Mrs. Lilian Obodo closed her computer in anger and threw back her head in exasperation. She was certainly in a fix. Her future and that of this great institution were in jeopardy because she knew the implication of letting Jessica keep the pregnancy. Ever since Jessica flaunted her orders again for the third time, she knew trouble was brewing. So, in order to find a way out of the quagmire, she had summoned an urgent staff meeting to discuss the matter.
“I have summoned this meeting in other for us to deliberate on how best to resolve the issue at hand; I hope you all know what I am talking about? Well, in case you don’t, I am referring to the Nnamani issue. I need your opinions, gentle men and ladies.”
As usual, opinions were divided along the anti abortion and pro abortion lines. The school doctor was definitely against the idea of sending her home and rather advocated for the school to provide welfare services for her likes that were getting pregnant because of the alarming failure rate of condoms and other contraceptives and birth control devices. “Sending Nnamani home will not solve the problem but rather, it will aggravate it. What we really need to do is to re-evaluate our value system. We also need to ask ourselves a couple of soul searching questions such as; is the safe sex really working? You mightn’t know it, but if you are in my department, you will understand more clearly what I’m talking about. In fact, it is even worse than I initially thought and more than you can ever comprehend. Over 20% of all the girls who were diagnosed were pregnant or had AIDS but that is not the point, the main issue is that more than 50% of all these girls said it was safe sex. The bottom line of what I’m saying is that safe sex has failed and we have failed too. It’s true that the girls are getting condom education but not enough to stop behaviors that fuel AIDS.”
“So what are you suggesting, doctor?” the principal asked.
“I suggest we go back to the old morality i.e. religious / abstinence only education.”
“But that is not possible, Dr. Okoro,” Mrs. Eze, the games mistress objected. “They should be taught how best to protect themselves from AIDS and unwanted pregnancy when they are sexually active.”
“But that’s what we’ve been doing, and from all indications, it’s not working. Why? The reason is simply because kids are too impulsive and undisciplined to use condoms correctly and consistently to ensure safety.”
“Doctor, these things looks good on paper but in real life, they just don’t work. Abstinence is not feasible for most of humanity.” Mrs. Okafor, the chemistry mistress countered.
The argument continued on and on like a broken record for hours with more and more of the teachers supporting abstinence only sex education. Naturally, the principal was not comfortable with the idea and she accused the doctor of sabotaging the efforts of the school authorities at stemming the spread of AIDS and unwanted pregnancy among the girls.
At the end of the day, she had ridden roughshod over their opinions and sent Jessica home on an indefinite suspension. According to her, that will serve as a deterrent to other girls who might want to follow in her footsteps.
The next day, during the morning devotion, the principal, Mrs. Obodo had for over thirty minutes, condemned in strong terms the astronomical rise in the number of STDs, including AIDS and unwanted pregnancy among the girls despite unprecedented efforts at providing condom education and easy access and availability of condom, birth control pills, drugs and other contraceptives devices at their beck and call.
“From today onward,” she’d warned. “The school authorities will not condone any more of your excesses. We have vowed to deal decisively with anyone who flaunts any single one of the school’s orders, do you hear me?”
“Yes, Ma,” they chorused.
“And to set an example, we have decided, and without regrets, to suspend indefinitely Miss Jessica Nnamani for gross misconduct. Is she here?” she’d asked, pausing briefly. “Come out here so they can see you.”
There was murmuring, confusion and panic. From where she stood with Ijeoma in the middle line, she made for the podium. The murmuring increased as everyone started talking at the same time.
“Turn, face the students,” the principal ordered.
The students deeply puzzled, held their breath. They were afraid their worst fears might come true.
“Like I said before,” the principal was saying. “We have no regret in suspending Miss Nnamani indefinitely for flaunting the school’s orders. As from today, she is no longer a student of Holy Child College, do you hear me?”
Instead of the usual ‘yes ma,’ the feedback she got was murmurings and protests.
“And if any of you think you can follow in her footsteps, be rest assured that a similar fate awaits such a person. We’ve had enough of these nonsense and madness. This school has got a name and reputation to protect and if you are not willing to behave yourselves, then, we’ll have no choice than to tame you.”
All at once, the murmurings picked up again, increasing with each passing second. The principal was still talking, but her words were drown in the sea of voices.
From the back row, someone shouted. “But it was safe sex.”
And another girl shouted. “Safe sex is a hoax.”
“Down with all these double standards,” shouted yet another girl.