American middle school to offer birth control

Discussion Open Forum
1

From CNN:

[quote]PORTLAND, Maine (AP) – [b]After an outbreak of pregnancies among middle school girls, education officials in this city have decided to allow a school health center to make birth control pills available to girls as young as 11.

King Middle School will become the first middle school in Maine to make a full range of contraception available, including birth control pills and patches. Condoms have been available at King’s health center since 2000.[/b]

Students need parental permission to access the school’s health center. But treatment is confidential under state law, which allows the students to decide whether to inform their parents about the services they receive.

There are no national figures on how many middle schools provide such services. Most middle schoolers range in age from 11 to 13.

“It’s very rare that middle schools do this,” said Divya Mohan, a spokeswoman for the National Assembly on School-Based Health Care.

[b]Portland’s three middle schools reported 17 pregnancies during the last four years, not counting miscarriages or terminated pregnancies that weren’t reported to the school nurse.

The Portland School Committee approved the plan, offered by city health officials, on a 7-2 vote Wednesday night. Whether the prescriptions would be offered this school year or next wasn’t immediately clear.[/b]

King is the only one of the three schools with a health center, primarily because it has more students who get free or reduced-price lunch, said Lisa Belanger, who oversees Portland’s student health centers.

Five of the 134 students who visited King’s health center during the 2006-07 school year reported having sexual intercourse, said Amanda Rowe, lead nurse in Portland’s school health centers.

Committee member Sarah Thompson, also the mother of a King eighth-grader, supported the policy, even though it made her “uncomfortable.”

“I know I’ve done my job as a parent,” Thompson said. “(But there) may be a time when she doesn’t feel comfortable coming to me … (and) not all these kids have a strong parental advocate at home.”

Chairman John Coyne opposed the change, saying the roles of social agencies and public schools have blurred over the years. “At some point there needs to be a clearing of the gray lines,” he said.

The other “no” vote Wednesday night came from Ben Meiklejohn, who said a parental consent form, which allows students to receive any kind of treatment at the school health center, does not clearly define the services being offered.

[b]Some opponents cited religious and health objections.

“We are dealing with children,” said Diane Miller, a former school nurse said. “I am just horrified at the suggestion.”

Another opponent, Peter Doyle, said he felt the proposal violated the rights of parents and puts students at risk of cancer because of hormones in the pill.[/b]

[b]Supporters said a small number of students at King are sexually active, but they need better access to birth control.

“This isn’t encouraging kids to have sex. This is about the kids who are engaging in sexually activity,” Richard Veilleux said.

At King, birth control prescriptions will be given after a student undergoes a physical exam by a physician or nurse practitioner, Belanger said.

Nationally, about one-fourth of student health centers that serve at least one grade of adolescents 11 and older dispense some form of contraception, said Mohan, whose Washington-based organization represents more than 1,700 school-based centers nationwide.[/b]

A high school in Topeka, Kansas, stopped providing free condoms to students Wednesday after district officials learned of the month-old program. The district has a policy against providing contraceptives.[/quote]

I really don’t know what to make of this. Anything that prevents STDs and unwanted pregnancies is good, I guess. Still…this just seems so bizarre. Middle school sweethearts are supposed to awkwardly hold hands before their friends come by to make fun of them. “Billy and Susie, sittin’ in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G…” They’re not supposed to be making babies for Christ’s sake.

Any thoughts?

2

[quote=“gao_bo_han”]From CNN:

[quote]PORTLAND, Maine (AP) – [b]After an outbreak of pregnancies among middle school girls, education officials in this city have decided to allow a school health center to make birth control pills available to girls as young as 11.

King Middle School will become the first middle school in Maine to make a full range of contraception available, including birth control pills and patches. Condoms have been available at King’s health center since 2000.[/b][/quote]

I really don’t know what to make of this. Anything that prevents STDs and unwanted pregnancies is good, I guess. Still…this just seems so bizarre. Middle school sweethearts are supposed to awkwardly hold hands before their friends come by to make fun of them. “Billy and Susie, sittin’ in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G…” They’re not supposed to be making babies for Christ’s sake.

