King Middle School and Birth Control: Please read this

[Coexist]

This does not sound like your standard generic "nurses office" that most schools have. This is a community health center run by the state for students. If you go through their website and look at their handouts, it seems to be much, much more than a nurses office handing out packets of pills.

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=140910&ac=PHnws

<snip>
The city's Division of Public Health, which made the birth- control proposal, operates seven health centers in Portland Public Schools in an effort to increase access to physical, dental and mental health care.

<snip>
There are 27 school-based health centers in Maine, 20 of which are funded and overseen by the state, including those in Portland, Birkhimer said.

<snip>
Contraception would be prescribed after a physical examination by a physician or nurse practitioner, Belanger said.

King is the only one of Portland's three middle schools with a health center, primarily because it has more students who get free or reduced-price lunch, Belanger said.

Also, Middle Schools have 13-14 year olds attending them, not just 11 year-olds. Skewing the rhetoric to the extreme isn't the best argument, imho.

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. We have a school-based health clinic in my school

but we don't hand out birth control.

[Coexist]

2. but Maine's tradition was to have birth control available at their clinics

this Middle School added the pill to the other forms they had available.

I wish it wasn't necessary, but I can't get all outraged about it. I had friends in Middle School who had sex.

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. I teach 11 year olds

Having sex is not very common at that age.

[eShirl]

10. how about 13 year olds?

14 year olds?

[proud2BlibKansan]

21. We go to 6th grade

So we do have some 12 year olds. Probably even a few 13 year olds.

[Coexist]

12. 11 year olds are not the only ones in a Middle School.

My daughter was 14 years old in Middle School - and there are those held back who might be older.

[Der Blaue Engel]

3. My son's high school hands out condoms

Thank God.

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. That's good

Our school is an elementary school. We don't pass out condoms.

[eShirl]

13. that's nice

this story is about a middle school

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. We have 11 year olds in my school.

The story says the kids at this middle school are also 11 year olds.

[eShirl]

20. there is a range of ages at the middle school

amazing isn't it?

[Breeze54]

25. Some are but not all.

My son's middle school started at 5th grade (age 11-12) and went up to 8th grade (age 13-14)

[proud2BlibKansan]

29. I really don't have a problem with birth control at high schools.

Middle school is different. Seems a bit young.

My school is elementary. We added 6th grade this year and are adding 7th next year and 8th the following year. So we will be a pre-K through 8th grade school. And we have a health clinic. It will be interesting to see if this birth control issue is something we have to deal with.

[Breeze54]

32. Well, kids are getting their periods at earlier ages.

And if this prevents an 11 yr old from going through that hell, then I'm all for it.

My son's "middle school" (11 to 14 yr olds) was moved into the HS but on a closed floor.

They still had 5th through 8th there though. I think this is smart actually.

If they're getting their periods, they should be able to protect themselves.

[proud2BlibKansan]

33. And they are getting their periods earlier these days

That is true.

[Der Blaue Engel]

31. Congratulations? n/t

[depakid]

4. perhaps you should...

depending on what your teen pregnancy rate looks like.

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. It's an elementary school

No pregnancies.

[depakid]

22. Things like this need to be evidence based

if there's no indication of a problem or potential problem- then there's probably no need for a controversial solution.

Seems a simple enough matter to me.

[eShirl]

6. why not?

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. Should we start in kindergarten?

Or maybe the pre-school classes?

[eShirl]

16. are kindergarteners entering puberty these days?

I should hope not

[proud2BlibKansan]

18. Not that I am aware of.

[Breeze54]

27. Sex education? YES! ~~ BC? No!

Preschoolers don't get their periods.

[LakeSamish706]

5. Better Birth Control than unwanted pregnancies and/or STD's n/t

[mainer]

9. Maine has one of the lowest teen-pregnancy rates in nation

A fact which makes me proud.

Students must get parents' okay to be seen by health care provider, by the way. But once the parents give their okay, what happens next is private between student and provider, from what I understand.

[Coexist]

19. that seems to square with the article - they need parental permission to be seen

in the clinic, then the student can choose to keep the pills on the qt.

[proud2BlibKansan]

23. That is how the clinic at my school works too

[Ellen Forradalom]

17. Good post, thank you.

So hypothetically an 11-year-old could access pills, but in practice the likelihood is small and probably won't change.

I don't see what's to get excited about. I took pills as a young teen myself, and had my first baby at 36.

[theoldman]

24. People act as if young children having sex is something new.

I am over 70 and can remember kids in my elementary school having sex. It was a very poor neighborhood which may have had something to do with the situation. Of course back then some girls married at 14 and it was socially acceptable. Well maybe those were called shotgun weddings.

[Coexist]

26. my mother-in-law was married at 15 and had her first child at 16!

with parental permission, of course.

[theoldman]

28. The difference between then and now is that now they do not

get married.

[Coexist]

30. you are so right - they got married because of the war -

they wanted to have sex before he went off.

Nowadays, they just go ahead and have sex.