According to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll, Sixty-seven percent of people polled support giving contraceptives to students and nearly that many (62%) believe that doing so will reduce the number of teen pregnancies. While, most who support schools distributing contraceptives do prefer that they only go to children whose parents have consented permission to do so, people are closely divided over whether sex education and birth control are more effective than stressing morality and abstinence, and, of course, whether or not giving contraceptives to teenagers encourages them to engage in sexual activity.
Not surprisingly, while men and women have similar views about whether to provide contraceptives to students, men are more likely than women to think it will encourage sexual intercourse — 43% to 55%. Perhaps men themselves consider just having a form of birth control like a green light in their minds, while women consider birth control as a precaution like the Boy Scout motto “Always be prepared.”
Teenage pregnancy rates have declined to about 75 per 1,000 teens, down from a 1990 peak of 117 pregnancies, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research center. Still, it’s important to note that nearly half of teens aged 15 to 19 report having had sex at least once, and almost 750,000 of them a year become pregnant.
Less than 2% of U.S. public schools with adolescent students have health centers staffed by a doctor or nurse practitioner who can write prescriptions. About one in four of those provide condoms, other contraceptives, prescriptions or referrals. Less than 1% of middle schools and nearly 5% of high schools make condoms available for students.
The AP poll was conducted in October after the school board in Portland, Maine voted to let King Middle School health center provide students with full contraceptive services; the school’s students are sixth- through eighth-graders and by law do not have to tell their parents about services they receive. Portland school officials plan to consider a proposal November 7th that would let parents forbid their children from receiving prescription contraceptives like birth control pills from the school health center.
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