When I first heard Jamie Lynn Spears explain why she ended up getting pregnant at 16, I was kind of confused. As the now 21-year-old recently told Glamour magazine:
I believe in safety and birth control as prevention. But like many young girls ... I was really scared to go to the doctor. And I was on a Nickelodeon show, and it [felt] especially embarrassing to ask someone to put me on birth control. I didn't want to ask my doctor, because she had a little girl.
My initial reaction was: Wait a minute. Britney Spears is your big sister and you were embarrassed to ask for birth control? I knew plenty of girls who went to their older sisters for help in that department, and besides, when Britney Spears is your sibling, is there anything you can really do that would qualify as "embarrassing"?
But then it occurred to me: I was missing the point entirely.
Okay, so Jamie Lynn didn't want to go on birth control ... why was I putting all the responsibility on her anyway?
What about her babydaddy?
There's no question that it's a hell of a lot easier for a teen guy to carry a couple of condoms around with him than it is for a teen girl to obtain a prescription for a pill she has to take every day. Beyond that, kids should be using condoms to protect against STDs ... whether the girl is on birth control or not.
So why aren't teen guys carrying condoms around?
The only (weak) excuses I can think of are the expense (come on, they're not that pricey) and/or that pesky embarrassment factor (like any teen boy is going to be "embarrassed" that the pharmacy cashier thinks he's sexually active).
But hey, if those are really such roadblocks to condom use, then I say high schools should take it upon themselves to offer unlimited free condoms, no questions asked. Whatever the cost, it will most certainly be negligible in comparison to the cost of unwanted teen pregnancies.
Do you think high schools should offer free condoms to students?
Image via Writing on the Mall/Flickr
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Comments 30
So, girls shouldn't have to take responsibility for their choice to have sex, and it's on guys to wear condoms? Are you a grandmother yet?
Your a brave soul for writing this article.Side note you can go to planned parent hood and get free condoms.I had friends when i was younger who would go there and they would give them a grocery bag full every time.
If you are too embarrased to ask your lover to wear a condom or go get birth control, then maybe you should not be having sex.
if you think you are old enough to have sex than you need to buck up and go to the store to buy them yourself.
personally I choose to wait till marriage. I understood what my BC options were when I was a teen(I had sex ed and an open mother). I choose abstinince. If I had changed my mind the condoms where at the store.
yes i do think that they should offer condoms to high school student. but they're not because they going to say that it will promote sex. they need to open they eyes in see that kids are already doing so and there will never be abstinenceanymore as long as the TV shows, movies andmusic keeps promoting sex. its the only way to help our young girls from getting pregnant. so yes offer as much condoms as we can to our high school student so there can be least teen pregnancies and STD.
Its the responsibility of both parties to discuss birth control. The old saying "if you want it done right you have to do it yourself" comes into play. Sadly there are too many women who will "trick" their partner into getting them pregant telling them they are on the pill. It is up to the men to wrap it up and protect themselves. And many men out there prefer sex without condoms so it's up to the woman to keep one or two on themselves. Birth Control is EVERYONE's responsibility not just the men or the women.
I personally don't use any form other than condoms and I make that clear with any man I enter a relationship with so that they know the respnsibiity is equally theirs.
I am all for birth control education. Completely.
But abstinance education should remain a part of it as well.
Then, as parents, we need to make sure and tell our children that no matter what happens, we will be here to help and support them, BUT that we also expect better of them. Expect them to be responsible if they don't want to stomp down on those hormones. And remind them that we'd rather them stomp down on them
The first time I had discussed having sex with my boyfriend at the time, I told him that I absolutely 100% would not do it if we did not have a condom. Both for the reasons of not wanting to get pregnant, or getting an STD.
Birth control does not prevent STDs, therefore the condom is a good choice in contraceptives. It prevents two huge problems, it is cheap, easy to acquire, and incredibly effective.
Any man who tells you he doesnt want to wear a condom because they are "uncomfortable" is being selfish. And thats when you tell him something like "Yeah, because getting herpes is sooo much more comfortable than wearing a condom."
Because chances are if he's not using condoms with you, think of the other girls he has been with and probably didnt use one either.
I don't understand why everyone pushes the necessity of birth control pills and uses it as an excuses for teen pregnancy. Condoms work just fine, they're cheap AND they prevent STDs. I'm biased though cause I hate the effect of the hormones and would much rather use barrier methods.