King Middle School Principal Addresses Parents on Birth Control Pills

The decision by King Middle School in Maine to make birth control pills available to school students who are as young as 11 years of age is obviously not only very controversial but also shows how low our morals have gone.

Schools aim to prevent pregnancy in children and teens who are as young as 11 years old; however, more work needs to be done with parents not directly with children. In readl world when an 11 years old child comes to the teacher and says you know I am about to have sex, a parent does not expect the teacher to give out condoms and birth control pills, but rather to discourage the kid and call the parent.

However, imagine this scenario:

Student: Mrs. Baylee I am about to have sex...

Mrs. Baylee: Oh how nice, here is a contraceptive device for you, be careful

Student: Thank You Mrs. Baylee

Mrs. Baylee: You are welcome sweety, enjoy!

Now, what do you make of this? I meant to be as graphic as possible, but it is time for the society and religious leaders to come out with stronger voice and preach about this in churches and condem these types of conducts in public schools.

Below is the letter of the principal of the King Middle School in Maine to parents as how they justify distributing condomns and birth control pills to children.

October 19, 2007
Dear Parents,

I wanted to write you a quick note to address the swirl of controversy surrounding King Middle School's Health Center. There is an amount of misinformation out in the national media that I would like to clarify for our families. Here is our logic:

1. Teen pregnancy is a life-changing event with many negative results. There have been 17 pregnancies among Portland Middle Schools in the last 4 years.

2. Some of our students only access health care through the King Student Health Center operated by the City of Portland's Public Health Division.

3. Five students who were aged 14 & 15 self reported risky sexual behavior at the Health Center last year resulting in one full-term pregnancy.

4. To prevent pregnancy the Health Center needs to have contraception as an option when a student admits being sexually active. Contraception would only be prescribed in rare cases after counseling about abstinence and postponing sexual behavior was not productive. Every effort is always made to encourage the student to join with her parents in making this decision.

5. There is also counseling to determine if this is a case of abuse or coercion. In this case proper authorities would be informed.

6. If the student does not wish to inform their parent - the doctor is required by Maine State Law to keep the diagnosis confidential. This is also the case if a private physician treats a student.

7. Our goal is to equalize access to health care for our students who use the Health Center as their primary source of health care. This gives the doctor the full range of options to prevent teen pregnancy.

I hope this logic makes sense to you and helps you understand our thinking. King is a great school dedicated to the learning, health and safety of all of our kids. This change is another tool to support our students albeit a very small minority.

I have talked with a number of parents and I know one positive outcome of this controversy is that parents and teens have (in some cases for the first time) had a discussion about sexual activity. I suspect this also may be discussed in homes beyond King Middle School.

The media frenzy is calming at least as it touches King. While all of this has been happening school has proceeded smoothly and effectively. This is a credit to the great kids and staff at King.

Have a great weekend.

Sincerely,
Michael J. McCarthy
Principal