Image is from the Time Magazine articlePossibly one of the more controversial posts I have ever done, but I really am interested in your opinion. I'm not interested in an argument, more just seeing where everyone stands.
Please read this article from Time Magazine about Gloucester High's Pregnancy Boom. Evidently in the last year, a large number of girls - all under the age of 16 - made a pact to get pregnant and raise their babies together. The school nurse administered 150 pregnancy tests within a very short period and the school, understandably, started to make an effort to see what was going on and what they could do.
The article brings up several issues that I find very interesting and worth discussion:
1. The influence of movies like Juno and Knocked Up on young teens. Do they glamorize young, unwed pregnancy?
2. The influence of US jobs moving overseas. How much does it really affect a city and community when jobs that used to be provided to members of the community are suddenly outsourced overseas?
3. Birth control for teenagers. Should schools be able to provide birth control with or without parental consent? Should schools be able to provide birth control at all?
What do you think?
Please read this article from Time Magazine about Gloucester High's Pregnancy Boom. Evidently in the last year, a large number of girls - all under the age of 16 - made a pact to get pregnant and raise their babies together. The school nurse administered 150 pregnancy tests within a very short period and the school, understandably, started to make an effort to see what was going on and what they could do.
The article brings up several issues that I find very interesting and worth discussion:
1. The influence of movies like Juno and Knocked Up on young teens. Do they glamorize young, unwed pregnancy?
2. The influence of US jobs moving overseas. How much does it really affect a city and community when jobs that used to be provided to members of the community are suddenly outsourced overseas?
3. Birth control for teenagers. Should schools be able to provide birth control with or without parental consent? Should schools be able to provide birth control at all?
What do you think?
8 comments:
i think schools should give out birth control, but the girls should still have to go to a gynecologist before they could get it (maybe the school district could employ one gynecologist just for them). But I think they should give out condemns too. i'm sure the younger you are, the more embarrassed you would be to get them at a drug store, and birth control is super expensive if you dont have insurance that covers it.
Hey Cameron-I haven't been on your blog in forever! This is totally important to me and very much a touchy subject to some. I believe schools should most certainly provide birth control and condoms. Most girls that are sexually active would never go to a parent for birth control or advice. However much I don't like the idea of my kids going to a school employee for birth control, I would much rather find out they went somewhere for birth control versus coming home at that time of their life to say they are pregnant!
Kirsten walked into the room as I was discussing this subject and she wanted to add something.... I totally agree with mom but grades are way more important and why would you even think about that at that age???
Kirsten
i agree with both of you. i think condoms at schools should definitely be able to be given out, but with the birth control situation, i just find it really important. i definitely think that parents should be first and foremost the ones to talk about that sort of stuff with their kids, but i do agree that lots of kids would be scared to talk about that with their parents and i would hope they would be able to get it somewhere and a school nurse is better than other places.
i wish there were more kids like kirsten who can't even fathom why someone would think about it at that age. i definitely was a late-bloomer i guess in that department. i was more interested in other things. haha
well, late-bloomer according to these current standards. when i was a middle school leader there were middle school students who knew more about sex and things like that than i did! it was heartbreaking.
Cam, I've been debating posting something about this for the last week. I'm fired up about it to say the least.
I think that it's crazy that people are pointing the finger at movies and not the parents. Why aren't parents talking about birth control with their children.
If anything, I think that movies like Juno show the pains and heartache of having a baby as a teen. There have been movies about teen pregnancy for ages! Someone needs to step up and take responsibility.
I think that schools should give out condoms, but birth control is a bit of a touchy situation. There isn't one pill fits all, but I do think that teens should be able to have private consults with their doctors and be able to have it more readily accessable.
As far as the prego girls go...who does that? What teen in their right mind WANTS a baby! I'm in my mid 20's and I'm still learning how to take care of myself!
end rant. (for now)
here's what i think...
birth control pills and condoms are both important and necessary for young people - even older people. condoms should be available at schools, i think, but birth control shouldn't. "handing out" birth control could cause a lot of undesired effects. after all, it is a medical matter, and the pill has a lot of side effects that only a doctor could explain and help regulate.
as far as the influence of movies on teen pregnancy goes, i think teens are smarter than that. anyone who actually believes that having a baby will automatically give them a sense of love and fulfillment without any hassle or responsibility is totally ignorant. i have never talked to anyone that thought it would be "cool" to have a baby. the want to have a baby at such a young age is rooted within a much deeper issue, i think... perhaps abandonment or abuse. i believe that the girls in high school that made a pact to have babies are victims of the aforementioned issues. that, and they are hungry for attention.
i love this post and since i'm all about schools and education and all, i agree with the others. i totally think that schools should provide birth control without parental consent. i know quite a few girls in high school that should have been on birth control but weren't because they were too scared to talk to their parents. having birth control available to high school students could help to prevent many teenage pregnancies. although i do understand the conflict, i believe that if a pregnancy takes place when neither person is ready, it can result in disaster for not only the two young parents, but also for the future child. if these thing can be prevented then that is always good...for everyone. on the topic of the movies, such as juno and knocked up, i do not feel as though these films have glorified teenage or young pregnancies, if anything i feel like they have made it all the more clear at how hard and realistic it can be to get yourself in that position. i appreciate this post, though, and all of the comments before mine(i know i'm kinda late) it's interesting to me to see everyone opinion.
Post a Comment