At a recent parent council meeting at your daughter's high school, a group of parents proposed that the school store should sell low-priced condoms to slow down the increasing number of teenage pregnancies in the school

Question

These parents suggested that many students do not use contraceptives because they are too expensive or they don't know how to obtain them. These parents also said that parents can't stop teens from having sex so the teens might as well have contraceptives readily available to them. What can you tell the parent council about programs that are effective in delaying sexual intercourse and increasing the use of contraceptives by teens?
What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

A good answer will be similar to the following:
You can tell the parent council that while it is true that some teens do not use contraceptives because they do not know how to obtain them, there are many other factors that are related to sexual activity and the use of contraceptives. For example, teens are more likely to have intercourse when they believe that their friends and parents have positive attitudes about sex. Adolescents may not use contraceptives because they are ignorant of many of the true facts about conception. Comprehensive sex education programs that teach the biological aspects of sex and emphasize responsible sexual behavior or abstinence are effective in delaying sexual activity and increasing the use of contraceptives when sexual activity does occur. A key element seems to be role-playing sessions where students practice strategies for refusing to have sex.