by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
(April 10, 2008) The peaceful mining town of Bisbee, Arizona has become the center of a raging controversy after the local school board voted to include condoms in the “prom bags” it gives to teens.
Thanks to a 4-1 vote by the Bisbee School Board, students who attend this year’s Bisbee High School Prom will receive prom bags containing picture frames, candles, mints and two condoms.
“The governing board approved this,” a spokewoman in Superintendent Paul McDonald’s office told WorldNetDaily. “They are to have what they call prom bags, which include picture frames and balloons and candy and other items. They requested from the health department if they could put a condom in the bag also.”
The health department apparently approved of the idea, but many parents do not.
“All that the policy of handing out condoms for our youth does [is] condone and indirectly approve the short-term immediately satisfaction…,” wrote Chuck and Sharon Tuell in a letter to the editor in the local Sierra Vista Herald newspaper. “Your decision is obviously every short-sighted. We are very disappointed.”
In another letter to the editor, Dick and Margaret Hamilton wrote, “We were appalled at the information contained in a rather low-key article in the March 25 paper. … The information that was appalling to me, as a parent and a taxpayer, is that condoms will be given to all attendees of the Bisbee High School prom. Even more appalling is the fact that your paper treated this as just an everyday occurrence.”
Tony Perkins of the Family Research Center said the action has turned a hallmark high school dance into a “teenage sex fest.”
“Making contraception available at the prom would have been outrageous enough, but forcing it on 16-, 17-, and 18-year-olds gives kids both a false sense of security and a demeaning message about virtue,” Perkins said.
“One in five teen couples who uses a condom becomes pregnant, and others are at risk of contracting anything from HPV to HIV. Moms and dads should be enraged that the school board is substituting its judgment for theirs.”
This won’t be the first time someone other than a parent sent students off to the prom with a condom in their pocket. In 2001, Planned Parenthood of Minnesota gave away a “prom survival kit” which contained a gift certificate for $10.00 toward any Planned Parenthood product or service, breath mints, confetti, and condoms.
In addition, Planned Parenthood’s controversial “TeenWire” website tells teens that condoms are “required attire” on prom night. And in the event the condom breaks, they’re given the number to call for emergency contraception.
In one article appearing on the site, “Confessions of a Prom Queen,” a teen gives a graphic description of having first-time sex with her boyfriend on prom night.
“The next day . . . I felt like I had a neon sign over my head glaring, ‘Ask Me How I Lost My Virginity,’” she writes.
Only at the very end of the article does she reveal how devastated she was when their relationship ended during their college years, something she never thought would happen because the sex “seemed to draw us closer.” she said. “ . . . I really thought we were going to be together forever.”
That premature sexual activity leads to heartbreak is only part of the story. Rampant sexual activity among teens is also the cause of a nationwide epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases, and is linked to increased rates of depression and suicide.
Experts say such a delicate subject should remain in the hands of parents who should not let organizations like the Bisbee School Board usurp their authority.
“Not only does this (school board) decision undermine the values that most children are taught at home, but it trespasses on sensitive family turf,” Perkins said. “It’s time that residents remind this school board that their role is to teach children–not raise them.”
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