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Ban on free condoms under scrutiny at Boston College

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 12:45:00 +0000

Boston College, a private Jesuit university in the tony suburb of Newton, MA., officially bans the distribution of condoms on campus, and the policy has recently caused a considerable amount of friction with a student sexual health group.

After years of operating on campus without incident, the group, Boston College Students for Sexual Health, received a letter in March from the administration, ordering them to stop giving out free condoms and sexual health education kits to students.

According to The New York Times, the letter explained that "the distribution of condoms is not congruent" with the values and traditions of Boston College:

While we understand that you may not be intentionally violating university policy, we do need to advise you that, should we receive any reports that you are, in fact, distributing condoms on campus, the matter would be referred to the student conduct office for disciplinary action by the university.

HPV vaccine doesn’t promote promiscuity

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 14:40:00 +0000

A new study should put to bed arguments that vaccinating young people against common HPV strains promotes promiscuity. Research published Monday in the journal Pediatrics found no correlation between vaccination and sexual behavior.

As the New York Times reported, "Looking at a sample of nearly 1,400 girls, the researchers found no evidence that those who were vaccinated beginning around age 11 went on to engage in more sexual activity than girls who were not vaccinated."

HPV -- in its main thousand strains -- is the most common sexually transmitted virus in the U.S.; one-third of 14- to 19-year-olds are carriers. "Federal health officials began recommending in 2006 that girls be vaccinated as early as age 11 and last year made a similar recommendation for preadolescent boys. The idea is to immunize boys and girls before they become sexually active to maximize the vaccine’s protective effects," the Times reported.