they do the Big Bang and Evolution. Feel free to instruct your own kids on Adam, Eve and Creationism :)

Michael F. Longo

One of my high school teachers told us her niece is a teacher up in Boston in a middle school in a upper class neighborhood, about 70% of the kids had some kind of STD. And for the most part, condoms don't prevent STDs....

Michael F. Longo

Should not be taught, its the parents job to teach this to their kids......

Sinchy

My sophomore sex ed teacher had one very memorable piece of advice which I think should be taught to every boy- wash your hands and use lube every time you masturbate.

Mordicai

Am I a crazy radical for thinking we shouldn't treat sex like a magical horrible sin, & explain reproduction to children as they move through the educational system, top to bottom?

Daniel

If you consider sane in a room full of crazy, radical then yes! Seriously though why do we try to protect kids from the reality that they will grow up into people who have sex? We're perfectly fine with them seeing as much violence as possible, but anything that may inform them about sex and we lose our shit.

robingee

Well, it is pretty magical and horrible.

Mordicai

I didn't know we'd ever met, but that DOES sound like my M.O...

FU Boy

While I support this initiative, I'm curious as to what actually gets taught. I remember getting lectured on a woman's period, but it wasn't until later in life I learned that said period lasts for a week.

Then again, my school taught that Columbus discovered America, so I can't really hold them to task for being quality educators.

jibbly

What a great way to celebrate the Salt-n-Pepa hit single's 20th year anniversary!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzfo4t...

jean c rien

test scores are stagnant... graduation rates abysmal....music and arts programs are being cut-so....LET"S TEACH BIRTH CONTROL.

Chris Prince

Graduation rates would improve with fewer teen pregnancies. Test scores would improve when kids have more time to study and spend less time changing diapers.

airtech1

Graduation rates would improve with literacy, basic math and critical thinking skills.

robingee

Things suck so let's not fix anything but those things that *I* find important. Are you serious?

ktinnyc

I had health class in high school that taught sex ed and somehow I was able to graduate as well. Looking back I'm not sure how I was able to accomplish so much at such a young age.

Rocknrope

It's not an either/or situation, as much as your hyperbole would like it to be.

BrassMonkeyBallz

i hope they teach these kids how scary it is to have an STD or a baby.

If they show them an episode of Teen Mom, maybe they'll think twice.

Sinchy

"As a Muslim, I'm not comfortable with it. They're encroaching on our responsibilities as parents. They're encroaching on our rights."
You still have the right to inculcate your children in any backward-ass religious mumbo jumbo you want, but if you actually respect your children you will accept the fact that they are capable of making choices on their own and will be better equipped to do so having as much information as possible. If a parent is afraid that the facts of life will compete with their own ideologies then they need to come to grips with the fact that their children will grow up. And if they fear their religious precepts can't compete with other things, like facts, then maybe they need to reassess whether the religion is adequate for the world today. If you don't teach your children how their bodies work and the consequences and intricacies of what they can do with their bodies then as a parent you are failing and should be glad that the school system is filling in the gaps.