Babies or Baby Control
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Babies or Baby Control
Administering birth control in grade school has by far been one of the most controversial topics at hand. Some may say its rather radical to put this responsibility in the hands of school officials, while others would argue that it doesnt matter whos taking on the responsibility but that the students will benefit from decisions thereof. Due to the alarming statistics, birth control should be administered by Valdosta City schools, to help decrease the incidence of teen pregnancy and STDs. When it comes to the youth all precautions are necessary and proper to maintain the innocence within.
There has been a proposal by the Valdosta City schools to provide free birth control, pills or condoms, to any middle or high school student who requests them, to help decrease the incidence of teen pregnancy and STDs. Under this policy, pills and condoms will be administered by school health officials, counseling and follow up visits will be required of those indulging, students receiving items must be post puberty, and parents will not be notified if the students request privacy. The proposal has gotten much support but also a lot of refute. Before now, birth control contraceptives have been given out by health clinics, along with some high schools with the permission of parents; never had there been discussions about providing these same contraceptives to middle school students. It was almost unrealistic and a shock to the media to consider middle school students in this case.
To start with, statistics today show that every 1 in 8 teenagers have sex before reaching high school, and every 1 in 4 teen girls experience pregnancy before turning nineteen. These statistics are not only true, but they are happening every day. Because so, society has begun to accept the sexual activity going on between the youth, and lean more towards how to prevent the after effects of sex which in most cases is, teenage pregnancy and STDs. Therefore when we think of how to go about administering these contraceptives we think about ways they will benefit and ways that parents can be at ease.
Hence, contraceptives should be given out in places of influence. Children spend most of their time in a school setting. In a normal school week, middle and high school students spend anywhere between thirty and forty-five hours in school, allowing that environment to have a major impact on students and their activities. When it comes to the social aspects of a student, its based upon their interaction with other students. These interactions shape the way they think, and plays a major role in helping them decide what activities to engage in. Over time students encounter new people and experience new things, one being sex or sexual habits. Naturally students will become curious and want to know more. This curiosity makes them rely on the people closes to them who may be experiencing the same things. Ignorant of who to go to and what to really be curious about students begin to interact with each other and find answers, or mockings to the many questions they may have. Seeing this as the beginning stages of sexual activity, the decision to provide contraceptives in areas as such doesnt seem so radical after all.
Moving forward, after school officials and society began to realize this happening in the youth, programs such as sexual education have been integrated in the middle school core curriculum as a standard with the objective that students will learn and determine how to say no to sex. Sex Education refers to the instruction of issues relating to the human sexuality, i.e. body parts, male versus female comparisons, and reproduction. Although this is whats meant by Sex Education School systems lean more towards focusing on the emotional relations and responsibilities of sex, such as abstinence and contraception; practically saying to the youth that abstinence