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Swaga Mama
Some of you have been asking me to discuss the topic of contraceptives in schools. Should condoms and pills and other contraceptives be put in toilets at academic institutions?
Most adults would say no, period. This is based on moral principles and traditional cultural values which say that young people should abstain until marriage, so there will be no discussion on their contraception wants.

Some teens, away from parental and teacher censure would say yes.

They would say that they have the right to choose what to do with their bodies.

Personally I feel that the best thing to do is to let teens have all the information so that they can make informed decisions. But ultimately the adoption of principles is an individual decision.

In the matter of contraceptives in schools, as a parent and a teacher I also say no, those things have no place in our educational institutions and I am going to give you three reasons why.

First of all the argument for putting condoms in schools says many teens are having sex anyway as shown by the number of teen pregnancies, abortions and other indicators.

But I say that just because some teens are making bad choices with their lives, there is no need to then make them the standard by which we view a whole generation.

By putting contraceptives in schools, I feel this is deliberately encouraging students who have decided to abstain to consider becoming sexually active because we will be saying that is the normal thing to do.

Secondly, I think that there is nothing wrong with keeping encouraging young people to delay their sexual debut or to abstain. It is never too late to take a different road in life.

And if teens decide not to take that advice, then they must think out their decision and the walk to the health centre or to the shops will give them the opportunity to do just that.

Finally, my biggest argument is that there are no bedrooms at school. Even in boarding schools there are no facilities for students to use as sex nests.

Those of you who choose to have sex have to make arrangements for places where they can do this.

If you are innovative enough to find a venue, then surely you are clever enough to take care of your contraceptive needs without the help of the school authorities.

At the end of the day, the decisions are yours to make. After all, it is your life to build or ruin, as you choose.

But never forget that the present is the past that you will look back at in the future. Are you going to be filled with regret at the opportunities that you wasted or are you going to feel satisfaction at how you handled your life from the word go?