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Plan B in Schools
I believe some of you are parents and I'm curious about what your thoughts on this are. I am not a parent but I would feel like the school was stepping on my toes so to speak. Do you think school is the appropriate place for teens to obtain Plan B (or any other birth control)?
Re: Plan B in Schools
I think that may be good. I would hope my own child would feel comfortable coming to me if she is going to be having sex at all, but I do know there are many parents out there who do not make their children feel comfortable talking about stuff like this. So it may be effective for them to have it a little more readily available.
My sister got pregnant at 18 before graduating high school because there was no way in hell that my mother would have allowed her to have birth control (abstinence only y'all), I truly feel if this were available to her she could have been saved a whole lot of heartache.
I do think maybe they be allowed one, and after that getting their parents involved, or I don't know. I think there should be some limits on it, I would just need more time to figure the specifics out.
I like the idea that they get one and then a parent has to sign off. I'm not thrilled about the idea of offering Plan B. But I would much rather make it available than force some kid into have a baby because she made a bad decision.
I can see how some parents would feel like the school is "stepping on their toes." But after having DS I realize more than ever how important it is to have a solid foundation and a stable life BEFORE having a child. Yes, I want DS to come to me if he needs prophylactics, but if he's uncomfortable doing than then I'd much rather he go somewhere else than go no where at all.
Not a parent yet, but I am a huge proponent of making birth control accessible to teens and just flat-out getting rid of the idea of abstinence-only sex education in public schools.
I don't think I'd be against Plan B being available- it is more effective the sooner you take it, and I sort of doubt many kids would be eager to go up to their parents and get them to take them to the doctor to get a prescription (since I believe the current nat'l standard from HHS only makes it available OTC to 17+). But the option of getting something relatively anonymously from a school nurse might encourage young girls to speak up about any 'mistakes.'
But- encouraging condom use is sooo much more important. I just wouldn't want to see teens being more lax about issues like STDs because they figure they can pop a Plan B afterwards instead. In the event of a condom fail though, it shouldn't be so hard for the ones who were actually being responsible to get Plan B as a backup, and I'd hope that would be the most situations this was utilized for.
If I had a child, I would not want the school involved in supplying him/her with condoms. I don't think it's their place. Educating yes...passing out condoms - no!
I'm glad. I think BC should be available at high schools. While parents can say that they want to take care of it in the home, the truth is that a lot of the time that doesn't happen. (if it did, we wouldn't have a teen pregnancy epidemic).
I hope my son can come to me, but if he doesn't feel he can I want him to still be protected. It's just a little naive to think that you child will in fact come to you when they need BC or condoms - they should be readily available to all teens.
Just out of curiosity, why not? It's not like your phantom kid can't buy his or her own condoms at Wal-Mart, it's literally a difference between paying for them or not. There isn't generally an age restriction on buying them, so there's really no reason for teens to involve their parents in their decision to get condoms (as opposed to, say, prescription meds while they're below a certain age) anyway, and most wouldn't. Why not have them available freely, than worry that someone won't buy them/can't afford them (but still choose to have sex)?
Or, you know, they'll run off to college at 17 or 18 where student health services hands them out like candy on Halloween.
Edit: for that matter, student health at my college also handed out BCP prescriptions like candy with just a visit/interview with a gyno, they didn't even require a full exam (but recommended it). Why are we making it so hard for kids who are only a couple years younger?
I am all about handing out all the information on sex, reproduction and options. I am not supportive of handing out any BC or Plan B.
Heck they are not allowed to hand out an aspirin --- but they want to hand out Plan B? Give kids the info they need as to where and how to get it -- or better yet, how not to need it.
I thought that too, but then I learned that it was OTC and now I feel more conflicted. Can they sell other OTC stuff like tylenol?
If you're under 17, Plan B is only available by prescription; over 17 it's OTC and the pharmacist asks for ID. Do you have a link that says this is changing?
I have absolutely no problem with high schools and colleges making condoms available. Teens will have sex or engage in sexual behavior, it's reality, and I would rather they engage in the safer manner possible.
While I am a huge proponent of making Plan B more available (as in forcing pharmacists to fill the order), I do have concerns with handing it out to teens at school.
I would prefer the alternative solution of schools referring the student to the health department for Plan B. My caveat to that would be if the school had a registered nurse on staff who is better certified to dispense medical advice.
In NY, you have to be 18 to buy OTC. Under 18 requires a prescription. No mention of permission, just the need for a prescription. So the school will write and fill that prescription, presumably.
