Condom Cards Handed Out to British Teens

There are all kinds of cards in the world…credit cards, library cards, movie rental cards, customer reward loyalty cards, health insurance cards and the like. Now we can include in the multitude of cards we carry on a daily basis a “condom card.” That is, if we happened to be young boys living in Britain. In an attempt to curb the skyrocketing teenage pregnancy rate in Britain, boys aged 13 and over will be issued these credit-card-like condom cards which would give them access to complimentary condoms at various places like scout huts, barber shops and football stadiums.

This condom effort was put forth for various reasons. The main reason behind this initiative was due to Britain having the highest pregnancy rate in comparison to the rest of the European countries. So far, the British government has not met its ambitious goal of cutting the teenage pregnancy rate in half. In addition, those who have proposed this new idea believe that by using these condom cards, young teenage boys will feel less embarrassed than visiting a general practitioner, a pharmacist or a sexual health clinic. The goal was to have these free condom distribution centers in areas where teenage boys tend to congregate on a daily basis.

The government guidance on the program states that once a teenage boys has attended a lesson on safe-sex, he will be issued the condom card and begin to receive free condoms immediately. Any teenage boy utilizing this service will not be forced to give out their name or be asked any questions concerning their sexual activity. Supporters of this initiative hope that teenage pregnancies will be curbed and that young teenage boys will feel more responsible for providing and using contraception during sexual encounters.

Critics of this program, however, feel that by allowing teenage boys free contraception, they will feel encouraged to become sexually active at younger ages. Already some regions around Britain are using the condom card service, but once the guidance is published in the fall, all boys who are 13 or over will be able to use the service. Each council will be able to offer the condom cards (or C-cards as they are being called) to boys under the age of 13, if they so wish, if the boy has already admitted to being sexually active.

This condom card initiative is being devised by the Brook advisory service for the Department for Children, Schools and Families. This department is responsible for giving advice to teenagers about contraceptives. Since some feel that teenaged girls have notoriously been the focus of contraception responsibility, this new condom card strategy will encourage teenage boys to become more knowledgeable about safe sex.

Each card will be issued once the teenage boy has sat through a lesson on the correct use of condoms. If the teenage boy decides to participate in other lessons on sexually transmitted diseases, he will get a stamp on his condom card, upping his status. The chief executive of Brook (the advisory service) strongly feels that utilizing the C-card will make the consistent and correct use of condoms “an everyday reality.”