MA makes condoms available in High School.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

MA allows the parents to opt their kid out of the program so they can't get access to the condoms or counseling.  What would you do if it were your kid in the school?

The article is here

[Lief 🗽]

Of course not. The government should make condoms freely and easily available to anyone who wants them. And parents should not be able to opt their children out of it. If a sixteen year old gets pregnant, it's the state that's going to be paying the costs of that for the next few decades, not the parents.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Of course not. The government should make condoms freely and easily available to anyone who wants them. And parents should not be able to opt their children out of it. If a sixteen year old gets pregnant, it's the state that's going to be paying the costs of that for the next few decades, not the parents.

I agree with all of this except for the "should not be able to opt their children out of it".   They just shouldn't opt them out of it....it's insane to do so.

[DC Al Fine]

Well my kid wouldn't be in public school to begin with so its a moot point.

[John Dibble]

No, and I don't think parents should be able to opt their teens out of this program either. Teens aren't going to stop having sex due to a lack of available condoms, so we might as well prevent as many teen pregnancies as we can.

[Antonio the Sixth]

What Lief and Dibble said.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

You guys do realize, without an opt-out provision, this thing never sees the light of day, right?

[Antonio the Sixth]

You guys do realize, without an opt-out provision, this thing never sees the light of day, right?

In Massachusetts? Sure, socons will protest, but who cares?

[Dr. Cynic]

If my kid would be anything like me, he'd just have a bunch of condoms laying around with no one to use them with.

[Хahar 🤔]

One would think that the students whose parents would exercise such an opt-out provision would be the ones most in need of the service.

[Del Tachi]

Well my kid wouldn't be in public school to begin with so its a moot point.

[tpfkaw]

You guys do realize, without an opt-out provision, this thing never sees the light of day, right?

In Massachusetts? Sure, socons will protest, but who cares?

1. It'd be struck down in the courts.

2. Massachusetts has a lot more socons than you think.

3. More broadly, Massachusetts is a lot more socially conservative than you might think, especially regarding children, sex, and the combination thereof.  The Boston suburbs are overrun with Tipper Gore-esque "think of the children!" types.

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

This is obviously glorious and I would strongly recommend any teen enroll. 

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

This is obviously glorious and I would strongly recommend any teen enroll. 

No need to enroll, Hokey, you're in unless you opt out.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

probably.  It would depend on my child's personality, what the counseling involves, and whether the quality and atmosphere of the school lends itself towards trust. 

[politicus]

One would think that the students whose parents would exercise such an opt-out provision would be the ones most in need of the service.

Indeed.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I wouldn't opt my child out; after all, if we are going to have a big pie why not take a slice?  But the schools should not offer condoms to begin with of course. Is my generation so lazy that the school has to give us rubbers! A free lunch, literally, is fine, but the idea of free condoms is just idiotic. Teen pregnancy would be down if people in my age group used their money on rubbers instead of marijuana.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

I wouldn't opt my child out; after all, if we are going to have a big pie why not take a slice?  But the schools should not offer condoms to begin with of course. Is my generation so lazy that the school has to give us rubbers! A free lunch, literally, is fine, but the idea of free condoms is just idiotic. Teen pregnancy would be down if people in my age group used their money on rubbers instead of marijuana.

What if the teens don't have money to spend? Should they go condomless?

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I wouldn't opt my child out; after all, if we are going to have a big pie why not take a slice?  But the schools should not offer condoms to begin with of course. Is my generation so lazy that the school has to give us rubbers! A free lunch, literally, is fine, but the idea of free condoms is just idiotic. Teen pregnancy would be down if people in my age group used their money on rubbers instead of marijuana.

What if the teens don't have money to spend? Should they go condomless?

Teens have money to buy pot. I know that for a fact. Why should people like Aunt and Uncle, who have no children of their own, pay for other people’s children to have indiscriminate sex? Furthermore, how much do condoms cost? Walgreens sells them for $10.00. I am not morally opposed to premarital sex. But I am morally opposed to the fact that the simplest things like condoms are now being handed out for free.

[politicallefty]

Absolutely not. This is a very good idea. It's primarily the abstinence-only crowd that would opt their kids out of such a policy and we're all too aware of those results. Safer sex is the best way to reduce teen pregnancies and the rate of STIs.

[opebo]

Its terrible to think that a new generation will also have to use condoms.  When will the travesty end?

[Ebowed]

But I am morally opposed to the fact that the simplest things like condoms are now being handed out for free.

This sounds like a judgment handed down on the assumption that condoms encourage people to have sex, rather than reduce the societal cost of it.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

But I am morally opposed to the fact that the simplest things like condoms are now being handed out for free.

This sounds like a judgment handed down on the assumption that condoms encourage people to have sex, rather than reduce the societal cost of it.

Agreed. I don't know one high schooler that needed encouragement about where he wanted to put Mr. Happy. 

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

But I am morally opposed to the fact that the simplest things like condoms are now being handed out for free.

This sounds like a judgment handed down on the assumption that condoms encourage people to have sex, rather than reduce the societal cost of it.

No, I have no problems with sex, being a teenaged male of course . My problem is the fact that the condoms are free. I can pay for my own condoms, and so can everyone else.

[tpfkaw]

But I am morally opposed to the fact that the simplest things like condoms are now being handed out for free.

This sounds like a judgment handed down on the assumption that condoms encourage people to have sex, rather than reduce the societal cost of it.

They do both, obviously (incentives and all).  The social conservative position is that having sex is a "societal cost" all its own.