Media Madness over Maine Middle-School and the Pill

by Jill Morrison, Senior Counsel
National Women’s Law Center

I was all ready to stay out of the brouhaha about the middle-school in Maine that’s providing birth control to students, including those in the 6th grade. The story has been on every cable news channel, virtually making the talking heads explode. Well, what I only saw for the first time in the Associated Press report  is that the school made the decision in response to seeing pregnant middle-school students in their hallways!

So despite the old (and unproven) message that providing contraceptives encourages kids to go out and start having sex, the fact of the matter is they are already doing so. The school is just trying to mitigate the consequences.

Furthermore, enough with all the “but my kids can’t even get a Tylenol without my permission” comparisons. To get any services at the school clinic, students need to first get their parents’ permission, but once they have permission, students are entitled to the same right to medical privacy as anyone else. 

I will reserve my opinion as to whether this is the best way to address what must be a truly distressing situation for this community, but I won’t reserve an opinion on “reporting” that doesn’t give the most important facts on why this community felt this measure was necessary.

Comments

[Jill at NWLC]

Thanks for chiming in from the front lines.

[bicmon]

I'm lucky enough to be living in open-minded Portland, ME. King Middle School is a downtown school with a diverse student body including kids who are essentially homeless or parentless. Someone needs to be the responsible adult in these kids' lives. I for one am thankful the school administration has the bravery to do what's right for these kids.

[Veronica]

I went to school with a girl who got pregnant in 8th grade. It was a total shock.