Birth control for middle schoolers? One in 8 is sexually active.

[pnwmom]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/abigail-jones-and-marissa-miley/on-providing-birth-contro_b_69055.html

"Congratulations, Portland, Maine, for voting to provide birth control and counseling about sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) to middle schoolers. You are no longer a victim of the generational chasm between adults and teenagers. You've admitted what so many deny: teens are sexually active, and we need to help them stay safe and make smart choices.

"No matter how innocent we want middle schoolers to be, the truth is that girls and boys aged 11, 12, 13, and 14 years are hooking up, performing oral sex, and having intercourse. Not all of them are, but some of them, and if one student isn't, his or her friends or classmates certainly are. To anyone who disagrees, here's a reality check:

"One in eight youth are sexually experienced, having engaged in intercourse, oral sex or both before the age of 14," the Journal of Adolescent Health reported in 2006. According to the Project Connect study, supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

* "9 percent reported ever having sexual intercourse...and 8 percent ever had oral sex (active or receptive)."
* "Of those who reported intercourse, 36 percent were age 11 or younger at first sex, 27 percent were 12, 28 percent were 13, and 9 percent were 14 or older."
* "Alarmingly, 43 percent of sexually experienced participants reported multiple sex partners."

SNIP

[gatorboy]

1. So how does one make sure these kids take the pills properly?

My 11 year old can't even remember to close the door!

[pnwmom]

23. I hope the medical personnel who prescribe them

are taking the individual girl's maturity into account.

[Deja Q]

2. Remember the days when adult women complained 'the pill' may have unwanted effects?

SO HOW THE FUCK IS GIVING YOUNG CHILDREN THE PILL GOING TO DO A DAMN BIT OF GOOD?

It is the parents' concern. They have every right to know. The pill, for children is wrong. Condoms don't always help. Some diseases hang out in other than the obvious places and can still be spread. Not to mention effects, years down the road.

I'm sorry, but the level of ignorance on this issue is well beyond mind-boggling.

Here's a reality check: Children are not 18 and therefore do not have the same rights as the rest of us; those who are supposed to be old enough to decide what's right and wrong.

What's going on is wrong.

Let's concentrate on "smart choices". One of which is making sex special again and not subsidized.

[Warren Stupidity]

5. much better they get pregnant or get an STD, huh?

"SO HOW THE FUCK IS GIVING YOUNG CHILDREN THE PILL GOING TO DO A DAMN BIT OF GOOD?"

The irony of your expletive is obviously lost on you.

[Carolina]

94. exactly

children having children, the sexualization of our society by marketers who use sex to sell ANYTHING and EVERYTHING has had disastrous results. Parents are not or cannot do the job alone. Even if you talk to your kids (and believe me, I did) early and often, when the urges, hormones, attractions and opportunities converge as they do for tweens especially in those hours between when kids get out school and parents get home from work... the results are unwanted pregnancies, babies who repeat the cycle and more.

The pill obviously does not protect against STDs, but it does impact the birth of babies being born to babies and all the dysfunction and adverse ramifications associated with that. And that's huge!

The STD issue is tougher. I used to show my son the gory pictures of lesions in medical textbooks ad infinitum and stress the use of condoms.

This nation can no longer stick its head in the sand about sex and kids and the long term societal impact. Abstinence only is crap. Face reality and use the tools of early education, counseling and access to birth control (pills, barrier methods, etc.) to protect kids from themselves and adults who have dropped the ball, thinking: not my kid or it won't happen to mine...

[monktonman]

11. When I was thirteen I was waaaay concerned about rights.

Are you kidding me?
all I wanted to do was bust a nut on the girl who sat in front of me in class.
Good thing her mom was smart enough to realize she was sexually active
and took her to the doctor to get the pill.
Trust me, there was nothing that anyone was gonna tell me, that was gonna make me stop
when she took her pants off.
You could have put a gun to my head and I still would have done it.

Talk about ignorance on the issue.
sheesh.

[Ilsa]

13. Fortunately, they usually are not over 35 and smoking so the risk for

stroke is low. "The pill" isn't the same pill as your momma took.

