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Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS, Education and Community

 


             Safe Sex Argument.
             Today, over 400 public high schools in the United States provide free condoms for students as a part of HIV/AIDS or sex education programme. Opponents of these programmes claim that providing access to condoms and even discussing the benefits of birth control and disease prevention methods other than abstinence encourages teenagers to engage in sexual activity that might otherwise refrain from. They also assert that such education encourages students who are already having sex to do so more often or with more partners. But a number of studies have established that providing condoms in schools increase condom use among students that are already sexually active rather than simply increasing the sexual activity over the general population of the school. .
             The debate over condom access programmes is only one dimension of the ongoing struggle over sexuality education in public schools. Studies of sexuality education programmes mirror the results of the studies about condom availability. Contrary to the assertions of the abstinence-only supporters, balanced and responsible sexuality education does not encourage teens to start having sex or to increase their frequency of sex. In fact research has shown that programmes that include information about delaying intercourse and about contraception can delay the age of first intercourse, reduce the frequency of intercourse and decrease the number of sexual partners a teenager might have. .
             Still, 34% of American public schools adhere to an abstinence-only curriculum . The 1996 American Federal welfare Law included a $250,000 million allocation of funds to states for programmes teaching "abstinence from sexual activity outside of marriage is the expected standard for all school age children."" Funded programmes are prohibited from directly discussing birth control. Some abstinence-only courses try to scare young people out of having sexual intercourse, emphasising the possibility of contraception methods failure.


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