Rochester, N.Y. - Some students and parents are urging the school board to vote "No" on a decision to make condoms available in school clinics.
They're getting the message out via TV ads.
The issue comes up for a vote Thursday night and is expected to pass.
The TV ads, made by the Rochester Parents Union, strongly oppose the district's plan to make condoms available in high school health clinics.
"This will be another peer pressure, where now a child who isn't thinking about it, will say, ‘OK, maybe I should, because the schools and everybody else say it's OK,’" said Ernest Flagler-Mitchell of the Rochester Parents Union.
“I am very respectful of their position,” said school board member Mary Adams, “and that's why an ‘opt out’ provision is critically important and will be respected."
The Monroe County Health Department suggested the plan—a response, due, in part--to a spike in HIV cases among young people in Rochester. HIV education would be required as part of the measure.
The school board president expects the measure to pass.
The Rochester Parents Union says it will continue airing the ads regardless of the outcome.
