Oct 21 2007
How young is too young for birth control and sex education?
Several news stories this week highlighted the issue of whether middle schoolers should have access to birth control and sex education. CNN reports that a middle school in Maine approved plans to offer access to birth control at its health center, perhaps prompted by an “outbreak of pregnancies among middle school girls.”
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.
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.
While supporters said kids need better access to birth control, 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.
The Kaiser Network published a good overview of this topic, as well as links to additional print and broadcast coverage of this. The Huffington Post offers blog discussions of this.
On a related note, even if schools aren’t willing to go so far as King Middle School and offer birth control, some schools don’t even want to offer basic sex education. The Southeast Missourian wrote this week that middle school students being taught sex education by high schoolers through a program called “Postponing Sexual Involvement” reported a lack of sex education up to this point.
When Hileman asked how many students had enough information about sex, no one raised their hand. One student suggested the Internet as a source of information.
The leaders weren’t surprised by the lack of information; many local schools, especially at the junior high level, actively avoid sex education and refuse to discuss contraception.
Schools get away with not discussing the issue at all because “that’s a real hard thing to monitor,” according to Steve Williams, a health consultant for the state’s department of education.