I’ve decided that it’s Condom Week around here at Unhushed. Melissa White over at Lucky Bloke recently asked if I wanted to provide content for her new safer sex education website, and of course I was delighted! But when I went back to look through my blogging archives (both here and at www.karenrayne.com), I found that I had written terrifyingly little about condoms. So here I am, rectifying that problem with Condom Week, on both sites. Here at Unhushed I’ll be writing about parental concerns about condoms. At KarenRayne.com I’ll be writing about teachers and other educators’ issues about condoms in the classroom. Interested in receiving Unhushed blog posts as they happen? Sign up here. You can sign up to receive KarenRayne.com blog posts here.

…in other words, “Why condoms?”
This question comes to me from parents and young people alike, for a wide range of reasons and with an even wider range of misconceptions. But here’s the ultimate truth about the entire thing:

• Teenagers need access to sexual healthcare, whether they’re sexual right now or not. (I’ll be addressing this in a myriad of ways all week long, so don’t stop reading now if you question this a correct or true.)
• Condoms are relatively cheap, accessible, and effective given what is available to teenagers.
• Condoms offer protection from STIs/STDs in addition to pregnancy.

This is not to suggest that either abstinence or hormonal birth control are off the table as solid options for teenagers, just that condoms offer the best option for most teenagers most of the time. Is the teenager abstinent? Fantastic! The condoms are a back-up, because why wouldn’t you have a fall back plan in the even that your first approach to contraception fails? The teenager is on hormonal birth control for some extraneous reason or wants to go that route? Also fantastic! Two methods of contraception are better than one (unless they’re two condoms, and that’s a no-go!) and condoms will provide the additional STI protection.
So why condoms? Because condoms are pragmatic, they’re the workhorse of contraceptive options.
Tune in every day this week for more conversation about condoms and how you can support your teenagers around condom use. (Or subscribe with the link above to get the posts in your email every day!)