5% of the kids are sexually active. I do not think those are the ones who parents are doing a good job. I'm not worried about notifying them. The other 95% of the parents have nothing to worry about.
Nods...I understand what you mean by that, but I think it is safe to say that no matter how involved a parent is, every kid is going to have secrets and hide them well no matter how good a job the parent does.
Just curious, I wonder how many people that voted yes have children ( specifically girls ) of their own.
Ok. That's what I mean by the parents relying on the school for their responsibility, not the other way around. They want to be notified about all of their secrets. It is the parents responsibility and 95% are doing ok. They are getting paranoid about birth control when the sex is the real issue.
Thanks for all the comments. Some things from my perspective are: 1. The fact that these young kids are experimenting with sexual intercourse is alarming in and of itself. Children at this age don't even understand the concept of sex and have probably been affected by television depicting it in seemingly every show and commercial. 2. Its not the job of the school system to dictate policy on parenting or issuing contraceptives to underage children. This is a classic case of overstepping their boundaries. 3. The small percentage of these kids who have come up pregnant should be dealt with individually rather then making this kind of sweeping change driven by the minority of the school population. 4. The fact that they want to issue these contraceptives without telling the parents is another alarming matter. They are not responsible for the upbringing of the children, the parents are. They should be educating them not parenting them. Its these types of decisions by school districts around the country that contribute to the decline of our educational system. They focus more on not hurting the kids feelings instead of offering a structured environment to teach them academics; not sex education. The liberal mindeset of public education is whats causing the high rate of opting for private school and home schooling among parents.
Yeah, the kind of people who think government is the solution to all our problems and will happily allow contraceptives to be distributed to 11 and 12 year olds.
They parents who want the school to notifying them if their child is sexually active are the ones relying on the government.
The problem with requiring notice is, the kids are not going to stop having sex to avoid their parents finding out from the school, they are just not going to get the free birth control. So instead of the parent not being notified and the kids have sex with contraceptives, the parents will not be notified and the kids will have sex without contraceptives. I find it hard to see how that is a better choice.
so lets do the same for drugs, alcohol, cigarettes and everything else. don't ever let the parent know anything or they will just much up the parenting that the schools are doing.
For all those who are in favor of this plan. Does it not bother you that a child can get access to oral contraceptives (which is what I assume the article refers to when mentioning "birth control medications") by someone who is not their primary care physician? Who will be responsible if the child has a bad interaction with other medication they are on? Is a 12 year old responsible enough to remember to take their BCP every day? There are many factors to consider before beginning any medication program including oral contraceptives. Is a 12 year old responsible enough to weigh those factors?
None of those are analogous. It would be like saying the school shouldn't give drunk kids a ride home from the Prom without notifying the parents. The kid are drunk either way, but on the one hand they can anonymously be driven home, and on the other hand the school is required to report it, so the kids try to make it by themselves, possibly getting killed. It is a recognition that something is happening, and we should try to control the fallout.
Giving a 10-year old birth control pills is not highly questionable, it could be dangerous. Birth control has side effects and needs to be monitored, and a parent should know if a 10 year old girl is on birth control. I'm not sure the school should get involved in that. If a girl is having sex at the age of 10...I mean, that's just insane. Think about it. That girl needs help that goes far beyond giving her the pill so she doesn't get pregnant.
So why even bother letting parents know what kind of grades their child is getting at school? Afterall if a kid gets a bad grade and the parents punish him for not studying, it will make him be withdrawn and that would just turn him into a trenchcoat mafia guy. bottom line. parents have to be involved in the raising of their 12 year old child. if the people in power really really wanted to address the issues, they wouldn't enact legislation that cuts the parents out of the loop on something as serious as birth control. why would a parent want to entrust their child to an institution that thinks the parents need to get out of the way in order for them to "properly" educate a student?
But is a system worth a total revamping and restructureing and pissing off 95% of the parents . . . .. to reach the 5%? So 95% are getting punished for what the 5% didn't do? the 95% of GOOD PARENTS have to now worry about what is going on at their schools. . because of the 5% bad parentS??? What kind of Logic is that? Rocket River Utilitarianism
Good Analogies Some kids are dabbling in all these. . should the schools initiate such undercover remedies and keep it from the parents I think Schools should report *all* things concerning their kids to the parents School are suppose to ASSIST PARENTS not REPLACE THEM Rocket River
A sign that says "obtain a free condom here" is synonymous with saying "one of these free devices will allow you to have no negative consequences from having sex." I agree that that would encourage the 1% of the kids (who are having sex) to practice safe sex. I also believe that it would encourage the other 99% of the kids to try having sex and give up their abstinence. I voted no.
I think educating kids on sex is useful. Namely safe sex. Use a condom to avoid disease and getting pregnant. If I have a kid, it seems I'm going to have to teach that to them before they turn 10, before the school gives them condoms and birth control.
