Birth control comes to middle school: The other factors
on October 18th, 2007 at 7:03 amSchool Board Approves Birth Control Prescriptions at Maine Middle School
Associated Press
PORTLAND, Maine — Pupils at a city middle school will be able to get birth control pills and patches at their student health center after the local school board approved the proposal Wednesday evening.
The plan, offered by city health officials, makes King Middle School the first middle school in Maine to make a full range of contraception available to students in grades 6 through 8, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.
There are no national figures on how many middle schools, where most students range in age from 11 to 13, provide such services.
“It’s very rare that middle schools do this,” said Divya Mohan, a spokeswoman for the National Assembly on School-Based Health Care.
The Portland School Committee voted 5-2 for the measure.
Chairman John Coynie voted against it, saying he felt providing the birth control was a parental responsibility. The other no vote came from Ben Meiklejohn, who said the consent form does not clearly define the services being offered.
[SNIP]
Diane Miller, who said she has worked as a school nurse in another district for eight years, called the proposal “tragic” and asked “What would God have us do?”
Miller said the plan gives children an adult responsibility they are not ready for, and puts them at risk from sexually transmitted disease and emotional problems.
“I just don’t know how we can even look at this and consider it,” she said.
Peter Doyle, a former middle school teacher, said the proposal violates the rights of parents, potentially ignoring their special knowledge of their children’s health, and puts young girls at risk of cancer from too early use of hormone-based contraceptives.
“You all are going to be responsible for the devastating effects on young women when this goes through,” he said.
Those who favored the plan said it isn’t about encouraging premature sex, but protecting kids who don’t have strong support from their parents. (more…)
As soon as I read the name of the school (King Middle School), I knew that something was up. But wait a minute, this is Maine!
Take a look at these general demographic stats for KMS:
According to this website, while the state average for Blacks per school is only 2%, For KMS it is 22%.
The statewide average for free school lunches is 30%. KMS- 54%
Other interesting bits:
Median household income for KMS: $36,602. Statewide – $37,225
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When you have supporters of the plan saying something to the effect that their reason for supporting it is because of a lack of support from parents on this issue, the school system has now clearly overstepped its responsibilities as general education teacher to parent. Poverty is no excuse for not teaching your kids about the responsibility that comes with “the birds and the bees.” If you think that I am ‘beating up’ on po’ folks by saying this….have a nice day. Free life advice is affordable by all!
What particularly angers me on this issue is that there is a concerted effort out there by some folks to portray ALL POOR PEOPLE–ESPECIALLY BLACKS as a bunch of helpless individuals who are frankly too stupid to raise their own kids–they just will never say it out loud. Instead of pushing the responsibility back on the parents, the whole issue gets pushed under the ever-growing cloud of “social responsibility”. Why? Because we do not want to offend anybody.
These kids deserve better than this.
Another question worth asking here– Did parents request this service or did the school just take on the cause themselves?
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