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| No | 54% | 391 votes | Total: 724 votes | |
| Yes | 46% | 333 votes |
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Add to FavoritesWhether schools give out contraceptives to students or not is not a moral question, it is a question of schools stepping over the line. It seems like there's an increase in parents who think that once they send their kids to school, that school is in charge of raising the kids to be "good people". Additionally, school staff often seems to forget that the children they see every day are not their own and they do not take sole responsibility for these children; their job is to educate kids. End of story. This does not mean teaching moral issues or "life issues".
What is the responsibility of a school? It IS their responsibility to teach the kids the mechanics of sex, the stages of gestation, the possible diseases that can result from sexual activity and what is available in terms of contraceptives and medical care. However, this should be a refresher course that reinforces what the parents taught these students long before. A friend of mine just told me about the middle school in her small town that has about 400 kids; of those children, ages 11-14, 16 are pregnant. Obviously a sex education class in high school comes far too late for some kids, and that is something the parent should have already discussed with their children, school should merely fill in some of the physical and medical details.
What is not the responsibility of the school? It is not the school's responsibility to tell a student what is or is not right to do, that is the parent's job. Additionally, if the students want contraceptives it is not the school's responsibility to give it to them nor should they, the student needs to be mature enough to discuss the issue with their parents. Not only does this teach some important lessons about uncomfortable conversations, it also helps keep the parents informed about what their children are doing. Students need to learn how to constructively present their issues with authority figures and discuss them, and this does not mean school personnel.
While I think it is important for anyone who is planning to have sex to have access to things that will prevent unwanted pregnancies because the person who suffers the most from an unprepared parent is the only one that never had a choice in the matter, I firmly believe that it is completely out of the realm of what schools are meant to be for.
The views on the morality of contraceptives and pre-marital sex varies in every family, but regardless of your views this issue is one that must be dealt with in the family. Schools are for learning information...histor y, science, even how to cook...and home is the place to learn about life skills and moral beliefs.
Learn more about this author, Rebecca Brown.
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Yes
Lately in America, there have been far too many people who have let the rising problem of teenage pregnancy go without prevention. Too many people are more concerned with trying to stop teenagers from their actions than taking actions to limit the damages caused by the inevitable. Just as most parents, I am concerned with teaching my children about sex and abstinence, but I am also aware of what I did when I was in High school.
Teenagers, male and female alike go through hormones changes that drive them toward sexual thoughts and actions. Since there is no medication that can prevent these desires, as parents we should be aware of the medications that can be used to prevent more than the damage of a broken heart. Teenage males have the ability to go into a convenience store and purchase condoms in an effort to prevent pregnancy, but teenage girls have to go through their parents to gain access to a more reliable form of protection. It seems unfair that there is no person that a young female can talk with in confidence.
Although there are quite a few teenagers who are open with their parents and are willing to talk about contraception and what to do to prevent things like STDs and pregnancy, a large majority of teenagers would rather use prayer than discuss anything about sex with their parents. In some states, young girls are lucky enough to have a place to go such as Planned Parenthood and other places that have a lower age minimum such as sixteen to receive the protection they need. I cannot imagine there are too many parents who have a desire to see their daughter have a child of her own. Why then are they opposed to the idea of their child being responsible and taking action against it?
Parents have a responsibility to protect their children and to make sure that they are healthy, safe and aware of the potential dangers that the world offers. Even though most parents instill these values and ideas into their children, there are those who do not take the time to make their children aware that sex is designed to cause pregnancy. Some parents take preventative measures and put their children on birth control, but others do not even let the concept cross their minds. This lack of information leads to devastating results.
If schools had the legal right to distribute pregnancy prevention to their students, I believe a lot more teenagers, young women especially, would go to see the nurse or the school counselor and receive the education that is desperately lacking in the school system. Being able to receive treatment and prevention does not teach children that sex is right or to be condoned by any means. The acceptance and practice of sex is established through the students and through the media. It is time that both parents and schools begin to understand that the world has entered into a new kind of morality. If we do not take steps to educate teenagers to prevent teenage pregnancy, it is not our children we should blame for making harmful decisions. It is we as parents for not being responsible enough to teach our children of all the options necessary to protect their lives and the lives of their children
Learn more about this author, Kaylan Grimes.
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