I heard on the radio this morning that this middle school in Oregon plans on distributing prescribed birth control to their students. School officials stated that the reason they’re planning to do this is because parents should not ignore the fact children in this age bracket are having sex. However, many parents argue that middle school students are too young to have birth control pills. The dj stated that he agrees with the parents. He also stated that he thinks it is ok to pass out birthcontrol pills to high school students. What do you think?
Honestly, excluding all the health risks, I agree. Somtime in the next year the male contraceptive is going to be realesed on the market, in the clinical trial it is 100% effective, among the several forms the the contraceptive comes in, one is a device that can be implanted in the arm (also removed at anytime reversing the contraceptive) and lasts for around nine years. I think that at fourteen boys should have this device implanted and removed at 24 when it wears out. I think that if we can find a way to give people in this country time to grow up and become educated we would have alot less problems in our society.
February 17th, 2010 at 9:59 pm
Middle school is absolutely ridiculous. Maybe in high school they should pass out condoms but middle school is barely teenager level. Maybe I’m naive, but how could they pass out prescribed birth control to them? They’d need to consult each and every one their doctors first for a prescription.
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February 17th, 2010 at 10:48 pm
thats too young…
they should have a meeting with all the parents first and if a parent wants their child to go on it then i guess its ok
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February 17th, 2010 at 10:58 pm
Middle, school no way! That’s way too young, and they need to see doctors, handing out scrips isn’t a good idea no matter what it is.
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February 17th, 2010 at 11:21 pm
i think more high school students have sex so they need it. as fo rht emiddle school students, no. they are waaay too young. their parents need to teach them right
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February 18th, 2010 at 12:01 am
Birth control pills are medicines that have a serious effect on our bodies. There is no way on earth that schools or anyone else should be offering drugs to kids without the parent’s knowledge and consent. Will they be handing out narcotics next? Kids can be expelled for giving a friend an aspirin, but the schools think it’s OK to give out birth control pills to mess up a pre-teen’s periods?
In any event, if little Matilda gets knocked up at 11, that’s her family’s problem, not the school’s.
In Michigan several years ago the schools wanted to make every student take a psychology test to see which kids were future whackos. The problem is that that kind of test is only for those who are already known to be having problems, not the average student, and can only be interpreted by specialists, not Johnny’s 4th grade teacher. Fortunately, the project was killed before it got off the ground.
Schools have enough to do just teaching the three R’s. They need to leave serious medical decisions to families and doctors.
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February 18th, 2010 at 12:35 am
I believe the school system should let the parents decide what the child takes. If a parent thinks the daughter should be on birth control at age 12, then fine. If the parent doesn’t want the daughter on birth control, fine.
The school system could be facing many lawsuits down the road if it dispenses birth control pills and a girl ends up pregnant anyway. What if a child has some kind of allergic reaction? Is the school going to pay the medical bills? Are the raising school taxes to pay for this program?
Is the school also passing out condoms to the boys? Is the school going to teach safe sex practices and sex education? Is the school going to provide health insurance for these kids and any baby that may be produced when the birth control fails? The pill is not 100% eaffective, so is the school going to make sure the girls are taking the pill properly?
Parents need to take control in this situation. The school system could offer the pills to parents who want to put their daughters on the pill, but they shouldn’t dispense any medication without parental consent.
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February 18th, 2010 at 12:48 am
In a way I think "well it’s OK cuz in reality they ARE having Sex"
But then we think they are to young. I dont agree with it. Middle School! Come on! When I was in middle school
[3-5 years ago] Well I was NOT even thinking of sex but we need to grow up and face reality.. now days those kids ARE having sex. I see on the news and I just think "what is this world coming to" Next it will be elementary, thats if they haven’t had sex yet.. j/k Na but the world is coming to a point where OMG I dunno what to say next. Well to high school kids Well maybe. Cuz yeah they are growing up and maybe 50%-70% aalready had sex, 30%-40% ended up pregnant.
So yeah, thats what I think.
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February 18th, 2010 at 1:27 am
umm…to me this sounds illegal…you can’t "pass out" a perscription medicine.
I think the best approach would be having the school nurse at this middle school able to set girls up with physicians who CAN perscribe the medicine…and also possibly provide a "waiver" so they don’t have to pay the expenses…but this is all legal matter.
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February 18th, 2010 at 1:48 am
no..they are prescription birth control pills, which by law, requires a prescription from your dr.
you can’t hand out drugs at school and encourage young students to take them… highly illegal. (especially without parents’ consent!)
this will never work.
handing out condoms maybe…
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February 18th, 2010 at 2:04 am
i say no. but the school should pass out info saying the kids can go to their local health department and get birthcontrol. wont cost nothing and parents dont know unless u want them too. this is very true but so many kids dont know it and parents keep their eyes closed
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February 18th, 2010 at 2:28 am
I think you typically need to go to a doctor and ask a few questions just to make sure you won’t have any ill effects from birth control. Many of these girls my get the pills and think if they take them sometime during the day they’re completely covered. The school should be handing out condoms and information on how to contact the local clinic to get a birth control prescription.
And instead of just handing out the condoms one day, they should have them available in the bathrooms/classrooms and they should have an extensive sex ed course that all the students take.. Covering everything from sex to STIs to pregnancy to birth and even the methods of abortion.
