“Ignorance is bliss.”

That’s one interpretation of the abstinence-only sex education argument that asserts that if students are taught to abstain from sex, then they won’t have any, and there won’t be any issues. Right? Wrong. Pre-marital sex is only becoming more culturally accepted, and there is one particular setting where it runs rampant: colleges.

Boston College, being a Jesuit Catholic institution, follows the Catholic belief that premarital sex is wrong and abstinence is the only way to go. So then why was it so shocking that the administration sent a letter to students on March 15, asking them to stop distributing condoms and safe sex information?

For one, the administration has supposedly known about Safe Sites, the student-run safe sex education group under fire, for some time, but it hasn’t taken any steps against them until now. Safe Sites gives out condoms, lubricant and safe sex pamphlets providing healthy and smart advice on sexual intimacy from dorm rooms and other sites both on and off the BC campus.

The worst part about the letters is the threat of disciplinary action against the students. Because it violates the school’s religious beliefs, the distribution of safe sex materials is considered disrespectful of those beliefs. However, the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts says that by threatening to take action against the students if they don’t stop, BC is violating its students’ rights. Safe Sites is a student-helping-student group that protects the sexual and reproductive health of the students at BC. Penalizing them may force students to “… choose between holistic health care and a world class institution,” as Lizzie Jekanowski, the chairwoman of BC Students for Sexual Health, told the Boston Globe.

Jekanowski has made it very clear that Safe Sites should not be considered a threat to BC’s religious structure. What makes this attack on safe sex education so confusing is that the group has always been open about what they’ve been doing and have never tried to hide the fact that they were educating students about safe sex methods other than abstinence. It came as a surprise to the group when BC contacted them, and they wish the issue had been dealt with in a different way. Jekanowski called the letters “very war-mongering and threatening.”

By attempting to stop this organization, Boston College is taking a step backwards. Abstinence-only education is the most ineffective form of sexual education. It has been shown not only to have no effect on how much sex teens are having, but it actually decreases the safety of that sex when it happens. In a study including 934 high school students, the teens “who took the virginity pledge were not only just as likely to have intercourse, they ultimately were more likely to take part in sex in an unsafe manner” than those who did not, according to openeducation.net.

Students, especially in a college setting, are likely to have sex whether or not condoms are distributed. So why would BC encourage educational practices that only weaken the probability of students having safe intercourse?

Jack Dunn, a spokesperson for BC, made one of the most confusing comments in reaction to the outrage that followed the school’s letter to Safe Sites. “We recognize that, as a reflection of society at large, many students do not agree with the church’s position on these issues. However, we ask those who do not agree to be respectful of our position and circumspect in their private affairs.”

Sexual intimacy is one of the most private affairs for people. Can a college actually hold what students do in private against them? No. But by attempting to halt the distribution of condoms on its campus, the administration is trying.

UMass students should know that if you live in the residence halls, you can ask your RA for condoms, and they are also available at University Health Services. UMass does not practice abstinence-only education, which coincides with the fact that it is a public school, and Massachusetts “requires health education be age-appropriate, medically accurate and evidence-based.” The UHS website provides a list of contraceptive choices that not only includes information about abstinence, but articles on how to use male and female condoms, spermicides, diaphragms, contraceptive pills and sterilization.

The point of education is, well, education, and that’s something that abstinence-only education does not provide. All it promotes is ignorance, and if Boston College’s administration tries to take away condom distribution on its campus, then ignorance is what it’ll be supporting.

Safe Sites has scheduled meetings with the Boston College administration to discuss the issue further, and the group doesn’t plan on halting condom distribution without the pursuit of legal action.

Emily Mias is a Collegian columnist. She can be reached at [email protected].