Critique On Sex Ed In Schools
“Condom Sense” Critique Essay
In today’s society there is a lot of controversy over whether or not sex education should be taught in public schools, and if it is morally correct to hand out free condoms to students. The author of the article entitled “Condom Sense”, published in the September 13th 1991 edition of Commonweal©, a Catholic run magazine, attempts to push the thought of handing out condoms to students out of the publics mind by showing them why it is morally incorrect. Throughout the article the author is constantly challenging the ideas of The New York City Health Department, and the New York Schools Chancellor Joseph A. Fernandez, who publicly support the distribution of condoms, to prove his or her point. For example, the author opens the article by commenting on a poster that could be found in a New York Subway that reads, “You can play with them, don’t play around without them. Use a condom.” The authors comment back is, “The clever word play delivers a message about preventing AIDS, but not one that New York teenagers need to hear.” Being the opposite of subtle, the author presents his or her argument in a very persuasive manor.
Not completely agreeing with what the author had to say in this article, I had to go into it with an open mind. Although the author’s idea of relying on family morals to spread the word of safe sex and abstinence is ideal, it is not practical. In an article found in USA Today entitled “Our View On Sex Education: Abstinence Only Fails To Stop Early Pregnancies & Diseases”, It states that the United States government is highly concerned with the increasing rate of pregnant teens and the spread of STDS. With that in mind they have to look beyond the abstinence only programs that are currently in school systems to get this issue under control. If we are afraid that teaching proper sex practice in schools is unmoral the only other option would be to send parents to classes about how...
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