Condoms, Sex Ed., and the Gardasil Vaccine

What do condoms, sexual education, and the Gardasil vaccine all have in common? While all of these are preventative measures – to stop venereal diseases, unwanted pregnancies, or HPV - there are those who see all of these measures as things that encourage people to have sex.

In Devices and Desires, Andrea Tone explains that officials in the military gave soldiers a prophylaxis against venereal diseases only after they had sexual intercourse, not before. They thought that if soldiers were given condoms or other prophylaxes before they had intercourse, it would encourage the soldiers to have sex, which was seen as morally wrong. In reality, condoms would have stopped many soldiers from catching venereal diseases. These alternative measures were not as effective as condoms, and yet, they were not given to soldiers because of their possible “moral” consequences. With these prophylaxes, they could try to stop these immoral soldiers from health consequences; with condoms, they might protect these immoral soldiers, but they might also persuade otherwise moral soldiers to have sex.

When discussing whether sexual education should be taught in schools, and if so, what kinds or how in depth the education should be, many people argue that it will encourage sexual behaviors. Sexual education should teach adolescents about the consequences of sex, and how to protect themselves from unwanted pregnancies and STIs, which in theory should make people wait longer, or to be safer when they do have sex. However, many people still believe that this knowledge will not be beneficial, and will encourage young people to have sex earlier. This knowledge could protect many people from consequences of sex in a similar way to the condoms protecting soldiers from venereal diseases. While the knowledge of how to have safe sex can’t protect people physically, they both should be “given” to people before they have sex.

This is why abstinence only sex education is taught in schools. Some people thing that teaching young people about condoms and other birth control measures, such as the pill, will encourage them to have sex; therefore, they think that the only way that they could stop young people from having sex is to tell them not to, and not teach them how in the future they could have sex safely. Before even the prophylaxis that was given to the soldiers after they had sex, the military tried to tell its soldiers not to have sex, in the same way abstinence only sexual education is taught in schools.

Another instance in which we see this same argument is when talking about the Gardasil vaccine. Many parents do not want to give their child the Gardasil vaccine because they are afraid that it will encourage them to have sex. This vaccine prevents against HPV, which is contracted during sexual intercourse, and certain kinds of cancers caused by HPV. This is the exact same view as in the military in the Victorian era, with almost the same circumstances. In this case, the vaccine is comparable to the condoms, and HPV is comparable to the venereal diseases. For HPV, there are specific screenings to determine if someone will develop these cancers, in which case, there are certain treatments available that are not as effective as the vaccine is.

http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/component/content/article/450-effective-sex-education

http://healthland.time.com/2012/10/15/hpv-vaccine-doesnt-lead-to-promiscuous-tweens/