School says sorry over students' pre-ball condoms

By STUART DYE

Teenagers at an Auckland high school were offered complimentary condoms when they bought tickets to their school ball.

The students, from Edgewater College in Pakuranga, were handed an envelope containing a condom, sexual health advice and pointers on sensible behaviour surrounding alcohol and transport home from the ball.

The ball was held last Friday night at Sky City and was a huge success, according to the school.

But some parents were left seething over the pre-ball freebie.

"What kind of a message is this sending out?" said one parent, who declined to be named.

"It's a mix of teenagers, partying, probably alcohol, and then contraceptives. It's really not on."

The package was offered to all students who bought a ball ticket, though not all students took the offer.

But organisers "quickly gained an impression that this was not the appropriate thing to do", said Edgewater principal Allan Vester.

A pre-ball assembly was held and an amnesty on the condoms was offered. A "great number" were handed in.

Mr Vester yesterday described the package as an "error of judgment".

"We put our hands up and say, 'Hell, we made a mistake'."

The package was handed out by the school's Peer Sexuality Support Team - a student group which gets training to help others understand where to go if they run into sex and relationship problems. Mr Vester said the group was made up of sensible and responsible students who believed that they were encouraging safe behaviour.

"They were not attempting to be provocative or controversial," he said.

"They are young people doing what they believed was a responsible thing, given the alarming teenage pregnancy and sexual health statistics for the nation."

However, it was realised that the message going out to students and parents was not likely to be the one the group had intended.

Measures were being introduced to ensure a similar situation did not arise again.

The students involved were not to blame because their motives were entirely responsible, said Mr Vester.

The package the sexuality support team had put together also included advice on how to say no to sex - and telephone numbers for services such as Youthline.