Measure To Allow Portland Middle School To Provide Birth Control To Students
Birth Control Other Middle School Contraceptive Programs, Reaction Although many proposals for contraceptive programs in middle schools
across the U.S. have been rejected due to parental opposition, health
centers at six middle schools in Baltimore and four in Seattle have
been providing birth control with "little fanfare" since as early as
1990, USA Today reports.
Baltimore Health Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein said there has been a
73% drop in the city's teen birth rate from 1992 to 2005 in part
because of birth control access. Seattle's program to provide
reproductive services to high school students and some middle school
students also has helped reduce the teen pregnancy rate with "little
concern or dismay," T.J. Cosgrove, program manager at Public Health-Seattle and King County, said (Koch, USA Today, 10/19). Topeka, Kan., School District Stops Condom Distribution Program In related news, the Topeka, Kan., Public School Board of Education on Wednesday discontinued a program at Topeka High School that provided no-cost condoms to students, the AP/Wichita Eagle reports.
The school stopped distribution of the condoms after the end of the
school day on Tuesday. The condoms had been available in a wicker
basket at the school nurse's station, in addition to information about
how to use them and no-cost HIV testing, the AP/Eagle reports. The school received about 100 condoms in both September and October from the Topeka AIDS Project. All the condoms were dispensed within a week of their arrival each month.
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The Portland, Maine, School Committee
on Wednesday voted 7-2 to approve a proposal that will allow students
at a city middle school to access prescription birth control, the New York Times reports. The measure, proposed by the Portland Division of Public Health, will require the independently operated health care center at King Middle School
to provide students in grades six through eight with a range of
contraception and counseling for sexually transmitted infections, Lisa
Belanger, an administer for Portland's student health centers, said
(Elliott, New York Times, 10/18).
Students will be
required to get permission from a parent or guardian before being
treated at the center; however, services provided at the clinic are
kept confidential in accordance with state law, the AP/Google.com
reports. Students also will be required to undergo a physical exam by a
nurse practitioner or physician at the center before receiving birth
control prescriptions, Belanger said.
According to Amanda
Rowe, head nurse in Portland's school health centers, five of the 134
students who visited King's health center during the 2006-2007 school
year reported having had sexual intercourse (AP/Google.com, 10/18). King Principal Mike McCarthy said about five of the school's 500 students have reported being sexually active (New York Times, 10/18).
Portland's
proposal "came about from kids self-reporting that they were sexually
active," Douglas Gardner, the director of Portland's Health and Human Services Department,
said in a statement, adding, "Clearly they are too young to be engaged
in sexual intercourse, but the reality is that they are sexually
active. It is our responsibility to offer a full range of primary care
services to students." Rowe said the service is "needed," adding, "It's
about very few kids, but they are kids who don't have the same
opportunities and access as other students" (FoxNews.com, 10/17).
Committee
Chair John Coyne, who voted against the measure, said, "At some point
there needs to be a clearing of the gray lines" between the roles of
parents, social agencies and public schools. Committee member Ben
Meiklejohn, who also voted against the measure, said the parental
consent form does not sufficiently define the services being provided
at the health centers (AP/Google.com, 10/18). Maine Gov. John Baldacci
(D) said, "I appreciate local officials trying to address a need in a
medically appropriate way, but these are children," adding, "An
appropriate balance must be struck addressing the troubling situation
that a small number of students find themselves in and recognizing the
role that parents and other family members should play" (Harkavy, AP/Guardian, 10/18).
Interim Superintendent Terry Sandlin said Topeka High School's principal was unaware that the condoms were available until a Topeka Capital-Journal reporter asked about it (AP/Wichita Eagle,
10/18). When asked if anyone would be disciplined as a result of the
program, Sandlin said the school district would use it as a learning
experience, the Capital-Journal reports.
"I want
our parents and community members to know that while I am sensitive, as
well as knowledgeable as to the AIDS and STD epidemic infecting our
youth and appreciate the efforts of the Topeka AIDS Project, the
decision to distribute condoms or any type of birth control in a public
school is not one that should be made in isolation," Sandlin said. He
added, "It must be made with input from Topeka Public Schools' Board of
Education, the District Citizens Advisory Committee, parents of our
students and members of our community" (Bush/Stoll, Topeka Capital Journal, 10/18).
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Source: Kaisernetwork.org on Oct 19 2007 11:49:13 |