Get involved! Know how to protect yourself and your friends. Find out the real deal on condoms in New York City's public schools, and demand that the city keeps its promises to youth.

Did you know that all NYC public high schools are required to provide FREE CONDOMS to students???

Did you know that half of all new HIV infections nationwide occur in youth (people under 25)?

High school students around NYC are finding that a majority of NYC public schools are breaking the rules and not providing free condoms.

Do you want to hold decision-makers accountable to their promises to keep NYC high school students safe? Do you want to take control of your sexual health and demand your rights?

Join the Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project (CHAMP) and high school students from across NYC in this action-packed activist training to develop the skills you need in order to be a powerful youth activist and fight for condom access in your school and in all schools!

Our trainings are free, with meals and transportation provided!

For more information, contact Coco Jervis at coco@champnetwork.org or call 212-937-7955 x70. Space is limited, so sign up now!

Press release: City Records Show Majority of High Schools Stock No Condoms

As mayoral candidates josted on school issues, documents acquired by CHAMP confirmed the experiences of students - drastic and dangerous shortages of condoms in high schools, despite city laws requiring schools to provide condoms as HIV prevention tools. Download the full press release here.

Free Condoms!! Click Here

The Find the Condoms in Your School Campaign is endorsed by: Coalition for Asian American Children and Families, The Condom Project, Condomania, F.E.G.S., Inwood House, NARAL Pro-Choice New York, New York AIDS Coalition (NYAC), the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), Sexuality Information and Education Council of the U.S. (SIECUS), Special Audiences, Student Global AIDS Coalition (SGAC), the Youth Power Project at Make the Road By Walking. (List in formation)


Our Demands:

1. We demand clear and consistent access to condoms in all New York public high schools.

New York City mandate requires high schools to have Health Resource Rooms, staffed by trained teachers, with condoms available to students for at least 10 periods a week

• We demand compliance with this mandate, as well as expansion of condom access, distribution of both female and male condoms and adequate training for their correct and consistent use.

2. We demand that information and training on how to correctly use condoms is made available.

• Health Resource Rooms must stock lubricant, male and female condoms, multilingual information on how to use condoms and how to access free condoms outside of schools.

• All teachers, starting with those who staff the Health Resource Rooms, must be trained to give condom demonstrations, and must do so when students ask for condoms.

• Demonstrations of the correct use of female and male condoms must be included into HIV prevention curricula and taught each term in classrooms.

3. We demand clear and transparent evaluation and oversight of school’s compliance with the mandates.

• Compliance with the mandates must be evaluated at the school and regional level.

• Evaluation and oversight must be conducted by each school’s HIV Team as well as DOE staff, and incorporate broader student input about what they are really experiencing.

• Evaluation must assess if current mandates are adequate for the needs of students, or if access to condoms and education should be expanded.

• The Department of Education must appoint an HIV Director to coordinate mandate compliance, curricula implementation, and ongoing training and support.

Download a copy of the demands here.

What is the Find the Condoms in Your School campaign?

New York City is unique and lucky in that we have mandates that give our youth the tools and information they need to protect themselves from HIV. These laws say that students in NYC public schools have the right by law to receive yearly lessons on HIV prevention. They also say that public schools should have health resource rooms, open 10 class periods a week, where condoms are available for students who ask for them.

But we’ve heard a lot of stories and rumors that these mandates aren’t being met. Condoms often aren’t being made available to students. So the Find the Condoms in Your School Campaign is our plan to find out what’s really going on in NYC public schools, and to demand that the city keeps its promises to our youth.

We’re planning a week where students ask for condoms in their schools and see what happens. Student leaders will organize their peers and collect information. After the week is over, we’ll release a report and hold a media event where youth leaders interested in doing media work will report for themselves what the situation is, and ask that the city do what needs to be done to meet the mandates.


What are we asking?
We’re looking for youth leaders, youth participants, and anyone else who wants to be involved.

• Youth leaders will commit to organizing a certain number of their friends and classmates to participate in the week. They will hand out and collect information at their schools. They will attend the trainings, the pre- and post-week planning meetings and participate in media events if they’re interested.

• Youth participants will connect with the youth leader at their school during the week of the event. They will pick up the information they need, try to find a condom, and report back to the school leader how it went.

• Community participants can get involved with organizing the week of the event, pulling together the report, creating our media strategy, supporting youth leaders, or any number of other opportunities.


What's in it for you?
You’ll get the real deal on what’s happening in our city’s schools, and you’ll meet and work with other activists who care about HIV prevention and comprehensive sex ed.

We’re putting on two activist skills trainings for youth involved in the campaign. One training will cover basic organizing skills; the other will cover media skills. This is a great way to sharpen your activist talents.

Have you ever wanted to hold your own press conference? Youth leaders will help create a media strategy and plan and participate in a media event.

Do you need community service hours for school? This is your chance to earn them while doing something to make a difference.

And finally, you will receive a fun Find the Condoms in Your School Campaign t-shirt!


I'm in! How do I get involved?

• Come to a CHAMP NY meeting. CHAMP NY is an HIV prevention activist group dedicated to TAKING ACTION. Contact Sebastian for information on location and other details at coco@champnetwork.org or
212-937-7955 x70.

• Or, for a change, have us come to your meeting. Let us know when your meeting/event is and we’ll come talk for 10-15 minutes about the campaign and tell folks how they can get involved.

• Help distribute our "Know Your Rights" cards to high school students.
Students and CHAMP members have created great cards that inform NYC public high school students of their legal right to condom access and HIV education in their high schools. Contact coco@champnetwork.org to have us send you a stack!

If you can’t do any of these things, you can still be involved. Sign up to be on our mailing list and receive updates on the Find the Condoms in Your School Campaign. Let us know if you can volunteer to hand out flyers or make phone calls. Tell all your friends and colleagues. Every bit counts!

Free Condoms!!