Without notifying the parent, absolutely NOT!
I can not imagine having your kid come home after ingesting something you have no clue about. What if (I know rare) they had a reaction or side effects.
this would be my concern especially since i have issues with certain bc pills and I have a blood vessel malformation in my brain that is basically a pool of blood surrounded by blood vessels. the side affects on plan b are way more risky that taking a pill every day. I would not want my daughter taking anything that I didn't know about. They didn't hand out condoms in my day and I didn't even have sex until I was 22.
Protection is one thing. I hope my daughter, if she finds herself in this situation, knows that she can come to me and I will be there for her, 100%, to support her.
I dunno, BC and condoms are one thing, but not sure how I feel about this.
With parental consent, my high school and middle school were able to give pain medicine
I'm sure your kid will also inform you about the ecstasy (or other drug of choice) they ingested at that party they were at last night, too.
But yes, to ditto a PP, I would hope there is a certified school nurse dispensing such medication, not just a random secretary in the office. And the articles I read did point out that parents can opt out of the NYC program if they do not want their children to have access to it.
I guess I just don't see the point- if a 16-yr-old girl wants Plan B, and her 18-yr-old sister or friend can get it OTC at the local drug store, why not just ask someone else to get it as teens are wont to do with cigarettes or booze? If someone wants something badly enough, they'll find a way to make it happen.
I'm not a parent, however, I do not believe that school is the appropriate place at all for a teen obtain birth control. I would want to be the one in charge of whether or not I want my child exposed to that type of stuff. If I was a parent, I would be sending my child to school to learn, not to purchase condemns, BC pills, etc. I just think that there is a sense of innocence that I would want my teenager to have, even if everyone else is pulling their pants down and 'doing it'. However, I do understand that it is my responsibility as a parent to discourage my children to engage in that type of behavior, not the school's. I also understand that I can't force my personal convictions down the throat of other's students. If a 16 year old wants to get BC, it's none of my business. So as long as my child has to get my consent in order to obtain it, I would have no right to insist that my child's school not let birth control be accessible.
-KA
Parents were notified of the program and were given the option to opt out.
As a parent, I fully support this. This is a program that was put in place in schools without easy access to clinics or health services, or which had a high rate of teen pregnancies. And these programs aren't just simply handing out Plan B, they are health centers in the school that offer primary health care.
Why?
i feel that if it's easily available that someone may take it all the time as their form of birth control, not in an emergency situation.
And what if they do? Why is that a problem?
Plan B gives you horrible nausea and some other nasty side effects. It is a highly unpleasant experience. I don't think you really have to worry about women taking it regularly just so they don't have to use the regular pill.
I took it once and didn't have any symptoms except some cramping. Someone mentioned that it still has to be prescribed with those younger than 18 which I think is great and makes me feel better. I wouldn't want my daughter having such easy access to it.
I understand that, I really do. But I was date raped at 15 and took a morning after pill. If I would have had to make an appointment and ask my mother to take me to get it, there is a chance I would be a teen mom. Obviously, I should have told my mom about it so that the creep could have gone to jail (though he likely wouldn't anyways) but I had a mom who I did not feel comfortable sharing these things with.
It would absolutely kill me if something like that happened to my daughter, and it would kill me even more if she felt she had to keep it from me. The truth is though, most teens feel the same way I did, and making it readily available for them is a good thing to me.
That said, I do not think it should be used as birth control. There needs to be limitations and possibly counseling to go along with getting it, but I do not think a teenager should have to have a prescription.
yes, in the case of rape I see the importance of having it. I'm sorry you went thru that. I too hope my daughter feels comfortable to come to me if things like that were to happen. My parents just gave me a book on puberty when I was 10 and that was it....no talk, nothing. They assumed I started having sex when I was 15 with my HS boyfriend. I had no interest in that kind of stuff until I was half way thru college. I remember I was friends with a bisexual guy, we would go to clubs together and my parents assumed I had sex with him. I was cleaning out my car one day and my dad came up to me with a newspaper that had an article about AIDS and let me know that I could get that from a bisexual. It was really akward. When I finally did loose my virginity they were shocked I waited so long.
I was clutching my pearls about this until I started reading about the school district involved. The nurses seem to have a lot more authority to give out medications.
That being said, I would hope that my kids would feel comfortable enough to come to me about this, but if they aren't I would be glad they would have somewhere safe to go and ask questions instead of just asking their friends and going to a regular pharmacy and picking up Plan B OTC.