The Dark Side of Condoms

A public speaker was asked to address a group of secondary school students. The topic bothered on issues related to sex education. In the course of the address, the speaker asked the students who were not virgins to stand up. The outcome was alarming. A good percentage of those who stood up were junior secondary school students!!! In the bigger society, the situation is worse. It is no longer a big surprise to find an eight year old girl or girl (or even less) being disvirgined.

When we were growing up it was a scary thing to think about sex, not to talk of actually indulging in it. Pregnancy was like an end to the life of a girl. There was so much fear for sex. It was a thing of pride to marry as a virgin, especially as a girl.

Today, things have changed. Rather than be proud of being a virgin, a girl (or boy) boasts of having a boyfriend (or girlfriend). Sex is no more an exclusive preserve of the married, but a free for all activity.

In some homes, parents even encourage amorous relationships between their children and other children, including the teenage ones, thus giving them the impression that they are not doing anything wrong.

What could make the moral situation so bad? What could make the fear of childhood pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases to be almost insignificant? .

 Perhaps it is because ''protection'' now exists against unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseasees. ''Thanks'' to the CONDOM!!!

Today, the demand for condoms is enormous.  The print and electronic media is awash with the advertisements of condoms. Different companies are cashing in on this and many more are springing             up every day, producing and providing ‘’protection’’ to those who want to have sex, irrespective of       the ages. The reasoning is if I can be ‘’protected from unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, why should I be afraid to have sex”. And with this line of thought, the demand for condom continues to experience astronomical boost.

Indulgence, especially amongst teenagers and adolescents, with a form of protection will simply mean giving a child a passport to unlimited and uncontrolled sex. Such kids grow up and find self-discipline as being a very difficult virtue to imbibe, simply because there is a ‘’culture of protection’’.

No doubt, condoms have drastically reduced the scourge of unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. The companies have also had positive effects in the economies where they operate. But a balance must be struck between economic gains/good intentions and negative side effects. Thus, my problem is mainly because of what condoms have done to the mentality of teenagers and adolescent s – drastic drop in fear of consequences of early sex, indiscriminate sex, multiple sex partners, abortion (even with the use of the condoms), a serious drop in morality, and in some cases, death arising from sex.

So, my appeal is simple: there should be more control in the sales and marketing of condoms. The media should be more actively involved in a campaign for ABSTINENCE as the best way to avoid unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, especially amongst teenagers and adolescents. Simple !!!

Let us save our kids and unborn children from a ‘’sex- for-all society.’’


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