Thursday, March 06, 2014

At Boston public schools, condom wrappers raise ruckus

The Boston Globe reports:
The Boston public school system, as it prepared to make condoms available to students at all its high schools last fall, received what seemed like the perfect donation from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health: 40,000 free condoms.

But now the system is pulling the donated contraceptives from its schools after some parents raised questions about whether the messages and images on the wrappers are appropriate for teenagers, even as they voiced support for the condom-distribution policy. The wrappers featured such messages as “One lucky lady,” “hump one,” and “tasty one,” which was accompanied by picture of a shark preying on a small fish.

One outraged mother took to Twitter Tuesday night, posting a picture of some of the condoms along with this request: “looking for BPS administrators to explain why this packaging is OK.” She also e-mailed the governor and the mayor.

“Right idea, wrong execution,” the mother, Stephanie Bode Ward, said in an interview Wednesday, blaming the state. “I so fully support condoms in the schools, and it was incredibly courageous for BPS to adopt the policy.”
Boston public schools might not emphasize reading and math but ... taxpayers are providing condoms. The great moments of public education!