Student’s Science Project on Condoms

The Times reported (April 1) that Shari Lo won a trophy at a Coachella Valley school district science fair for a project featuring condom reliability. She was on her way to the regional science fair competition when Supt. Colleen Gaynes decided to disqualify her project, because the Riverside County Office of Education expressed concerns about it. Gaynes said, “Because it [the science project] is on condom reliability, it basically encourages safe sex. Our philosophy is abstinence, not safe sex.”

It is true but rarely stated so bluntly, we care more about philosophy than the lives of our youth.

Almost 82% of our teens who became pregnant did not intend to do so. That is, disincentives would not have affected their behavior, because they did not plan to get pregnant in the first place. They were simply uninformed or ill-equipped to handle sex. Do we have no responsibility for these teens?

One million teenage girls became pregnant last year, 500,000 gave birth, and 3 million youths had sexually transmitted diseases. Looking at all age groups, HIV/AIDS is increasing most rapidly in our adolescents.

We know that 75% of all teenage pregnant girls became pregnant by an adult man. Many of these men are relatives. It has been reported that as high a percentage as approximately one in three girls are sexually abused before age 18, and one in four by age 14. These girls cannot just say “no.” How do these young women feel when schools emphasize that the only appropriate method for birth control and protection from disease is abstinence? There are also those teenagers who are going to engage in some form of sex with another person. For these youths condoms are needed for protection against sexually transmitted diseases.

Abstinence is a good thing, and it works for many of our youth. However, I am not willing to just throw away those other youths for which it does not work for one reason or another.

Shari Lo’s work is important, and in a real school that was interested in her whole individual development, her ideas would not be denied.

M. JOYCELYN ELDERS MD

Little Rock, Ark.

* Supt. Gaynes is not atypical of many educators today who lack the courage to face reality. By denying that problems exist, they seek to censure those who seek truth. Does Gaynes honestly think that abstinence works? Just look at the figures.

Her decision, of course, has backfired. She has made young Shari Lo a heroine and a role model for other teens (boys and girls) with brains instead of brawn. She has unwittingly empowered her beyond her wildest dreams!

GERALD R. ROTH

Los Angeles