We’re not going to sit here and pretend that teenagers are practicing abstinence, even though it is being preached to death in Singapore’s sexual education programmes.
One teenager decided to be responsible about his, um, naughty pursuits by buying a pack of condoms at the nearby 7-Eleven store. However, Redditor u/RustMoo observed the teenager was allegedly reprimanded by the 7-Eleven shopkeeper for buying condoms and was told to not do what “adults” do.
The Redditor’s post on Saturday (Dec 15) on the r/Singapore channel has received more than 100 upvotes as of press time and close to 100 comments from Redditors who were upset that the teenager was being reprimanded for taking ownership and responsibility over his sexual activities instead of causing unwanted teenage pregnancies.
In the post, the Redditor said what the shopkeeper did was “ridiculous” in saying that the teenager was too young to buy condoms.
According to the Redditor, the teenager was embarrassed by the incident and left the store without buying the condoms while the shopkeeper took the pack and left it behind the counter.
There is no legal age for anyone to buy condoms in Singapore.
In response, Redditors had a lot to say to the auntie in shaming the boy and possibly encouraging him to engage in unprotected sex which could lead to unwanted circumstances in future.
A 7-Eleven spokesperson told Coconuts Singapore that the brand “does not condone the actions taken by our store team member with regards to this incident”.
“We would like to sincerely apologize to our customer for the embarrassment caused by this incident,” he added. “We value every one of our customers and will investigate this incident and counsel our errant team member. We will also take steps to ensure such incidents will not be repeated.”
We believe it’s better to be safe than sorry, so it’s sad to know that this went down. However, it brings up a potential issue for debate: whether we should ignore or deal with the fact that some teenagers will have sex at some point and it may be better for them to be prepared when the situation arises.
To that boy: you can always go to Cheers or buy your condoms online. If anyone judges you, just say you’re helping to keep teenage pregnancy rates low.
[Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the statement from 7-Eleven’s spokesperson.]
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