Santa Monica High School Is First in County to Distribute Condoms

The Santa Monica High School students craned their necks Friday as they walked past the nurse’s office, curiously eyeing two boxes with signs that said “Take One.�

Some almost fell over backward, while others returned for a closer look. A few discreetly dipped a hand into one of the boxes and pulled out a packet without missing a step.

The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District has become the first public school system in Los Angeles County to hand out condoms on campus, said Susan Lordi, a consultant for health programs with the county Office of Education.

Santa Monica High is the district’s only high school and has 2,700 students.

By the time the school day ended, about 130 of the 800 packets had been taken. Each one contained two condoms and a card stating that abstinence is the only sure way to avoid sexually transmitted diseases and that condoms are not fail-safe. They also included telephone numbers for more information. Instructions on how to use the condoms were stapled to the packet.

“It went really well,� said nurse Cheryl Bader, a member of the committee that suggested how to make the condoms available after the school board approved a distribution policy last March.

“Kids are coming in and talking about it and that’s how it should be,� Bader said.

The school board directed the committee, composed of parents, students and faculty, to “give students access to condoms with the fewest restrictions,� Bader said.

Boxes and baskets were filled with condoms, accompanied by a can for collecting donations of 25 cents, and were placed in five locations--the nurse’s office, counseling office and three science classrooms. Vending machines may be added later.

The school board adopted the policy after three meetings at which only a handful of parents spoke out against the idea. Dozens of students supported the policy.

The proposal grew more lenient with each meeting. Board members dropped a plan to have a specially trained counselor encourage abstinence as the condoms were distributed. The board also dropped an option that would have allowed parents to bar their children from participating. That would have required students asking for a condom to identify themselves.

The Los Angeles Unified School District may begin handing out condoms as early as next week at four of its 49 high schools. At least six other school districts in the nation have a condom policy, including New York, Philadelphia and San Francisco.

“We’re a lot bigger than Santa Monica,� said Los Angeles Unified spokesman Shel Erlich. “We represent a lot of different communities. . . . We don’t want to rush into it.�

The condom policy is one component of the Santa Monica-Malibu district’s AIDS and sex education curriculum, Bader said. The policy stresses abstinence, and Bader thinks the message is getting through.

“Before it wasn’t cool to say I’m abstaining,� she said. “I think kids are finding a new voice to say that. And they aren’t getting teased.�

Most of the condoms were picked up by boys. One girl who asked not to be identified voiced concerns that “if anybody saw you, it would give you a bad reputation.�

Jeremiah, a sophomore, said at first he did not think condoms belonged on campus. But after several school assemblies about AIDS and an AIDS health fair, he said he changed his mind.

“It really made me think,� he said, while LL Cool J’s “Jingling Baby� played over two giant loudspeakers in the lunch area.

Tamao, another student, said he thinks distributing condoms on campus is “kind of weird right now. But I don’t think it’s going to be that big of a deal after awhile.