"Giving Birth Control Pills to Students?"
I'm sure all of you have heard about the middle school in Maine that is offering their students birth control pills in their clinic without their parent's consent.If not, click here to read more.
I just wonder how many of the parents there are against it? I know that the parents have the right to refuse to let their child go to the clinic b/c of this. However, that leaves the child out of getting basic medical care that they may not get otherwise.
So, what's a parent to do?
Do you fight?
Do you pull your child out of this school?
Do you let your daughter take the birth control pills behind your back?
Personally, I would sit down with my daughter and tell her that if she came to the point to where she needed them, to please come talk to me first. That's just my opinion.
What would you do?
Post your comments and read others HERE.
posted by Melissa Swanson at 3:02 PM
Melissa is a student, a working mom, and the mother of 4 boys (ages 4, 7, 8, and 10). She is costantly fueled by the tenacity of her boys and their ability to make her laugh! What they say is true, "Laughter is the best medicine!"
9 Comments:
i'm usually the odd man out, but i shall take a stab at this one-
i think its a fabulous offering from a student's standpoint- there are loads of kids who would like them, yet dont have the guts(whatever you want to call it)to go to a parent & ask/get them-or they have abusive home-situations where requesting/discussing this would be difficult or detrimental to say the least- i think if it is made available with the correct medical care that goes part & parcel of the prescription/follwoup etc, then more power to them-
think back to when you were a kid-would you have been afraid to ask your mum or dad for help in this category? if it helps even a few people not end up pregnant & get thru school & into college isnt it worth it?
as for my daughter- mine is very young, so ask me again in a few years- i would HOPE that i am one of those moms whose child wouldnt hesitate to ask for something/discuss that openly-but i cant know for certain that she would feel comfortable about it-i have many a friend's daughters who have come for me for advice on similar issues & have tried advising accordingly (with mum's quiet advice in the background) but the intent here isnt forcing kids to take them, its making them available
I don't think you're the odd man out. This is such a hard topic. To me, it's not black and white or cut and dry. I think that it's a great thing for those kids who cannot talk to their parents. However, it also creats other kids from talking to their parents when they could. Make sense?
I think it is a fine idea with the acception it should be in a high school. As a matter of fact I advantage of an offer like this when I was 16. I was afraid to have sex because I didn't want to get pregnant. I had a longterm boyfriend and was "ready". I was smart and responsible about it unlike many kids these days. It's a good program but aimed at too young of a crowd.
That's a good point.
Do you realize what birth control pills do? Read your pharmacy inserts. They work in three ways 1) make an unfriendly environment for sperm 2)prevent ovulation 3) prevents the fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus. The third one means that a baby was created but unable to attach itself is flushed out. This means that an abortion has occured. There is a direct link between abortion and breast cancer. Do a search in google and let me know what you find.
Why an person would take birth control pills is beyond me!!
I completely do not agree. I think that you are more or less saying that it is okay to have sex before marriage. These kids are going to interpret this as their easy way out of dealing with consequences that come with the decisions that they will make. They need to understand that there are severe consequences if they chose to have sex and giving out birth control is only going to make that decision easier. I am sure that more and more kids will not confide in their parents and take the easy way out on this one. Not to mention, middle school is WAY too early. What we will have now is a ton of middle schoolers having sex because they think that they won't get pregnant (which they possibly still could) and carrying around a bunch of STD's being spread to one another. Does anyone else agree?
i dont think middleschool is too early- i know plenty of kids from school at that age that were sexually active (from when I was that age)- especially in innercity schools,this program could be advantageous-
i also do not think it will prevent kids from talking to their parents about the issues (which the parents really should be addressing this with the child & not waiting for the child to come to the parent-
as for it being abortion, that is not the case-the menstrual cycle does not "abort" a fetus every month-the pill does not cause conception to occur & then "abort"- (this is a contraceptive method, NOT the morning after pill)
i think widening the access to such a program isnt a bad thing-yes people have religious differences-but thats also a choice-that a person makes-a child choosing to take the pill is making a grown-up decision that can have a profound affect on her life & those around her-i dont think that kids will use it as a way to get out of talking with their parents- if they are at that point, then there is already a problem that wasnt addressed somewhere for them to reach that point-
i know there are some parents who refuse to understand that their baby girls are getting older(physically & mentally) & they act in a constant state of denial that can result in unwanted pregnancy & the consequences- having a daughter responsible enough to want to take the pill over getting pregnant at 13 or any time before graduating highschool says much more about her character in a positive manner than it would if the same child came home pregnant, or worse had a child on the sly (it does happen) and either harmed herself & the child keeping it a secret, or ended up running away to have the baby/try & raise it on her own- the idea of what can be avoided & those benefits could be monumental to our society
As I said before, it is an easy way out with no one to answer to. I do however, agree with you on one of your statements, that the parents should be talking to the child before the child would to have to resort to going to the parents but you probably won't find much of that in those inner city areas either. I have a daughter and in no way is it anyone else's business if she should be on birth control or not, especially without my knowledge of it. Think about it, would you really want someone else dispensing her birth control pills without you knowing about it? Oh, and if these middle schoolers were making such "grown up" decisions then they would be deciding that abstinence is the only 100% effective birth control method there is. They are not adults, they are kids. This should be the parents decision and their responsibility, not any easy cop-out for some hormonal pre-teen/teenager.
I think that the school should have the parents consent!!!
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