UPDATED: The condom availability policy was approved on January 31st.

In November, the Wayland High School Health Office issued a proposal to make condoms available at the school to prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

Students often think of condoms as a means for preventing pregnancy, but they may not consider preventing the spread of STIs. According to an estimate by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly half of the nineteen million new cases of sexually transmitted infections each year occur in people from ages 15-24.

“I think [condoms] are important because so many high school kids think about pregnancy and how to prevent it, but they don’t think about the diseases, some that you could have forever. Then, there you are with this [disease] for the rest of your life,” said Schoeff. ” I hope that this [making condoms available] will enable kids to ask more questions.”

According to Schoeff and Tutwiler, while nothing is 100 percent certain yet, the plan to give condoms to students who ask would include an educational session. The first time a student requests protection, they would have a conversation with the school nurse or their guidance counselor.

This conversation would include a discussion of how students can protect themselves against STIs, general information about STIs, and an explanation of how to use a condom. The discussion would also reinforce the concept that abstinence is the best way to prevent pregnancy and STIs.

The student would then receive a booklet with information and instructions about condoms, along with a condom. After the initial visit, the student could receive condoms without the educational conversation.

“A major distinction I want to make is that this is condom availability, not condom distribution,” said Tutwiler. “I’m not going to stand in the middle of the Commons and hand out condoms. There is a process.”

The proposal will be sent to the Wayland School Committee for approval sometime in January. Information on the policy has already been shared in Tutwiler’s Friday newsletter. This allowed parents to give feedback on the policy so that the Board of Health could make necessary changes.

So far, there has been overwhelming support for the condom policy at Wayland High School, but despite this, students have concerns about  the educational procedure. Many have expressed the opinion that getting condoms from a member of the administration would be uncomfortable.

“That’s awkward,” said senior Katie Conley in response to the proposal. “I wouldn’t want to go talk to a guidance counselor. I’d rather go to the drug store.”

Junior Alli Diamond added, “People [would] feel embarrassed to go to the nurse, so nobody would go get them…it’s a joke.”

Wayland isn’t the first Massachusetts high school to adopt this policy. Lincoln-Sudbury High School established a condom availability policy 19 years ago, followed by Lexington, Newton South, Newton North and Brookline High School.

Said a WHS teacher who wished to remain anonymous, “I support the idea of having them available to promote safe sexual decisions, but it shouldn’t be perceived as encouragement [to have sex]. I think it’s a good policy, but there’s a fine line because you want kids making healthy decisions and taking it seriously because it’s a serious decision.”

This belief that condom availability encourages sex and, as a result, increases the number of students having sex has been a concern with the proposal. But according to a study published by The American Journal of Public Health in 2003, condom availability programs in public high schools in Massachusetts do not increase sexual activity.

The study showed that 42% of students in schools with condom availability programs reported ever having had sexual intercourse, compared to the 49% of students in schools without condom availability programs.

In addition, 72% of sexually active study participants in schools with condom availability programs reported using condoms at last intercourse, compared to the fifty-six percent 56% of sexually active study participants in schools without condom availability programs.

Both Principal Tutwiler and Nurse Schoeff feel strongly that the new policy will have a positive effect on the protection of Wayland High School students.

“Adopting such a program is in keeping with the district’s efforts to keep students healthy,” said Tutwiler.