This might sound like every parent's nightmare, but it can possibly happen soon: middle school students in San Francisco, California may soon be handed with condoms by school officials no less.
Ironically, this idea to hand contraceptives to young children came from education leaders from the San Francisco Unified School District.
District Superintendent Richard Carranza suggested this policy to the Board of Education earlier this month, with the aim of preventing teenage pregnancy and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases among minors.
The board will discuss the proposal on Wednesday, according to The San Francisco Examiner.
This is not the first time that the board introduced a policy on condom distribution. In 1991, it mandated the handing of contraceptives to high school students, but later on allowed parents to opt out or exclude their child from the programme.
In the new proposal, however, parents would not be given the option to opt out, meaning middle schoolchildren will have to receive the contraceptives whether their moms and dads like it or not. Parents will just be notified annually about the programme.
The proposal, no matter how liberal and even immoral for some, seems to face no opposition from the board and is likely to be passed.
Commissioner Rachel Norton, for instance, admitted that while she has inhibitions about giving condoms to middle school kids, the proposal may help American youth practice safe sex.
"I think that to the extent that our Healthy Kids Survey finds that kids are actually engaging in sexual behavior in middle school, then we want to make sure that they're as safe as they can be, and as well-educated as they can be about the implications of that," Norton told The San Francisco Examiner.
In case the proposal is accepted by the board, the condoms will be provided to the schools by the San Francisco Department of Public Health. Instructional and educational materials will be provided along with the contraceptives.
Middle school students are also required to meet with a school social worker or district nurse before receiving condoms.
