San Francisco schools approve condoms for 11-year-olds, eliminate parent opt out

eagnews.org

SAN FRANCISCO – All San Francisco middle school students now have easy access to condoms, whether or not their parents want them to have them.

The San Francisco Unified School District became the third in California – after Oakland and Los Angeles – to give away condoms to middle schoolers when board members unanimously approved the decision at a meeting Tuesday night, NBC Bay Area reports.

SFUSD safety and wellness director Kevon Gogin said the decision is based on a survey of sixth through eighth grade students that showed about 5 percent are sexually active and 3 percent use condoms. The move also eliminates an existing provision to school policy that allowed parents to opt their children out of the condom availability program, according to ABC 10.

Students as young as 11 years old can now simply ask a school employee for condoms and receive a rubber without issue.

According to the San Francisco Examiner, “condoms are provided to the schools from the San Francisco Department of Public Health, and are packaged with educational and instructional materials.