I have issues with this as well, but If I had to choose, I'd rather my kids have enough information from me and the health department to see that sex at this age is a loser proposition. But I'd settle for the protection, too.

BTW, I spent several hours this week helping out the grandmother of an eighteen year old with newborn twins, born prematurely at 34 weeks. The girl hadn't bothered getting on WIC, hadn't spent any time planning or learning how she was going to take care of these babies. The father is just as young and is under some sort of juvenile house arrest, so he can't help.

[pnwmom]

24. A number of girls this age are given the pill to help their skin

and/or to regulate their periods. The risk really is very low for young non-smokers.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

16. Because pregnancy has unwanted effects.

"Let's concentrate on "smart choices". One of which is making sex special again and not subsidized."

You mean let's teach abstinence, and it'll all go away, right?

[gollygee]

19. It makes them have a much smaller chance of getting pregnant

and pregnancy is harder on 11-year-olds than The Pill.

[pnwmom]

25. Much harder physically, and emotionally. n/t

[pnwmom]

22. What you consider ignorance, others might consider disagreement.

Reality check: children can get abortions without their parent's permission. Shouldn't a girl be able to obtain the most effective method to avoid pregnancy also?

Another reality check: not all teens feel safe in talking to their parents about these issues -- and so they end up with diseases or pregnant.

Another reality check: abstinance programs don't work. Period.

[mondo joe]

26. Then the parents should't okay use of the school based health center. NT

[pnwmom]

47. Right. I don't understand all this controversy when the parents

have to give permission for the teens to go there in the first place.

[adigal]

62. So I guess if an 11 year old decides to have sex

it is OK in your book for her to get pregnant or get an STD?

[Puglover]

86. Again, your post is FULL

of unintentional irony.

"I'm sorry, but the level of ignorance on this issue is well beyond mind-boggling."

[La Lioness Priyanka]

115. you know whats funny about this? if the kid contracted a disease, you would blame the kid for it

just like you blamed my friend for contracting hiv.

here's a reality check: kids dont buy into the abstinence only program

on edit: i use the word funny in sarcasm. pregnant kids and kids with std's are in no way funny.

[joshcryer]

3. WHERE WERE THESE SCHOOLS WHEN I WAS GROWING UP?!?!?

>:)

Just kidding.

[awoke_in_2003]

118. Yeah, no shit.

Kids are maturing physically much quicker, must be all the hormones in our meat and milk. I was driving down the road and saw a great looking, well endowed woman, walking down the street. Then I saw a bookbag and realized I was just down the street from the middle school and it had just let out. They didn't look that way when I went to middle school.

[Justitia]

4. I once knew a 13-yr old, pregnant w/her 2nd child - that was 24 YEARS AGO.

Anyone who thinks this simply doesn't go on, either has their head in the sand or has led a very charmed life.

BTW, the 2nd pregnancy resulted because she understood so little of her own biology (even after having already given birth), and no one ever went over birth control with her - again, even after having already given birth.

Very, very sad.

[pnwmom]

27. My husband says there were 4 pregnant girls in his eighth grade class.

You're right -- this isn't all that new, probably.

[Felinity]

6. This is very sad, and very problematic

Is anyone asking Why? I believe it has a lot to do with the increasingly early onset of menses in females, and it is directly related to the hormone-fed beef in our food supply, and it's time this is questioned.

I personally shifted to non-hormone fed meats years ago, and it made a real difference in mood stability.

It is a shame that childhood is being shortened in our children. And frankly, I am concerned about allowing children this young to have children; does anyone have any information about the medical consequences? If memory serves me, they are quite negative; not to mention the psychological/developmental effects.

[rodeodance]

'boys' are also becoming physically mature at an earlier age. Overall

nutritional status of Western cultures -over several generations has been one factor.

[joe_sixpack]

8. Physically perhaps,

but mentally, I don't think so.

[rodeodance]

7. 'boys' are also becoming physically mature at an earlier age. Overall

nutritional status of Western cultures -over several generations has been one factor.

[Warren Stupidity]

12. I had intercourse at 13 in '65.

I still know the girl, she's a great woman, neither of us had horrible consequences as a result of our sexual adventures.

