Birth Control in Schools

Teenage pregnancy is very difficult for young woman to deal with; therefore contraception should be accessible in schools. Nowadays the rates of unwanted pregnancy at high schools are extremely high and grow every year, if more schools handed out contraceptives, this problem could potentially decrease. Even though some may agree with this idea, some totally disagree; thinking by handing out contraceptives will only encourage them to have sex. Another issue concerning some people is that by handing out contraceptives in school, is that if the parents need to give permission to do so or not. “However, most respondents in a 2007 AP poll stated that they felt a parent’s consent was required before a school could give out contraceptives. Only about five percent of high schools in the United States distribute birth control.” stated A.E Freeman. High schools should pass out contraceptives to teens because it helps prevent unwanted pregnancies and premature motherhood. Nearly every high school student is not ready to become a parent. Teens being careless and not thinking about their future often don’t use protection or any other type of contraception, and as a result, young girls even at the age of 17 become pregnant or even earlier. Making contraceptives accessible to teens could help the risk of them becoming pregnant at such a young age. While others disagree, stating that there is only one way of knowing you won’t get pregnant at all is abstaining from sex. Being abstinence pretty much means that you wait till marriage until you have sex. Some schools even promote abstinence only education, and by teaching them that, students are not learning the risks of sex. They are not teaching them about the many deadly diseases that they could get (STDs), and how they could prevent them and prevent it. Although many think abstinence only is a good idea, I don’t. Almost every school has a sex Ed class or a health class; schools have the responsibility to teach us about sex education. By providing contraceptives to students, you are helping them become prepared and protected against the consequences of sex. Another reason why I think free contraceptives should be passed out in High schools is that we can lower the abortions that take place every year. Girls who become pregnant at a frightening young age can be terrifying for them. They are not ready to become mothers, and they do not see any other way out but to have an abortion. Abortion is allowed by the Federal Law, and according to the Federal Law, each woman has a right to terminate a pregnancy. There are many private clinics, where the operation can be emotionally and physically painful for a young girl to go through, and can be made anonymously. Young girls rush to clinics and make a horrible decision forgetting about their consequences. Free contraceptives can stop these terrible actions and decrease the percentage of the abortion rate. High school students certainly are not ready to start a family when they are still in school. If a girl decides not to get an abortion and keep the child, the guy she is having the baby with usually ends up getting married. Which I’m sure they didn’t plan on getting married before the girl got pregnant. Yong kids getting married are often unhappy, but there are exceptions. Schools should hand out free contraceptives to students because it helps prevent teenagers from having an unplanned family. There are many benefits of family planning. First of all, being in a well-planned family has better social conditions and is more likely to have less health problems. Children get more attention; they have a better and closer relationship with their parents. Young woman can also benefit from family planning because they can have better health care, and can avoid the painfully and emotionally unsafe abortion, and can avoid much stress with an unplanned family. Bear in mind all these consequences, it becomes even more obvious that schools should distribute free contraceptives to prevent teens from having these consequences. If teens are asking for contraceptives, you know that they want to be prepared and knowing that they don’t want to ruin their future. This displays maturity on their part, and responsibility. According to 4Parents.gov, one in three teens will become pregnant at least once before they are 20 years old. Though the subject may be considered debatable, there is a possible answer to this problem and that is allowing teens access to birth control. By knowing that some teens don’t want to ruin their future and by asking for contraceptives, this establishes a bond between the parent and the teen. Knowing that they are going to be safe is letting the parent know that they are going to be safe, and are safe from contracting STDs and lowering their risk of becoming pregnant. A woman stated, “I don’t agree that the ultimate goal is to keep teenagers from having sex to young. I think the ultimate goal as a parent is to keep your kids alive. Informing them about deadly STDs is far more important than worrying if they are being prudent. You can hope they make a smart decision about who they sleep with but you can’t control their every move.” When it comes down to it, everyone has a different opinion about handing out contraceptives to High school students. Some think by handing out contraceptives to teens, they may feel like they can have sex whenever they want because the schools are pretty much saying they can by them out. If parents are worried about that, they should just talk to their teen about sex and showing that they have nothing to hide. Another reason why people think it’s a bad idea is because the school is doing it without the parents’ permission, and also by handing the contraceptive out can send a perplexing message to teens. Some teens being told to have safer sex to be safe from STDs, and on the other hand, teens are being told to wait to have sex, so it can be confusing. “It has been shown, over and over again, that this does not increase sexual activity,” said Pat Patterson, medical director of School-Based Health Centers. And most parents, in fact, WANT kids to get both messages; a 2005 survey from the Pew Forum found that 78% want public schools to teach about birth control, and 76% think that schools should teach kids to abstain from sex until marriage. Three quarters of high school kids favor that message. Adoption, abortion, unwanted. They are all things we do not like to think about, and certainly don’t want to have to go through in High school. If schools passed out contraceptives to teens, I think the rate of pregnancy, abortion, and the risk of STDs could surely decrease.