By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
A new campaign by the Philadelphia Department of Health to combat an epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases among youth in that city provides free condoms via mail order to children as young as 11.
FoxNews.com is reporting that the program, dubbed TakeControlPhilly.org, features a website that includes facts about diseases such as Chlamydia, gonorrhea and HIV/AIDS. The site also features graphic instructions for young girls on how to use female condoms, suggesting that “for fun, have your partner help you out” when trying to insert one.
“Playing it safe just got easier,” the website reads. “If you live in Philadelphia and are between the ages of 11 and 19, you can now have condoms mailed directly to you for FREE. Maybe it’s difficult for you to stop by one of our sites to pick up condoms. Or maybe you’re just shy or feeling weird about picking up condoms.”
The website provides an interface where users can request free male condoms to be mailed directly to their home.
Jeff Moran, a spokesman for Philadelphia’s Department of Health, said they have received no complaints about the campaign, which was launched last week.
But that doesn’t mean they won’t.
One parent complained to the Philadelphia Daily News, saying the idea of sending condoms to 11 year-olds – without their parents’ knowledge – isn’t responsible.
“As a parent, I am personally outraged,” the unidentified parent told the newspaper. “What’s the back story on this campaign? What is it telling our youth? I get the sex-education thing for kids in schools, but mail-order condoms for 11-year-olds? It’s shocking to me.”
Kevin Burns, executive director of Action AIDS, a health clinic in Philadelphia listed on the site, said that while he believes giving free condoms to children as young as 11 might “seem a little young,” he still thinks the program is appropriate.
“If children are old enough to be having sex, which they are in that age range [ages 11-19], they need to have protection,” he told Fox, saying his clinic receives calls from children as young as 13.
“An 11-year-old is too young to be having sex, but does that mean 11-year-olds are not doing it? No,” Burns continued. “Let’s start first with why are they becoming sexually active so young and try to educate them about the risks of that.”
While he believes that abstinence should be part of any pregnancy-prevention campaign, “abstinence-only programs don’t work.”
The latest studies don’t support his statement, however. Last year, the University of Pennsylvania conducted a federally funded study of abstinence-only programs and found that only a third of the students who completed an abstinence-focused program started having sex within two years, compared to half who did so after attending “safe sex” classes. Prior to this current study, there were 15 scientific evaluations of abstinence education undertaken. Eleven of them showed that these programs resulted in reducing sexual activity.
On the other hand, a comprehensive review of “safe sex” programs by the Department of Health and Human Services found that many of these courses contain factually inaccurate information, particularly about condom effectiveness. They also encourage participation in alternatives to intercourse (such as outercourse) and present “sexually explicit and inappropriate content” to youth. Of the programs reviewed, which included some of the top programs in use in the country, most did little or nothing to delay the onset of teen sexual activity.
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