With an extremely high percentage of sexually active teens, the United States holds the title of the highest rate of sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy, and abortion among teens in North America and Europe. Concerned parents, educators, and healthcare workers cannot decide what to do about this alarming problem, caused by unprotected sexual intercourse. Condom distribution in high schools represents an effective way to protect sexually active teenagers from unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Availability of condoms in high schools does not increase rates of teenage sexual activity, but rather increases condom use among already sexually active teenagers.

Among American teenagers, condom unavailability ranks as the number one obstacle for safe sex ("Briefing" 5). A survey conducted by the Center for Population Options Teen Council examined the accessibility of contraception in drugstores and convenience stores in Washington, D.C. and found that: "One-third of the stores kept condoms behind the counter, forcing teens to ask for them. Only thirteen percent of the stores had signs that clearly marked where contraceptives were shelved. Adolescent girls a

School-based condom availability programs do not increase rates of teenage sexual activity, as many opponents of high school condom distribution argue, but do have a significant effect on condom use (Raab 49). M. Raab's article in Family Planning Perspectives argues that making condoms available in high schools does not increase teenage rates of sexual activity, but does result in higher rates of condom use among sexually active students. According to a study of nearly thirteen thousand public high school students in New York City and Chicago, condom distribution in school does make a difference.

sking for assistance encountered resistance or condemnation from store clerks forty percent of the time" (Francoeur 97). For teens, these barriers are significant obstacles to contraceptive access. Condom availability programs within schools eases access and communicates the important message that society prefers protection to disease, teenage pregnancy, and death ("Briefing" 5).

Sexually active students in New York reported a significantly higher rate of condom use in their last sexual encounter than did their counterparts in Chicago. High-risk students in New York City, those who reported having three or more sexual partners in the past six months, were almost twice as likely as those in Chicago to

Some common words found in the essay are:
Medical Association, Washington DC, York City, Europe Concerned, AIDS Briefing, Board Education, Planning Perspectives, Distribution Schools, HIV AIDS, City Chicago, sexually transmitted, condom availability, sexually transmitted diseases, condom distribution, transmitted diseases, sexually active, transmitted disease, sexual activity, condoms available, school condom, sexually transmitted disease, teenage sexual activity, york city, school condom distribution, sexually active teenagers,
Approximate Word count = 884
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)