School officials in Portland, Maine have just voted in favor of allowing perscription birth control methods to be available at the health center in King Middle School. Condoms had been available for the last serveral years at the school. The vote means that 7th and 8th graders can get birth control pills or patch as long as two things happen. Their parents must consent to their kid using the health center and they undergo a physical examination by the center's doctor or nurse practioner. Care provided at the center is, under law, confidential so it's up to the child to inform their parent about what services they receive. I'm sure there are people out there that will argue this is a bad idea. Some might say that kids will have increased sexual activity because access to birth control is now easier. I disagree. Kids have sex due to raging hormones not because they see a condom. If kids want to have sex they will, regardless of what parents tell them. Besides, not all kids have parents they can easily talk to. I'd rather kids be protected from pregnancy and disease instead of them having completly unprotected sex. This program should be implemented at all schools.
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They can't really stop kids from having sex. You'd think little children don't know or understand what sex is. I didn't understand it, but I knew about it when I was in middle school. Hell, if they can give out condoms, why not protect the girls with birth control? It's better than seeing those girls lining up at the hospitals for abortion right?
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I'm not sure that having that program in a middle school is a good thing, I just think that they are too young, but it might be a good program for high schools. I know several people who were pregnant in high school, and it could have been prevented if they were able to get condoms and birth control more easily.
The reason the school board put the program in the middle school was because students were getting pregnant. As I said above. If kids want to have sex they will. The school is just trying to keep a problem from getting worse.
I can tell you what a relief that now kids are having that extra help in protecting themselves. No matter how religious my family was I still had sex before marriage. I am thankful for these programs and I hope more develop in the states.
Should more middle schools give out both birth control pills and condoms? I think they should. If there is only one middle school child having sex then it's a beneficial program.