THE school is sacred for me. It’s where we learn to trust other people, make friends along the way and learn moral values outside of textbooks. It’s the place most people spend half of their lives, second to home.
Now that my toddler is two, in a few years, I would experience that separation anxiety most parents talk about.
But not in my cranky anxious thoughts would I ever imagine my son to get home from school and tell me, “Ma, Ms. So-so, our teacher gave us condoms today. She said, we have to use it properly so we will be safe.”
He will probably continue saying, “Ma, I will just keep it in my bag just in case I will be needing it during an emergency.”
“Teacher said it’s okay because it came from the Department of Health.”
I have to say, I will run around the house calling people over the phone and go hysterical until someone tells me to calm down, “What emergency?!”
It will probably be a different thing if I will find a stick of cigar or an empty can of alcoholic beverage in his bag. I wouldn’t mind if he will tell me it was given by his friends. I would take the time to talk him out of it.
A pack of condom however, is a different story, especially if it comes from his teacher whom he trusts, someone he looks up to and someone he listens to. It may be worse if the school nurse hands it to him.
A mom like me who puts all my faith in his teacher to keep him safe all day while he is away from home, will be anxious to know that that same teacher will give my boy a pack of condom from the Department of Health to keep him “safe.” The Health Department’s announcement to distribute condoms in schools has sparked a lot of reactions from different groups recently.
Population control is one problem this country is facing today. The increasing rate of HIV/Aids (Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) is another. But distributing condoms to school is not the best solution; even if it will be given to the most critical school. Even if it will be given to college students, it is still not the answer.
A gun, for instance, only has one objective - to shoot and kill people. Whether it is used for self-defense or just to keep someone safe, definitely, someone will get hurt or worst, get killed because of the use of a gun. Giving everyone a gun because everyone seems to be in grave danger will likely make the situation worse.
Using a condom also has one objective. If it will be given by a teacher to a student in school, what lesson will we get?
There are certain measures we can implement that don’t shake up our morality which makes us persons from being mere humans. Let’s start with communication.
I hope the Department of Health would listen to parents, teachers and students about their thoughts on condom distribution and weigh in concerns and solutions.
In complex problems like these, we need collaboration with different individuals and organizations to create a comprehensive solution. We cannot merely say that we know the problem and say “this is the best solution.”
Let us remember, it is our taxes that pay for those condoms when access to education is still impossible to a number of poor communities. We have not really asked the kids what they actually need. Tell me, would you go to a drug store and buy your 18-year-old kid a condom to keep him safe during an emergency? Or would you rather be thankful because the Department of Health will do it for you? (Geefe P. Alba)