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THE HERALD Wednesday January 23 1991 Page Community Condom dispensers seen as health issue By LISA BOONSTOPPELPOT Herald Though some members of the Halton Hills community are bound to object to the idea of in stalling condom dispensers in Halton high schools local trustees and high school prin cipals are cautiously supporting the idea for health reasons A study into the feasibility of in stalling condom dispensers in secondary school washrooms is currently being done by Bob Williams Director of Education for Halton and Robert Medical Officer of Health Over the next few months opinions from parents students and com members on the issue will be gathered by the board to be compiled in a report They wont be put in schools if people dont want them said Mr Williams However judging from the opi of principals and trustees the machines may be accepted as a viable way to help prevent the spread of sexual diseases mainly AIDS I think were shutting our eyes to the problem and I know we have to take steps to deal with this social problem of sexual ac tivity in the schools said Halton Hills trustee Arlene Bruce Condoms may be a possibility to deal with the threat of AIDS She said that education about the problem isnt enough Bryn Davies principal of Georgetown High School said as a professional hes sen to the communitys point of School boards stretching limit By LISA BOONSTOPPELPOT The Herald In light of a recent work torule action English Catholic secon dary school teachers commenced against the DuffennPeel Catholic schools President of Halton association is predicting the same thing could happen in many regions including I think the Catholic school boards will take the full process in more cases than in the past because of the hard economic times said Jerry Keyes dent of the Halton Secondary On tano English Catholic Teachers Association He said its not advantageous for boards to settle early when contract settlements are being reached because there are many working conditions which can not be made retroactive For instance if teachers ask for a lower People Teacher Ratio and negotiations go past September when classes have already begun the beard wont lower the ratio because kids would have to be pulled out of classes The teachers get stuck with the same working conditions from their last contract They have to continue with the same salaries same conditions and whatever else is in the contract if the board wont settle because often boards wont make these changes retroactive he said These actions save the board money By not agreeing to teachers requests in a time when changes could be made the board doesnt have to hire new staff to improve working tions simply because the change cant be made retroactive The boards end up getting half a year for virtually nothing said Mr Keyes This is whats happened in Peel where teachers and the board failed to reach a contract settlement for the 199091 school year Their agree ment expired last August and they have been in negotiations since last April The contract was recently settled agreement doesnt ex pire until Aug 31 of this year but teachers are already working on a new contract which they will present to the board for negotia tion in February said Mr Keyes Its too early to say if Halton will end up taking the action DuffennPeel teachers did said Mr Keyes But Mr Keyes thinks overall boards will be going the limit of negotiations to the point where teachers may be forced to strike to reach a settlement they re satisfied with The teachers association has begun developing a contract The pnxs begins by circulating a survey to all teachers in order determine what changes teachers want in their collective agreement These suggestions are drawn up in an initial pro posal and the proposal is voted on by all association teachers who can then accept disagree or change aspects of the proposal This will take until February when the Halton Catholic school board will get their chance to review the proposal view and hasnt made a decision on the issue But personally hes not opposed to condom dispensers in schools I have a 13yearold daughter and if she was ever in a position where she was tempted to engage in sexual intercourse Id rather she had a condom than not he said Statistics suggest that sex ual activity has been on the in crease over the decades and I can certainly understand the intensi ty of adolescent emotions and how teenagers can be overcome by these emotions Statistics presented by Medical Officer of Health Mr in dicate how common sexual tivity among high school students is These statistics taken from a study conducted by Queens University found 31 per cent of male grade nine students and per cent of female grade nine students report having inter course at least once while per cent of male grade students and per cent of female grade students reported having inter course at least once But Mr Davies and his col league Acton High School Ozzie Caldarelli say there are two sides to the issue I RE FINAL CLEARANCE ON ALL FALL AND WINTER MERCHANDISE Excluding RE mens wear 211 GUELPH STREET NORTHVIEW CENTRE Beside The Police Station A Utile Out Of Sight But So Is Our Selection Both agree that everyone in cluding the school should do all they can to prevent AIDS infec tion among students but wonder if the placement of condoms in the school might promote sexual activity We have to ask ourselves are we encouraging or condoning early sexual activity said Mr Caldarelli or are we just help ing prevent dangers in something that is happening anyway He senses public opinion will support the idea and that condom dispensers will eventually be in staller n schools This follows statistics collected in a Canada wide survey com missioned by the Gallup National Omnibus and the Canadian Public Health Association which questioned adults 18 years and older and year olds regarding AIDS sion and prevention Sixtyone per cent of Ontario adults felt condom dispensers should be installed high schools while 73 per cent of the year olds surveyed ap proved of the idea Mr Nosal concluded that use of condoms is an important preventative measure for both unwanted pregnancies and con tracting sexually transmitted However he said the place ment of dispensers is just one part in a whole larger puzzle of the health campaign The other pieces include a post to support sexual abstinence a healthy rela tionship newsletter for parents and a student survey These aspects of the campaign were proved by Halton Region Health Department He views the machines as a part of an overall community strategy to deal with the serious health problems of AIDS I hope condom dispensers will be made more available in general places like washrooms in bars or other entertainment establishments he said FLETCHERS SHOES 15th Annual WINTER CLEARANCE SALE IS FOR YOU AND THE WHOLE FAMILY BUY NOW AND SAVE UP TO MORE OFF OUR REGULAR LOW PRICES ON ALL FOOTWEAR PURSES BUSTER BROWN SOCKS ETC SHOES Sun la 11 39 ALL WINTER 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