Posted on 11/15/2005 6:27:54 AM PST by NYer
Berkeley High School in the Bay Area university town has a registered Condom Club that offers students 12 free condoms week.
An ad for the club in the Student Daily Bulletin read: "Having sex? Thinking about having sex? Come to CONDOM CLUB at lunch in A205. One meeting will get you a sticker on your ID that gives you 12 free condoms each week from the BHS Health Center."
In a column for the San Francisco Chronicle Sunday, a Berkeley writer whose son is a freshman at the high school said he found out about the club through an e-mail dispatch of the Daily Bulletin.
The invitation also has been broadcast a few times over the school's loudspeaker system, said G. Pascal Zachary.
Zachary said that what "left me pondering the ingenuity of high school administrators, was the number of condoms on offer.
"Twelve condoms a week! I don't know sex workers who need that many condoms," he wrote.
The writer said he "was stewing over the Condom Club for a few weeks when I finally got the nerve to ask my son whether he joined. 'No, dad, I didn't.' I wasn't sure whether to be glad or sad, since I didn't have the nerve to ask him whether he's having sex."
Zachary said he just told his son "his teachers are right: When he does finally have sex, he must wear a condom.
"When I tried to demonstrate how to use one, he stopped me and, shaking his head, said, 'Dad, they taught us in sixth grade.'
"Oh. You never mentioned it."
An ad for the club in the March 23 edition of the Student Daily Bulletin offered such instruction.
"Having sex? Thinking about having sex?" the ad read. "Come to room A205 at lunch on April 4th for condom club. Learn to use a condom correctly and get free condoms from the Health Center."
A report in North Gate News Online, a publication of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, said the school's health clinic, which advertises the Condom Club, helped make the school's pregnancy rate the lowest in the state.
The health center, according to the school's website, "knows that students have the ability to make their own health care decisions, and supports their right to take responsibility for themselves and their health. By health, we mean physical, emotional and sexual well-being. We will continue to create a safe space for students that is free of judgment."
The high school, which has about 3,000 students, touts its many clubs and organizations as a "great way to make friends and get involved."
Students can start their own clubs by submitting a club registration form to the student activities director and acquiring a faculty sponsor.
Other clubs have included Alternative Chess, Gay-Straight Alliance, German Film Club, Asian Pacific Island Club, Hip Hop Society and the Jewish Student Union.
As Groucho once said, I love my cigar, too, but I take it out of my mouth every now and then.
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