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February 18th, 2010 at 2:44 am
i saw that on tv the other day. when i saw that was thinking wtf?? and i almost said it out loud with my dad there. dont they know that if they do that ALL the kids will have sex instead of just SOME!!
GOD people are so dumb.
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February 18th, 2010 at 3:08 am
I don’t think it is right for the school to make this decision for any student. If a child is seeking assistance than the situation is different. Birth control is not accepted in all religions either. Who are they to provide the children with anything that goes against his religious beliefs?
I’d want to know who is responsible for any reaction a child might have to birth control.
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February 18th, 2010 at 3:53 am
Nope, completely unethical.What kind of school would do that??? Not to mention, NOT ALL MIDDLE SCHOOL CHILDREN ARE THIKNING ABOUT HAVING SEX!!! That is something that is individual..
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February 18th, 2010 at 4:07 am
Kids this age are having SEX?!?!?!? Heck!!! When I was in middle school i was still playing with dolls and dreaming of "Prince Charming". On the other hand, being homeschooled, there weren’t many boys available and none of the ones I knew were very attractive lol. Also, i was just kinda scared of them cuz I didn’t know how to act lol.
Heck yes i think this is wrong! This is ENCOURAGING sexual behavior in schools! If the kids are given birth control pills, this will assure them that they will not get pregnant from sex (the one major issue that scares many teens from doing it). Since it is guaranteed that they will not get pregnant, they will feel happy to have sex with that cutie in science class. This will start a whole chain reaction of students having sex in that school and other schools, highschool, and even college where they DON’T get free birth control and will end up pregnant. This will lead to more children being raised by college student parents, or being sent to adoption centers.
A good way to reduce this problem is to give out birth control to students.
My solution to the problem is: Just tell the kids not to have sex AND why.
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home-schooled sophomore.
February 18th, 2010 at 4:45 am
i think middle school is kinda to young maybe like 10th grade that would be ok…but i middle school those kids are what 12-14 eww and i think most parents aren’t ignoring the fact that their kid might be having sex its the fact that they kids hide it or lie about it i do think that is pretty sick there should be a place the kids can go (yes i said kids) if they want to get birth control like talk to the school nurse or something not just hand it out like its AOK to have sex because that pill still isn’t 100% effective and what 12 year old is gonna remember to take a pill every day hell i don’t always remember
what is this world coming to?
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February 18th, 2010 at 5:02 am
i dont think it is ok for any school or anyone besides a doctor to pass out prescription birth control pills to anybody, especially young girls. going on birth control is not good for everyone, and it may have very negative side effects for some girls. also, plenty of junior high girls dont even have their periods yet, so it will be extremely unhealthy for them to go on the pill. i can understand that the school wants to make a point, but they are doing it in a way that hurts girls.
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February 18th, 2010 at 5:11 am
No, I don’t agree with that. That is WAY over the top to be doing that. I would be LIVID if my child was going to a school that did that.
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February 18th, 2010 at 5:23 am
OMG. MOST MIDDLE SCHOOLERS ARENT. my sister and like all of her friends arent even phiscally able to get prego
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February 18th, 2010 at 6:05 am
I agree with the first writer- in order for this school to do this, they would have to get prescriptions for contraceptives for every single enrolled student- and this doesn’t even sound feasable to me. Middle school kids aren’t too young to know about sex or contraception- in this day and age, it’s rare that any kid is still a virgin by the time he or she turns 18. Having birth control pills at this age is another matter, because such pills need to taylored to the metabolism, weight, and height of each girl taking them. There’s also the question of allergies and intolerance- some people can’t use oral contaceptives for this reason. Also, I object to the idea that this will be just oral contraceptives for the GIRLS in the school- what about the BOYS? Don’t they play an equal part in girls getting pregnant or getting STD’s ? If the girls are going to be required to take the pill, then the boys need to be required to carry and use condoms at all times when having sex. The pill and other contraceptives should be made available to high school students, yes- but the decision to use them or not should be left up to the student and his or her family. There are also a number of people who also object to the use of the pill for religious reasons- there is a reason the Catholic church promotes abstinence until marriage. Distributing condoms and the pill runs contrary to their teaching, and many parents whose kids attend parochial or Catholic schools will object to this, and will prevent or attempt to prevent their children from ever getting them. Last I looked, refusing to allow one’s child to take the pill or use a condom wasn’t considered to be a crime, so how does the school intend to enforce its requirements for students who come from families like this? Suspending or expelling students who won’t or can’t cooperate won’t work, and it will get the school into legal trouble. The logistics of the idea are the problem here, not the idea itself. Distributing the pill might be a good idea in theory, but it’s impossible to enforce or maintain in reality.
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I am a medical coder by trade.
February 18th, 2010 at 6:43 am
NO!!!!!! not untill high school!
otherwise they start to figure out what it is for and then they think it is ok to have sex and that is not what everyone wants so
don’t do it
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February 18th, 2010 at 7:04 am
Honestly, excluding all the health risks, I agree. Somtime in the next year the male contraceptive is going to be realesed on the market, in the clinical trial it is 100% effective, among the several forms the the contraceptive comes in, one is a device that can be implanted in the arm (also removed at anytime reversing the contraceptive) and lasts for around nine years. I think that at fourteen boys should have this device implanted and removed at 24 when it wears out. I think that if we can find a way to give people in this country time to grow up and become educated we would have alot less problems in our society.
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