2008 Woodie Awards
Point/Counterpoint: Facilitating safe sex
Melissa Garber, Collegian editor.
Issue date: 10/25/07 Section: Editorial / Opinion
Whether schools decide to preach abstinence only or hand out condoms between classes, kids will have sex. Sexual activity is obviously scarcer among the younger set of 11- to 14-year-olds, but it is still prevalent. The health care clinic at Kings Middle School in Portland, Maine recently made the landmark decision to combat pregnancy and offer birth control to students. The decision has raised controversy amongst students and parents alike, as birth control distribution amongst middle schools is not a common practice.
According to ABC News, in the past four years there have been 17 reported pregnancies at the three middle schools in Portland. It is comforting to hear that Kings health center has taken a proactive approach to teenage and preteen pregnancies. Some students - no matter how small in numbers - are engaging in sexual activities and they will be benefited by the school's easy access to birth control.
Students need parental permission to use the school's clinic, but upon receiving that permission, their treatment is confidential and protected by state laws. Students as young as 11 can go to the clinic and have an adult to confide in who is bound by law not to reveal any information to the student's parents.
They can discuss their sex lives, their substance abuse or any of the other taboos pervading their lives. Although it might not curb any student's sexual activities, it will provide them with the necessary information to make responsible decisions, like wearing condoms and using birth control. I am not advocating that middle-schoolers should engage in sex, but I think it is an unavoidable consequence of puberty.
Although only five of the 134 students who frequented Kings health center during the 2006-2007 school years reported having sexual intercourse, I think the clinic is acting unbelievably responsibly. For those five students, the clinic has made a world of difference, offering them the resources they would have typically been denied. And the clinic will continue to make a difference for the next five students who seek assistance.
According to ABC News, in the past four years there have been 17 reported pregnancies at the three middle schools in Portland. It is comforting to hear that Kings health center has taken a proactive approach to teenage and preteen pregnancies. Some students - no matter how small in numbers - are engaging in sexual activities and they will be benefited by the school's easy access to birth control.
Students need parental permission to use the school's clinic, but upon receiving that permission, their treatment is confidential and protected by state laws. Students as young as 11 can go to the clinic and have an adult to confide in who is bound by law not to reveal any information to the student's parents.
They can discuss their sex lives, their substance abuse or any of the other taboos pervading their lives. Although it might not curb any student's sexual activities, it will provide them with the necessary information to make responsible decisions, like wearing condoms and using birth control. I am not advocating that middle-schoolers should engage in sex, but I think it is an unavoidable consequence of puberty.
Although only five of the 134 students who frequented Kings health center during the 2006-2007 school years reported having sexual intercourse, I think the clinic is acting unbelievably responsibly. For those five students, the clinic has made a world of difference, offering them the resources they would have typically been denied. And the clinic will continue to make a difference for the next five students who seek assistance.
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Pam Jackson
posted 10/26/07 @ 9:34 AM EST
I am the health educator for a community action agency. My job is to educate the community, no matter what age. STD's and birth control are the two subjects I educate on the most. (Continued…)
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