Any thoughts?[/quote]

This is happening in my home state and I don’t think anyone here is excited about this new policy, even the proponents. Portland is a socially-liberal community, very open to different ideas and lifestyles. I don’t like the idea of 11-13 y/o girls on birth control, but I don’t like seeing them pregnant either. I taught middle school in a very small town in Maine for one year back in 1990 and there were 4 seventh grade girls who became pregnant during the school year. Seeing a 12 y/o girl waddle up and down the halls with a baby in her belly is worse, IMO. Whether this policy will actually prevent or reduce teen pregnancies remains to be seen, however.

3

Is it really that boring in Maine that kids have to resort to unprotected sex…
Why didn’t I grow up in a “Leaving it to Beaver” town like that?

I thought birth control pills heighten the risk of breast cancer. Let’s give the little girls a carcinogen, so they can go out and screw their brains out.

That being said I started carrying condom in my wallet around that age. Thank goodness those things have a 10 year expiration date.

4

[quote=“ac_dropout”]Is it really that boring in Maine that kids have to resort to unprotected sex…
[/quote]

I suppose the policy is to try and change that to “protected” sex, at least with respect to pregnancy.

King Middle School is actually one of the least “Maine-like” schools in the state, by “Maine-like” I mean white since the state’s demographics are +90% white. King has a significant immigrant student population in Maine’s largest city, which would probably make it less boring.

Could be that the policy is really just a closeted attempt to limit the non-white population in Maine. I can hear Al Sharpton revving up the bus for a trip to Maine. :smiley:

5

These kids coming up now will not have a clue as to how form healthy relationships. All of this is sad and it just shows how America is sliding in values.

6

I see more evidence of white people displeasure for sex… :laughing:

7

This same school has, so said the news report, offered free condoms to the students for (I think it was) five years. So the problem would be what? 11 to 13 year old males forcing themselves on the 11 to13 year old girls? Or it’s not the boys doing it, but other adults in the community? Either way, I don’t see putting the girls on the pill as the answer.

People who support this are saying that the school is stepping in where the parents have, for whatever reason, stepped out. No way to argue that there aren’t a lot of parents who do that, but does that make it okay for the school to dispense bcps? In my opinion, handing my daughter bcps, or son condoms, would be cop-out parenting. If she told me she was having sex, or was going to have sex no matter what I thought, then I think I’d rather she have the pills, but there are many more issues than pregnancy to think about.

8

birth control is an answer for a community that doesn’t want to get more deeply involved. girls having sex at 11 are doing it for reasons other than because it feels good. they need someone to love them.

9

I’m all for condom distribution and real sex education (i.e. not “abstinence only” education) but school nurses distributing the pill seems like a sketchy idea. I remember the school “nurses” I had back in junior high school wouldn’t be able to dispense cold medication, and now they’re supposed to be able to give developing adolescent females drugs that would affect their hormonal cycles?

10

King Middle School Students…Source: NCES, 2004-2005

Portland, Me. Public School Student Ethnicity…Source: NCES, 2004-2005

11

[quote=“housecat”]This same school has, so said the news report, offered free condoms to the students for (I think it was) five years. So the problem would be what? 11 to 13 year old males forcing themselves on the 11 to13 year old girls? Or it’s not the boys doing it, but other adults in the community? Either way, I don’t see putting the girls on the pill as the answer.

People who support this are saying that the school is stepping in where the parents have, for whatever reason, stepped out. No way to argue that there aren’t a lot of parents who do that, but does that make it okay for the school to dispense bcps? In my opinion, handing my daughter bcps, or son condoms, would be cop-out parenting. If she told me she was having sex, or was going to have sex no matter what I thought, then I think I’d rather she have the pills, but there are many more issues than pregnancy to think about.[/quote]

Good points. I was wondering also who it was that was having sex with these 11 to 13 year-olds. Very unlikely it was boys of the same age. I’d think it was more likely boys of age 15 or 16, or rape/incest. In all of those cases, there’s definitely a problem with the boys/men who are screwing these children that seriously needs to be addressed.

