Condoms Now Available At Your Local High School
Yesterday, we reported that the Boston School Committee would be voting on a new health initiative to make condoms available in high schools. Last night, the measure was approved. Condoms will now be available at high schools across the city. Here at Hub Health, we can’t believe that it took this long. And neither can City Councilor Ayanna Pressley who expressed her elation through a series of tweets:
Last night’s vote was an incredible, hard fought win.SO PROUD of OUR #SEXED COALITION! @MATeenPregnancy @HStf @BPShealthwell @HealthyBoston
— Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) June 20, 2013
Congrats to @AyannaPressley who just injected some common sense (and condoms) into BPS’ efforts to keep students safe, healthy & learning.
— James Chisholm (@jmchisholm) June 20, 2013
TY @jessemermell for bringing @PPLM to the table as an early partner to my #sexed coalition. #victory
— Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) June 20, 2013
According to the Globe, the vote was not unanimous and the crowd was colorful (if anyone has a picture of the below-mentioned hat, please send it our way):
Five of the six school board members present approved the policy. Claudio Martinez abstained.
Barbara Huscher, a retired Boston public school health education director, donned a hat that looked like the tip of a condom after the vote and posed for pictures.
“I’ve been working on this for 15 years,” she said. “They have the option to be safe now.”
Patricia Quinn, executive director of the Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy, added in a statement, “The vote for comprehensive sex education and condom availability will give students the tools to make healthy decisions at a critical time in their lives. The good decisions youth make now are the good decisions they continue to make into and through adulthood.”
There were other health items in the newly approved measure like improving school food nutrition, putting healthier items in vending machines, new physical activity guidelines, creating a healthier environment by using green cleaning products and developing recycling programs, and creating safer schools by implementing stricter penalties for bullying and sexual harassment.