Kids ripen at different ages, but when that equipment starts working, some number of them are likely to have sex. You can stick your head in the sand, you can rail forth from your pulpit with all sorts of commands and admonitions, but these budding young adults are going to put their nasty bits to use regardless. Perhaps making sure they have a clue what they are doing, giving them access to birth control and condoms, and not being so hypocritically judgmental about a perfectly natural event would be a better approach.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

14. Yeah, that's just a goofy myth.

hormone fed beef isn't causing earlier menarch because menarch isn't getting any earlier.

[pnwmom]

28. There ARE medical consequences to very early pregnancy.

Which is why people who work with teens and pre-teens are trying to reduce the incidence -- and school health clinics are part of this.

[XOKCowboy]

9. It was called Junior High back in the early 70s when I grew up...

This was in rural Oklahoma and the students were boiling over with hormones even back then. Our only guidelines about sex were from "dirty magazines" and what your friends told ya (which was usually a lie or at least over-embellished). Condoms? Sex Education? The work of the devil. So naturally there were lots of young women who had children while in High School. One of my friends got pregnant the first time she had sex. With her 16 yr old boyfriend who was "the love of her life". 6 months after High School she was a single mother. Oh and her church pretty much ignored and shunned her since she'd "sinned".

Don't tell me that anything has changed except that kids mature much younger nowadays. I can't believe that in this day and time we're having this discussion. Boy our Puritan ancestors must be proud.

[pnwmom]

30. Ironically, the bible belt has some of the highest rates

of teenage pregnancy and divorce. You'd think they'd finally see that their approach -- abstinance until early marriage -- doesn't work very well.

[JitterbugPerfume]

10. If these kids are having sex

they need the pill!

[cali]

15. What's wrong with condoms?

You realize the pill doesn't protect against STDs right? And 11-14 year olds hardly have the maturity to adhere to taking the pill everyday. In addition, there are real health risks. Condoms are a better idea.

[pnwmom]

32. Nothing. It's not an either or situation. The best way to reduce

the risk of pregnancy and STD's is to use condoms along with another form of contraception -- often the pill, which has a much lower contraceptive failure rate than the condom alone.

[JitterbugPerfume]

100. condoms, pills---

whatever it takes to prevent teen pregnancy and the devastating results.

[madeline_con]

18. They also need condoms and sex education. n/t

[pnwmom]

33. The clinic mentioned does offer sex education, counselling, condoms,

physical exams, immunizations, etc. It's not just about birth control pills.

[David Zephyr]

21. Thank you for the needed sanity.

Young girls bearing babies is far worse than middle-schoolers having sex. Neither is desirable, but one certainly has far greater consequences than the other. The boys walk and the girl's life is forever marginalized.

Your response is the sane one, the compassionate one, the civilized one: "If these kids are having sex they need the pill!"

What really gets under my skin is to say that, you are immediatley accused of advocating sex between them which is a most low argument.

Moreover, they need to use condoms, too so that they do not contract diseases that will kill them.

Educate yes. Teach abstinence? I agree on that, too. But also teach protection...if we care about their young and promising lives.

JitterbugPerfume, you rock.

[pnwmom]

34. Right! Condoms PLUS the pill, or another highly effective contraceptive,

is the best way to go.

[Neurotica]

36. Unbelievably, some parents in our area think we're giving TOO MUCH info

And we have a very spare curriculum. We talk about contraception, but not until the 8th grade, and in my opinion, it's presented more in terms of failure rates.

Last week a parent group affiliated with our school system had a panel discussion on our sex ed program. When it was time for questions, parent representatives and members of the public overwhemingly commented that we are giving too much information too soon.

I couldn't believe it.

I asked if anyone on the panel could address statistics regarding middle school students and sexual activity and everyone passed on the question. Not surprising, since the discussion was starting to get heated. These people are all sticking their heads in the sand and thinking that they will keep their kids "innocent" if they don't tell them anything.

Very concerning developments.

Last year we had an "abstinence-only comedian" named Keith Deltano appear in 3 of our high schools. That's a whole other story, but when I raised concerns about his mandatory assembly to the school board, one member wondered if we were trying to promote promiscuity...

