utterly inane: putting our middle school girls on the pill

I was enraged to hear this morning on the way to work that a middle school in Maine is giving out birth control pills and patches to their students. Albeit the parents must sign a permission slip in order for the students to receive the prescription drugs, and thus there is some parental involvement, this is none of the business of the school districts – if parents determine they want to put their twelve and thirteen year old daughters on the pill, that is up to their discretion (and is a subject for another post). But it is the responsibility of parents to address these issues, and not the responsibility of the school system.

Simply because parents are not stepping up to their responsibility to parent their children, it is not the responsibility nor the business of the schools to be not only providing this for students but, by their very provision, encouraging adolescent sexual behavior.

I wrote a paper years ago on the subject of contraceptives being provided in schools, primarily condoms, and was reminded of it this morning and decided to dig it up. Even in my youth, I was staunchly against schools having anything to do with providing contraception.

While Americans complain about the rampant spread of the HIV virus, the rising numbers of pregnant unwed teens, and the general moral decline of our nation, they simultaneously advocate the distribution of contraceptives to students at our nation’s schools and find therein no contradiction; the very irony they fail to realize is that while they are complaining about the current problems, and in some cases, even spending their time and energy trying to work towards solutions (through fundraisers for research for an HIV cure, etc.), they are actually contributing to the problem itself and are undermining their very efforts. By promoting the distribution of contraceptives, they have sanctioned, whether intentionally or unintentionally, premarital sex amongst teenagers. For this reason, contraceptives should not be made available to students.

There are consequences to premarital sex, even protected “safe” sex. These consequences are not only life changing (i.e. unplanned pregnancies) but also sometimes life-ending (i.e. AIDS). One of the dangers of having our schools pass out condoms to students is that students are given a false sense of security in the use of contraceptives. The school is effectively condoning the use of condoms by passing them out, thus condoning premarital sex itself. Condoms may aid in protecting against unwanted pregnancies, STDs, and AIDS, but they are not foolproof; condoms fail. Unplanned pregnancies still occur, and STDs and the AIDS virus continue to spread.

There are people who may point out that our teenagers are going to have sex anyway, and it is better that they be protected than unprotected. However, the school is an authority figure, and if the school is passing out condoms to high school students, it sends the wrong message. If our nation’s schools are warning our young people about sexually transmitted diseases, the HIV virus, and unplanned pregnancies through sex education classes and are yet passing out contraceptives to these very same students, they are sending a double message. Instead of promoting abstinence as the only option for unmarried people, the schools are effectively saying by their action, “It’s okay for you to be having premarital sex; not only do we think it is okay for you to be having sex, but we want to help you protect yourself from the consequences of premarital sex: pregnancy and disease, and we’ll do so by providing you with contraceptives.” This thought process is morally wrong and should be exposed for the danger it espouses.

And another point I brought up in my paper, parental rights:

Parental rights is another issue that needs to be addressed when discussing whether or not contraceptives should be distributed in schools. The family is the core institution in our society. When we take away this authority from the basic foundation of our nation, we find ourselves with a crumbling society. There are many parents who oppose the distribution of contraceptives to their minor children and the resulting stance on morality it promotes. Granted, it may not be against the law to have sex; however, students in high school and middle school are minors. Their parents have a right to say what their children are being exposed to by government-funded school systems.

My views may have changed and modified over the years on many issues, but this is one area in which I am the same today as I was yesterday. I understand the problems we face with unwed mothers, unwanted pregnancies, etc. I understand these girls are merely girls; I understand there are kids who are going to be having sex regardless of what we teach them, but the cliché is cliché for a reason – two wrongs do not make a right and the end does not justify the means. We may, for a time, think we are helping the issues we face by providing birth control for our middle school and high school students, but in reality, we will only be contributing to the problem. And the audacity to start putting twelve and thirteen year olds on the pill is infuriating

And I haven’t even begun to mention the health risks associated with the pill and the patch.

What are we doing to our young women?! I’m enraged because of the harm that will come to these girls; I see it in the young women around me…having become sexually active before they were ready to handle the emotional and physical ramifications and effects does lasting harm to them. Who is standing up for these girls when they have not learned to stand up for themselves and protect their well-being?