I think birth control for any girls in such a situation may be a good thing, but they should seriously consider trying to get at the root of hte problem, not just putting a bandaid (or condom) over it.

12

Before we look at ethnic diversity of the student population as the primary issue. Is there a break down of the pregnant children race and the father of the unborn child race?

13

Why would we want to look at the ethnic diversity of the student population or the race of the pregnant children/fathers? What does it matter?

14

Kids that young shouldn’t be having sex, but if they are, it would be best for them to have access to condoms. (I’d think the pill at such a young age might screw with their hormonal development, but then I’m not a physiologist.)

But this is a band-aid on the problem, and the source of the problem needs to be addressed.

This can be done through good sex ed programs - frank and truthful, teaching about the dangers, consequences and responsibilities involved, as well as all the options available, including contraception and, yes, abortion. I went through such programs when I was a kid; they were serious programs that taught about everything, including abstinence. (Note: they were not “abstinence only” programs, which are a travesty; a true misfit concept in a 21st century world.)

Informed students are safe students. Students kept in the dark end up getting in trouble. And simply telling kids not to do something, without explaining why, pretty much guarantees that they will do it.

15

I think they just need to start mass producing these computerized babies and make it part of required curriculum. They should also make models that piss and crap 20 times a day and ensure sleep deprivation.

What is the Baby Think it Over parenting project?
It is a unique class project exploring the emotional, social, and financial consequences of parenthood. The project involves an infant simulator (Baby) that will cry randomly day and night. Over a 24 hour period the Baby will cry from five to fifteen times. Each time the Baby cries, the student must insert a care key into the baby’s computer (located in the baby’s back) to simulate tending (feeding, changing diapers, etc.). The tending time may vary, but will total about two hours each 24 hour period.

An internal computer keeps track of any lack of care or abuse.
It records any abuse, which includes rough handling, dropping or hitting. After one of those episodes the baby will cry for a period of time and cannot be stopped.
It records the number of minutes the Baby was not tended after it began to cry.
It shuts down if the computer is removed from the Baby for more than five minutes.
The Baby it records the number of times the head was not properly supported.
Students wear a care key on a nonremovable bracelet. No on else can care for the baby.
When the Baby is returned, the computer is opened (it has a lock) and the care or lack of care will be available see. http://www.timolson.com/babythink.htm

16

Of course you know the last line of that ditty is “Then comes a baby in a baby carriage!” :wink:

17

Why would we want to look at the ethnic diversity of the student population or the race of the pregnant children/fathers? What does it matter?[/quote]
If you want to understand the issue, then all factors must be studied in an unbias manner to resolve the situation.

They handed out condoms, now birth control pills. What next morning after pills and abortions in the nurses office.

Obviously some factors are in play here that don’t exist elsewhere.

18

Why would we want to look at the ethnic diversity of the student population or the race of the pregnant children/fathers? What does it matter?[/quote]
If you want to understand the issue, then all factors must be studied in an unbias manner to resolve the situation.

They handed out condoms, now birth control pills. What next morning after pills and abortions in the nurses office.

Obviously some factors are in play here that don’t exist elsewhere.[/quote]

I haven’t heard anyone raise the issue of ethnic diversity of King’s student population (thanks to TC for the links) as a primary issue for the new policy. The same pregnancy issue King is dealing with was present at the nearly all-white (I think there were 2 black students) middle school I taught at in rural Maine some 17 years ago. I think the policy reflects Portland’s socially-liberal community and not the demographics of King students. The community where I taught is far more conservative than Portland and would probably never institute such a policy regardless of the students’ ethnic background. They would be more likely to preach abstinence as opposed to Portland’s more “novel” approach. My “closeted” comment in an earlier post was purely a joke on my part and should not be interpreted as having any relevance to the issue.

19

It simply isn’t safe to put such a young child on hormones. us women have a fragile chemistry. You can cause serious long term issues by messing it up too early.

20

Of course you know the last line of that ditty is “Then comes a baby in a baby carriage!” :wink:[/quote]

Well yeah, but no one expects them to actually make babies! :sunglasses: