In a recent policy statement, the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Adolescence, emphasized on the need to make cheap condoms available to teenagers.
Not encouraging sex among teenagers, the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Adolescence stressed on the need to make cheap condoms easily available to teenagers. The committee also suggested that to encourage teenagers to abstain from sex, the availability of condoms should be accompanied by sex education programs.
"I think one of the main issues is the idea that if you provide condoms and make them accessible, kids will be more likely to have sex. But really, that's not the case," Amy Bleakley told Reuters Health. "Getting over the perception that giving condoms out will make kids have sex is a real barrier for parents and school administrators."
Though Bleakley was a part of the AAP committee, she has conducted many studies in the past on teen sexual behavior and reproductive health. In one such study, she found that teenagers with access to condoms and comprehensive sex education actually start having sex later than their peers who don't.
The new policy statement, an update to the AAP's 2001 statement on condom use by adolescents, was published Monday in Pediatrics.
"The biggest difference is that we have more evidence about how effective they are against sexually transmitted infections," Dr. Rebecca O'Brien, the policy statement's lead author, said according to NBC News.
The authors of the policy statement remind the public how effective condoms are in protecting children from sexually transmitted infections (STIs). STIs, such as chlamydia and gonorrhea, are quite high among teenagers and young women. The report stressed on the importance of teaching children how to use condoms correctly. The authors stated that teaching children to use them consistently is vital as well. The pediatricians hope that their policy statement will encourage schools and medical facilities to provide condoms to teenagers.
"Having them available, not just in healthcare settings is really important," O'Brien said. "For teens to use them, they have to have them available, and they're not going to come in necessarily asking for them."
According to a CDC report, teen birth rate has declined in the United States but is still higher than other developed countries. In 2011, there were 31 births for every 1,000 U.S. women aged 15 to 19.
