At King Middle School in Maine the Student Health Center is place where children can go, with parental permission, if they need medical advice or medicine. However, according to the state law the student’s parents sign a permission form only to allow their children access to the center. The student's parents do not have to be informed of what their children are going to the center for, or what they are being prescribed there, if the student doesn’t want them to. As a result, the health center recently has found it “necessary” to prescribe birth control to 11-13 year old girls!
So under the state law, girls ages 11-13 would be able to access birth control and decide to never inform their parents about it. Leaving most parents in the dark about the inappropriate sexual activity their little girls are involved in and un-able to help. The school has been known to provide condoms for grades 6th-8th.
Is this really happening? Are that many kids in 6th, 7th, and 8th having sex to where this is needed? Actually no, in the reports they state, “Proponents say a small number of King Students are sexually active, but those who are need better access to birth control.” Other reports also explain that “Even though it’s just a few students the birth control program is “totally needed.”
How is it totally needed? I’m not even a parent and I’m outraged that this is even being discussed at a Middle School! Where are the parents? Is providing birth control going to persuade the girls to stop having sex? Um… no. It would be like giving a 10 year old boy a fire proof suit, matches, and some lighter fluid and telling him not to play with fire.
These girls don’t need to be having sex in the first place and they don’t need birth control. These girls need information as well as their parents. Inform the parents and let the parents take action, not the school. It’s atrocious! Shouldn’t parents be informed what students are being prescribed? These are 11-13 year olds. These girls don’t have the maturity or knowledge to make the decision to have sex so what does the school committee think that providing birth control will do, except show other girls that sex in middle school is okay, and ultimately cool if more girls begin to be prescribed, as long as you’re on birth control ! Every body’s doing it! I don’t think I even knew how birth control worked at that age. Is the age of innocence getting younger and younger?
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19 comments:
I have an 8 year-old daughter, and this kind of thing terrifies me. Actually, popular culture in general terrifies me (i.e. MTV, slutty clothes, "hookups," etc.).
The pressure for young girls to be sex objects is so extreme, it almost seems like a crapshoot whether or not a young girl will end up in that cesspool of sex-object culture, regardless of what you do as a parent, because of ridiculous things like this.
There is NO REASON WHATSOEVER to give 11-13 year old girls birth control without parental notification. If girls don't want their parents to know, then they need to practice the safest sex of all--no sex. All this does is make it easier for little girls (and that's what they are!) to have sex--and calling it "having sex" isn't even accurate. It's more like it makes it easier for little girls to become sex objects, serving sexual favors for boys who couldn't care less about them.
Oh, and welcome to the blogosphere! :)
Welcome to the blogosphere girl! Yep this subject scares me too. I need to keep brainwashing my daughter that you have to go to college, get married, then become a mommy!
this is rediculous in every way, how are these people getting away with this...are the parents so naieve? ignorant? apathetic?
Beth, I completely agree. My generation and generations after me have the horrible task of overcoming the terrible feat of how our society displays women. MTV is stretching the line they have already crossed. The age to become sexual is becoming younger and younger. There are magazines with articles such as "When am I ready to have sex" and "When's the right time for you?". There is never an age limit just when ever you feel it's your time. It completely disgusts me.
Oh, and Greta Perry. That's the best brain washing someone can do. My mother did it for me. A little to well, sometimes. haha
Use another screen name you wierdo.
I’m a little out of my depth here, but over here in the UK parents have to be informed until the child reaches the age of 16 which is the ‘age of consent’, after that a parent has no right to gain any medical info. Certainly the only times I’ve heard of birth control (the Pill) prescribed at such a young age here is for genuine medical reasons other than actually being used for birth control.
But a recent report came out (and I will try to find it) that claims the average age of losing virginity is now 13.
This of course begs many questions indeed and, but what it would ultimately come down to is this – if your child is sexually active at 13 (something that you unlikely have any control over – no matter how hard you try) would you want her to use birth control or not?
It’s a tuff question and one I’m lucky enough to be never directly faced with PTL.
16 is even too young to be making these kinds of decisions without your parents.
Good grief.
The thing I don't get is why these young kids aren't reported to the authorities (or rather their "partners" should be reported). It's the same thing as how Planned Parenthood was just giving 12 year old girls abortions and letting them go back to step-dad, mom's boyfriend, creepy 30 year old, whomever, so that they could just be abused all over again. I. DO. NOT. UNDERSTAND!
Yeah, our laws are pretty screwed up.
At 16 you can leave school, have sex, smoke and get married (with permission) oh and as of 2001, 16 is also the age people can participate in gay sex. Before that it was 21.
At 16 you can ride a motorbike but you can’t drive a car until you’re 17.
At 17 you can join the military and die for your country – but can’t have a beer.
18 is legally adult to do as you please.
Here’s an odd one though – you can smoke at 16 but as of the beginning of this October you can’t by cigarettes unless you’re 18.
We don’t have a bill of rights, things are either legal or illegal and the only time you get rights is when a police officer reads them to you.
And just so you know how stupid our laws are – A postman is allowed to shoot anyone who gets in his/her way. The is obviously ancient but refers to the fact no one is allowed to impede Royal Mail.
But I've digressed - sorry
An eleven-year old child is not mature enough to have sex, let alone birth control pills.
I admire your morals, High Heels, but I wouldn't expect anything less considering who your mother is. Yes, she ordered me to come check out your blog. Along with about 15,000 other friends. :)
Consider it in light of this:
Maybe Govermnet Schools Aren't Such a Good Idea
It would be like giving a 10 year old boy a fire proof suit, matches, and some lighter fluid and telling him not to play with fire.
Whoo-hoo! Where do I sign up? errr, I mean, yes, that's a bad idea.
Quoth Beth:
It's more like it makes it easier for little girls to become sex objects, serving sexual favors for boys who couldn't care less about them.
And vice-versa. I knew a mid-20 something woman who had her sights on me. But she flung it around with pretty much anyone, and as much as I actually liked her and would have liked to have indulged her, I couldn't do it because I thought she wouldn't think it was special. Yes, I'm astounded by that, too.
One of my best one-liners was this conversation:
she said "I love you".
I said "I know you do. But one of us needs to play hard-to-get, and that ain't gonna be you."
I agree with Thomas Paine (above) that this. DOES. NOT. COMPUTE.
I mean, what are they thinking? Just wait till one of their charges, 10 years hence, who has cancer of the (ovaries|cervix|breast) files a suit against the district, arguing that hormone-based birth control drugs where a direct contributing factor in her disease. Or perhaps just a couple of years down the line, when one of their charges gets pregnant and carries to term. Wrongful life, anyone?
No, it's obvious that they're not thinking. I hope they have a nice medical malpractice insurance, I suspect they're gonna need it.
Wouldn't it be better for the center to inform the parents?
And if this information is public, than these parents who sign the waivers to allow these children to go know very well what might or might not be going on.
I don't agree with kids that young being sexually active but it happens and I'd rather them be prepared for the worst.
You can say that abstinence is the best policy but you should also tell them about condoms or contraceptives and their benefits.
Zach,
The problem is the parents don't have much choice. It's a whole package or none deal. If your child gets hurt you want the health clinic available, right? Well, in this case the parents can either opt out or opt into their child recieving care in this clinic. They cannot say I want to sign a form for the clinic, but I do not want contraception given to my child without my consent. The school doesn't allow that. So if you want your child treated, you pretty much have to sign the form.
It's the wrong message at the wrong time in their lives. It's just all wrong. Let these children be children for God's sake.
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