Teen pregnancy debate deserves open ears

Why does an 11-year-old girl need contraceptives? Why are 9-year-old girls encouraged to get HPV vaccines? Why are condoms passed out by pocketfuls to “tweens?”

“It’s scary to think your children are doing things that you don’t know about, but they are doing things that you don’t know about,” said Brenda Rhodes Miller, executive director of the D.C. Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.

Mrs. Miller’s cautionary comments come as concerned parents, public officials and pundits raise a ruckus about one Maine school district’s bold decision to provide contraceptive pills and patches to students seeking health care services from the clinic at King Middle School in Portland without parental notification.

Although students must provide written parental consent to use the wide range of clinic services, students do not have to disclose what services they actually receive under state confidentiality laws. Note that the clinics started passing out condoms in 2000.

“Clearly, they are too young to be engaged in sexual intercourse, but the reality is that they are sexually active,” Douglas S. Gardner, the director of Portland’s Health and Human Services Department said of the proposal, which was six months in the making. “It is our responsibility to offer a full range of primary care services to students. Fortunately, it’s a small number.”

Proponents argue that children, in this sex-crazed culture, are going to engage in risky sexual behavior anyway, so why not provide them with the tools to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases? Opponents argue that providing these preventive health measures encourages and condones unhealthy and amoral behavior.

We must calm down, listen and find the middle ground in order to approach these complex social issues from a different angle, especially when vulnerable children are involved. Preventing teen pregnancy, for example, should be tackled in the context of a public health issue as much as a crisis of cultural values.

Parents are the critical component to the solutions.

“I have a lot of faith in parents, and I believe all parents want what’s best for their children, and they ought to be able to be able to be included in the school community [decisions] or at least be part of the ongoing dialogue,” Mrs. Miller said.

Indeed, public officials must tread lightly and not to overstep their bounds by presenting even the slightest perception that they are attempting to usurp a parent’s right to make decisions for their children.

However, many are lacking proper parenting skills. Planting the seed or giving birth does not make one a committed or responsible parent. Far too many mothers and fathers are children themselves, physically as well as emotionally. Granted, they often abdicate their parental rights through neglect, abuse or ignorance and expect someone more mature to take up the slack.

One supporter, Sarah Thompson, the mother of an eighth-grader in Portland, said, “I’ve done my job as a parent, [but there] may be a time when she doesn’t feel comfortable coming to me …[and] not all of these kids have a strong parental advocate at home.” Nor do all parents have the ability to understand the various consent and permission forms sent home from school.

So, it becomes incumbent upon public officials to provide compelling data and evidence that supports their proposals and decisions to provide confidential health services to children without parental notification.

Statistics indicated that a handful of their sixth- to eighth-grade students admitted to being sexually active in the 2006-07 school year, before the Portland School Committee approved the plan presented by city health officials.

Nothing is stopping school officials from making sure that parents, as well as students, get extensive counseling opportunities so the adults can give informed consent. Parents need to be made aware of exactly what rights they are rescinding and explained the total range of services that will be available to their children without their consent.

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