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Provincetown to make condoms available at all schools

E-mail|Link|Comments () June 23, 2010 06:07 PM

By Jack Nicas, Globe Correspondent

Students in Provincetown – from elementary to high school – will be able to get free condoms at school, under a policy passed earlier this month, even though their parents might object.

“We know that sexual experimentation is not limited to an age, so how does one put an age on it?” said Superintendent Beth Singer, who wrote the policy unanimously passed two weeks ago by the Cape Cod town's School Committee.

“It’s about availability; we’re not handing 'em out like M&M’s,” said committee chairman Peter Grosso.

The policy, which requires school nurses to supply condoms to any student who asks, was met with criticism by some parents, particularly over the possibility of preschoolers acquiring condoms. But Singer insists that if an especially young child requests a condom, the nurse will ask the student’s motive and act accordingly.

“It’s about availability; we’re not handing 'em out like M&M’s,” said committee chairman Peter Grosso.

“If that were to happen, we would deal with it in a professional and appropriate way,” she said. “I don’t anticipate that this policy is going to affect youngsters. It’s there for adolescents. ... We do know from research” that children now have sex at a younger age.

Jeanmarie Kaeselau, 41, who has a fifth- and an eighth-grader in the school system, said today that she is uncomfortable with the policy, which takes effect next school year.

“That’s a little weird,” she said, adding that she would be "uncomfortable" if her fifth-grade son came home with a condom. “I’d rather have him come to me.”

But Kaeselau will not have a say if her son wishes to get a condom at school next year. The policy does not require schools to alert parents if their children receive condoms and prohibits schools from denying students whose parents object.

The policy had its roots with a school district wellness committee, an independent board of appointed community members that recommended making condoms available at schools. The School Committee then enlisted Singer to write a proposal.

At a public, televised meeting June 8, the five-member School Committee voted 4-0 to approve Singer’s plan. (One member was absent.) “No one came to comment,” Singer said, noting all five committee member have children.

Grosso said the committee discussed limiting the policy to the high school, but ultimately decided against it.

“That was mentioned, but, again, that means we’re picking an age,” said the 64-year-old father, who, like his two children, graduated from Provincetown High School. “If you read the papers, it’s not unheard of for 11-year-olds to be having sex.”