For school we're having to write a persuasive paper on a topic of our chosing. I recently had to switch mine because, i was having issues finding information on my other topic. The topic i got switchted to is 'Contraception in schools' basically whether or not school nurses should or should be allowed to give out contraceptives, confidetially and at low cost. Just out of curiosity more than anything i was wondering what Other people thought about this topic. Any of your opinions would be apretiated, and/or imformation that could help me with my paper...

twinkel-star

in my school you could go to the school nurs ang go on the pill or get comdoms and it was conferdential i was allways to ashened lol

ETWolverine

Hello Twinkel-star,

I would like to ask you a few questions if I may. You seem to have the unique perspective of youth that many on this board (myself included) do not have, and your opinions as a young person would be appreciated.

First of all, are you currently in high school or a recent graduate?

Second, you mention that at your school anyone could go to the school nurse and get the pill or condoms. Was this a comon practice among your fellow students? Did lots of people do go to the nurse for these things?

In your experience, were the ones getting the pill or condoms particularly poor, or from bad families, or was everyone doing it?

Were you ever taught in school NOT to have sex, or were you only told how to have sex safely?

Where did most kids learn about sex in your school? Was it from sex ed classes or from other people?

In your opinion, did sex-ed do anything to keep kids from having sex and getting pregnant? Did it make more kids have sex and get pregnant? Or did it not make any difference at all? Did you learn about the dangers of sex (diseases, pregnancy, the effect on your future, etc.)?

In your opinion, what should schools, parents, teachers and others be telling kids to keep them from having sex, getting pregnant and getting sick? Do you think that TV, newspapers, magazines, movies, and music could influence kids if they all told kids not to have sex too young?

As I said, you live in that world, where most people on this board no longer do. So your perspective on this questions would be an interesting addition to this conversation.

Thanks Twinkel-star, and I hope that I'm not embarassing you. That is most certainly not my intention. I really do want to know what you, as a young person think about these things, because I believe that what you think is an important part of understanding how to help kids not get sick or pregnant.

Elliot

leneg

I am not from the US. There is one thing that amazes me when I read this discussion:

Many of you talk about minors as one irresponsible, incapable group. It seems like you miss the fact that there is a fundamental difference between say a 13-14 year old and a 16-17 year old. Yes I agree with you that giving birth control pills to a 13 year old without parental consent probably is a bad idea.

However, as adolescents grow older they become more capable of taking care of themselves, and should accordingly have more rights to make their own desicions. By age 16 and 17, minors are generally capable and responsible enough to take care of their own sexuality and healthcare.

In my country like many other countries the age of sexual consent and the age of medical consent/medical emancipation is 16.

To suggest that a 16-17 year old is incapable of consenting to their own healthcare and has no right to privacy is to me and to most europeans totally absurd.

tomder55

perhaps

But we are talking here about the administering of a drug to a minor who's body has not yet fully developed . Without a medical reason for doing so that is a risky move in my book .

inthebox

Blame contraception programs for STD epidemic


"Have any of the so-called experts actually looked at real life data over the past 30 to 40 years? During that time, every negative sexually related outcome -- teen sexual activity, teen pregnancy, STDs, abortion -- rose in direct correlation with increased funding for contraception sex education"


"Do the so-called experts know that the federal funding ratio is 92.3 percent for contraception programs versus 7.7 percent for abstinence/healthy-relationship programs? Who in their right mind would blame the STD epidemic on abstinence programs with such imbalanced funding?"





contrast that with the NYT propaganda

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/12/science/12std.html

"The president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Cecile Richards, said the new findings “emphasize the need for real comprehensive sex education.”

“The national policy of promoting abstinence-only programs is a $1.5 billion failure,” Ms. Richards said, “and teenage girls are paying the real price."

Yeah, Planned parenthood using these disturbing statistics to plea for more "education"
The statistics bear out founder, Margaret Sanger's attitudes towards blacks.

Synnen

The rise in teen pregnancy can ALSO directly be corralated to women working outside the home, and the rise in divorce/single parent homes.

Let's ban divorce! Let's make women stay home with children and raise them! Let's go back to victorian ages where no one even TALKS about sex, much less has it outside of marriage, except men, of course, who can have sex with women lower class than they are when they hit puberty and pass on those sexually transmitted to their virgin brides.

You can corrolate any number of facts over 40 years, but how can you POSSIBLY blame any ONE factor for something so encompassing of our entire society?

justcurious55

i say yes to condoms but no to hormonal bc. kids are gonna do what they want so the nurses might as well offer condoms. it should definately be confidential. other doctors have to maintain confidentiality, so should the school nurse. they could do it like planned parenthood, have a basket that say 3 free, 4 for $1 or something.
i only say no to the school nurse giving out hormonal bc because that something that needs a prescription for a reason. there's so many different forms of hormonal bc and sometimes it takes a while to find the one thats right for a girl and you have to make sure it doesnt interfere with any other meds or anything like that and i just really feel that its something that should be monitored by a regular doctor who knows the details of the rest of your health.

jillianleab

justcurious, in this case, the pill is being distributed by a regular doctor. The teens are getting it by visiting a clinic with actual doctors, not school nurses. They are also only given the pill after a full exam, just like in your regular family doctor's office.

And Synnen, I think you've just illustrated that correlation does not equal causation!

kay2772

I think contraception in schools should be allowed only not in middle school...that is too young. In Maine I read that they're allowing students as young as 11 recieve this service through the school. I myself am currently trying to learn more about this however for a speech i'm doing...so if you know any other information or can tell me where to look that would be great.