Oct 17, 2007 10:27 pm US/Eastern
Maine Middle School To Offer Birth Control
PORTLAND, Maine (CBS) ―
Some Portland, Maine residents think a middle school's decision to provide birth control to its young students is pushing the boundaries.
"We do our basic teaching in home," said parent Karen Lomanno. "Me and daughters talking about life in general.
That's where Lomanno believes sex education should begin. But King Middle School is pushing that theory by advocating birth control for its students.
A Massachusetts Education Department survey found nearly one in three students 15 years old and younger are sexually active. The Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy preaches abstinence but believes, even for middle schoolers, it can fall on deaf ears.
The Portland School Committee took up the issue Wednesday night. They debated the issue for hours before voting 7-2 to allow middle school students to get birth control pills.
"Certainly in best scenario the parents would be involved in this decision making," said Lydia Watts of the Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy. "What we're concerned about are those young people who are at most risk of teen pregnancy. Those are young people that don't have that kind of relationship with their parents."
Some parents worry distributing birth control through the school would encourage, not educate.
"I think that's promoting more promiscuity, so I don't think should be available to them," one parent said.
"I think absolutely too young," said another mother. "But I think it's out of everybody's hands. Things going on have to be taken care of."
Prescribing birth control has not been an issue for middle schools in Massachusetts. But the State Department of Education has recommended that school committees consider providing contraception in high schools, though it is not mandated.
In Portland, the middle schoolers would also be given counseling and medical exams before given any birth control.
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