I think that they should be, but only in high schools and colleges. My college has started a program called 'condom mints' which is a bowl placed randomly around campus (on receptionists desks ect.) with free mints, condoms, and lube! It's a great idea! less

It is crazy and when you look at the worldwide statistics on teen pregnancy, the U.S. percentage is unbelievably higher than most developed nations because of our lack of sex education and denying that sex is essentially the essence of life. Without sex there would be no us!

When Sex Culture debuted at The New York Television Festival I got Durex to be our main sponsor for the event. We handed out condoms and lubricant samples to people as they walked in the viewings. We were asked not to continue to give out the lubricants because it appeared as though we were "promoting anal sex"
This was New York for heavens sake! I was floored!
I still have boxes and boxes of lubricant samples in my closet! My friends come over and grab handfuls all the time.
We are so closed minded that, to me, it's dangerous! less

i know that´s it´s very safe ,, but it´s like telling kids to go have sex with everyone in school ,, i think if you need to teach a teen how to have safe sex it´s by telling them the bad and good things about it ,, and what they should do to not receive std´s if they want to do these activities that it´s fine they can find the condoms at there local store ,,, but if other people think that´s good ,, that´s well respect everyone has their own point of views and that is great hi everyone ,, hoping you have an awesome day less

Excellent idea! I have girls. We had a copy of Our Bodies Ourselves on the coffee table and any of the girls were free to look up anything they wanted to ask me questions at any time. I also made sure that Planned Parenthood visits took place (they preferred to go by themselves and I can understand that) when things looked serious with a boy.

We also keep a card of Plan B in the house. No one will have to run out IF a condom breaks! (Or if My Man slips.. it's happened, even after years of knowing what we are doing.)

I never thought to put condoms in the house, but it is a great idea.

Nobody EVER had sex simply because a condom was available, but a lot of girls have gotten pregnant or gotten STDs because one wasn't available. less

I think that might be pushing it. to a lot of people handing out free condoms is akin to saying, "Go ahead teens, screw your brains out, its ok because you have a rubber!" condoms are readily available at drug stores all over the country, and if a teen really needs a condom that badly, they will ask their parents for the money, or spend their own on it. less

It is my belief that most teenagers are going to have sex, pretty much regardless of what we tell them. I only have a few friends that didn't have sex in high school. I can understand that some students might be embarrassed to take free condoms from the nurse or the health department and that we can't make anybody use a condom, but if they're free and readily available, there's a much better chance (in my opinion) that they'll get used. less

I first had sex w/o condoms as a teen and I just consider myself damn lucky not to have gotten pregnant. As others have said, availability of birth control does not necessarily increase teenage sex but hopefully makes teens responsible.
To deny birth control just does not stop teenage sex. less

It is my belief that most teenagers are going to have sex, pretty much regardless of what we tell them. I only have a few friends that didn't have sex in high school. I can understand that some students might be embarrassed to take free condoms from the nurse or the health department and that we can't make anybody use a condom, but if they're free and readily available, there's a much better chance (in my opinion) that they'll get used. less

I first had sex w/o condoms as a teen and I just consider myself damn lucky not to have gotten pregnant. As others have said, availability of birth control does not necessarily increase teenage sex but hopefully makes teens responsible.
To deny birth control just does not stop teenage sex. less

I believe they should be available. I am disheartened that being a parent at 14 in some areas is considered no big deal. That's not meant to sound judgemental of anyone who had a child young, of course. But it's a scary thing to realize that we having been sticking our heads so far down in the sand for so long, that this new generation doesn't think its strange or irresponsible to have a child before you make it to highschool. If we are thinking of these kids as kids, rather than as responsile adults they are not, we should be aware that they are still having sex like adults, and as kids, they need a little direction in regards to safety measures. Confusing sentence, but I'm all for education, responsibility and protection. less

In regards to the whole it tells the, "to go have sex with everyone in school". Not only does it not send that message, I'm going to take it one step further and argue even if it did send that message, even if the teacher stood up at the front of the class room and said "you can now have sex with everyone in the school", I strongly doubt it would have any meaningful on actual teen behavior. People very often confuse sending a message with actually persuading people to change their behaviors. To illustrate:

"Covert your Eden points to gift cards and send them to me."

You all got the message, but I strongly doubt this has persuaded you to do anything.

Now going back to sex ed. Riddle me this...

How high was "my teacher encouraged me" to on your list of reasons for having sex?
How much time did you spend thinking about "what would my teacher do" before having sex?
How much more sex would you have had if your teacher said you can screw the whole school?
At what age did your teacher stop being a major influence on your sexual decisions? Would you have sex with the entire university if your college den told you or does that only work at the high school level?

Bottom line: This who message line against condoms in schools is not only inaccurate it completely ignores why teens (and people in general) have sex. A teacher telling kids to go out and have sex would likely have the same effect a teacher (al la abstinence only) telling kids to go out and not have sex would have, not much.

"Teacher told me to" is not a major factor in sexual decision making, access to contraception on the other hand is a major factor in the decision to engage in safer sex. less

I was actually going to vote "No" when I initially saw the title, but then when I read about visiting the school clinic, I chose "Yes." I don't think they should be available out in the open, but going out of one's way to ask for them is better. It would deter those who feel hesitant about it, and for good reasons, too. less