Cool San Francisco School Board Votes to Give Free Condoms to Middle School Students

I don’t like the idea of middle school kids having sex any more than the next person, but if you can’t stop a kid from having sex–and really, you probably can’t–then for the love of all that is good and pure in the world, please make sure those kids have access to condoms and know to use them. That’s why the San Francisco Unified District School Board deserves a round of applause for voting this week to give free condoms to middle school students.

(Related: President Obama Finally Cuts Funding to Abstinence-Only Sex Education)

The condoms won’t just be sitting out in a bowl waiting to be turned into water balloons, though. According to CBS, the condoms will be provided free to any middle school students who want them, but the students must first meet for an assessment and an educational and counseling session with a school nurse or social worker.

While I’m sure this will be fodder for some political ranting and neurotic pearl-clutching at the idea that those wacky San Franciscans are encouraging 10-year-olds to have sex, that’s not the case at all. Just like how abstinence-only education does not make kids less likely to have sex, giving kids condoms does not make them more promiscuous. It just means they’re less likely to get STDs or pregnant when they do have sex. (Also, middle school kids in the U.S. are generally between 11 and 13 years old, and I think we all know that there are a lot of sexually active 13-year-olds in the U.S.)

San Francisco has given free condoms to high school students since 1992, and high school kids in San Francisco are reportedly much less likely to be sexually active than kids in the rest of the U.S. Only 26 percent of San Francisco high school students are sexually active, while on average 46.8 percent of high school students in the U.S. are sexually active.

More condoms and sex education won’t turn kids into sex fiends. It will just arm them with the tools to make better choices and protect themselves, and that’s always a good thing.

(Photo: JFanchin/iStockPhoto/Getty Images)