Public schools have failed to properly educate high school students about safe sex. This is an issue among high school students, and the fact that many schools do not include curriculum covering sex results in it remaining a taboo subject.

Lanessa Riobe, 16, was sent home from Osceola High School in Kissimmee, Fla., after she wore a Halloween costume consisting of a T-shirt covered in condoms. Riobe also handed condoms out to her classmates at school. School administrators were alerted, and she was sent home with a one-day suspension for class disruption.

Had Riobe passed out candy on Halloween, the situation would not have been handled with such severity. Condoms would not have been so disruptive if sex education was more effectively taught. Programs should be in place that teach students how to properly use contraceptives.

If condoms were such a fascination to a classroom of high school students, it is obvious they are not receiving an education on how safe sex can be effective.

There is nothing wrong with Riobe handing out condoms to bring awareness to the fact that safe sex is important. The United States has the highest rates of teen pregnancy and births in the western industrialized world. Riobe would not have worn a T-shirt decorated in condoms if there were not a need for information.

When 35 percent of young women become pregnant at least once before they reach the age of 20, that's about 850,000 women a year. The conclusion that something is wrong with the method of sex education in our schools easily is made with a statistic such as this.

Osceola High School should not have punished Riobe for what she did, and even if she were causing a disturbance, it shouldn't have merited a suspension. The school should see this situation as an opportunity to better itself.

Curriculum concerning sex should be updated, or added. If subjects such as safe sex were covered in more depth at public schools, students would be more empowered to make smart decisions.