A New Prom Promise In the Making?

For years student at different high schools around the country have participated in Prom Promise (founded and organized by Nationwide) where they sign a card stating,

I promise not to use alcohol or other drugs. This is a promise I take seriously. It's one I intend to keep, for my sake and the sake of my friends and family.

Recently a school district has decided to take part in the sexual health protection of their prom-attending students as well.

As common tradition, many schools give out small gifts or gift bags to the students attending prom. This year, The Bisbee School District in Arizona voted four to one that included in their gift bags this year would be balloons, candies, picture frames, and you guessed it – two condoms.

It’s amazing to see that school officials are taking a mature and understanding approach to the topic of sex. Some parents were actually outraged by the addition to the gift bags, and that’s an age-old problem that we run into quite often every day. The school is not telling students that by giving them condoms they have to choose to have sex (just the same as quality sexual education programs doesn’t tell students to have sex), but rather offers them the tools they need to be safe with their own decisions of what is right and wrong for them at any given time.

Many adults have a difficult time seeing teens as people that do indeed experience the same feelings that adults do – and being ready for sex is something that can happen or not happen at any age with any partner. I think it’s great that the school district is helping the students to think responsibly about their decisions – and offering them condoms to use if they choose to have sex.

At the message boards, there’s been a lot of discussion about different programs that schools offer as their sexual education curriculum. Many users agree that their curriculum could have been better (assuming that they had a sexual education curriculum at all). This school is making a large step in the right direction in beginning to take a hands on approach to encouraging students to make safe decisions about their sexual health. Wouldn’t it be amazing to someday see some type of safety cards or condom cards on the walls with the Prom Promise cards where students will not only promise not to drink or do drugs – but also to make safe decisions about sex. I definitely think this decision is one other school districts should adopt.

Comments

I'm glad they're helping students to stay safe. There's a popular mythos about prom night that influences some people to drink and have sex (even for the first time) on prom night (as if it's expected of them), and I'm glad that the school board recognizes this and isn't ashamed to help in the sexual health of their students. I liked the idea of the cards anyways, because most of the drugs avaliable to high schoolers are not only government regulated (illegal) but are also restricted to them based on age (illegal).

Besides, most high schoolers want to remember their prom as a fun experience--not one that ends in so-and-so throwing up on their beautiful (sometimes rented) clothes due to excessive drinking, and certainly not one that ends in an STI or pregnancy scare due to unprotected sex. I'm so glad to see this news!

I'm also interested to see what else this particular school district is doing about sex ed for their students.

I know that most of the people plan to have sex by or on prom night, and I guess that some schools are coming to terms with that. It's not like as soon as the kids leave the prom the party is over!!!!

The kids are curious- they want to try these things! It's one of the most 'you-dont-know-much-about-it-till-you-actally-do-it' things. Most kids want to know everything there is to know- including sex.

Its genious - so many pregnancies could have been prevented if we'd started doing this earlier!