Should Birth Control Be Readily Available in High Schools

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Should Birth Control Be Readily Available in High Schools Adolescent years are some of the most important years in life. Pregnancy during adolescence can be a very trying situation and can easily force negativity into the lives of effervescent, growing teenagers. Sexually transmitted diseases can also be heavy burdens for teens to bear. The production of contraceptives, such as condoms and birth control pills, are major ways to prevent such things. To ensure that pregnancy rates, STD cases, and stress levels are low in teenagers, I feel that birth control pills and condoms should be readily available to high school students First of all, the pregnancy rates of high school teens in America are showing some large numbers. In 1987, researchers were seeing pregnancy rates in high school students at some very high points. Although, “teenage pregnancy rates have declined to about seventy-five per one thousand, down from a 1990 peak of one-hundred seventeen, nearly half of teens aged 15 to 19 report having had sex at least once, and almost seven-hundred fifty-thousand of them a year become pregnant (CBS News: Healthwatch).” The availability of contraceptives is a key component in the constant downslope of pregnancy numbers. As a matter of fact, some of the teens who got pregnant wanted to practice safe sex but couldn’t afford to purchase pills or condoms as needed. It is evident that if contraceptives were available in the schools around the country, the number of teenage pregnancies would cut down drastically. Secondly, because the occurrence of STDs is increasing at an exponential rate in adolescents, production of condoms has increased, and so has the price. Students’ knowledge of STDs is reinforced because of the many programs that come on television and the annual seminars that take place at their school. Although they are informed about the dangers of sex and STDs,
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