The goal should be to encourage abstinence, but to also give the kids accurate, complete information so they can make good decisions and stay safe and healthy.

[pnwmom]

38. I bet you've seen the data that the abstinence only programs

actually are connected with higher rates of teenage pregnancy. And they tend to be concentrated in the bible belt areas that also promote early marriage and end up with some of the highest divorce rates in the country.

So much for family values.

[Neurotica]

41. I have -- scarily enough, we're in the DC metro area

Our school system describes our sex ed program as "abstinence-based."

It could be worse, but it needs to be a whole lot better.

Our question last year was whether or not this abstinence-only comedian's assembly was curricular or extra-curricular. We never got a straight answer on that one, but that particular question leads to a whole host of other questions (e.g., is this a change in curriculum), all of which deserve answers. We pointed out in great detail the problems of abstinence only programs, and even put on a forum that featured a nationwide expert. We were trying to educate the community about what works and what doesn't.

If you haven't heard of Keith Deltano and have a spare moment, you might want to google him. The highlight of his school programs is when he holds a cinderblock over a male student volunteer's genitals in an effort to illustrate the risks of condoms. Really. I saw this in person -- twice -- and was appalled.

[pnwmom]

44. These people sound insane.

Holding a cinderblock over a kid's crotch is supposed to be funny?????

What a dedicated parent, to sit through not one but two of those idiotic programs. Your student is lucky that he or she has a smart parent who is involved.

[Neurotica]

53. I forgot to mention that the male student is strapped to a table

while all this is going on!!! YouTube had a video for a while and Keith Olbermann talked about it too.

My children think I am obsessed. All I did last year is talk about sex!:-)

It's very hard to speak out on this subject because it is so sensitive and because abstinence-only proponents are quick to assign all kinds of nefarious motives to you. However, it is more important to stand up for our children and ensure that they get the right tools to protect themselves.

[pnwmom]

68. Isn't it ironic that as soon as your kids are old enough not to embarrass you

frequently,

then you suddenly start to embarrass them? All the time.

Oh well. :shrug:

[JitterbugPerfume]

103. abstinance only does NOT work

I had the scariest , most fundy dad in the world , and went to church twice on Sunday and every Wednesday night(and this was in the late 40s and 50s)

but by age 14 I was no longer a virgin. Sex is a very strong urge, and not to be denied.

saying "no" does not work always

[JitterbugPerfume]

101. thank you David

:hug: :loveya:

[kitty1]

84. optimal word " KIDS"

[JerseygirlCT]

91. Not necessarily

There are some very real medical implications of hormones. They also require careful dosing. Many adults find it difficult; do you really think children would do better?

They're better off, medically, with a lot of information and readily available barrier contraception.

[Didereaux]

17. edited ...wrong thread sorry n/t

[joe_sixpack]

20. "Here honey"

"I made some chocolate cookies for you, and here's the medicine you know you have to take." "But Mommy, I want to watch 'Sponge Bob', and I don't want the medicine,it tastes yucky." "Don't argue sweety, you have to take it, remember when we talked about where babies come from?" "Uh, I think so, from my tummy, right?" No honey, try to remember. " Mommy, I forgot, and Dora's almost over." "Well just remember what I told you to do if little johnny wants to express his love and affection for you in a grown up way, make sure he's using some kind of protection, and at least have him buy dinner or at least a snack for you first." Ohh, mommy, that's gross!"

[pnwmom]

35. Umm. . . have you talked to a middle schooler lately?

Just wondering.

:shrug:

[Horse with no Name]

64. No shit.

Someone better pull him up for air.

[uppityperson]

113. WTF is this post about? Is this how you see middleschoolers?

Is this how you talk to them? (psst, OC's don't taste yucky.) You seem to have a view of/feeling toward middle school girls that I find not very nice.

[Quantess]

125. The 8th grade girl in me would like to tell you to fuck off, please.

Not sure what kind of short-bus 8th grader you might have been. I wasn't anything like that!
Do you even remember 8th grade, or are you just remembering your juvenile opinion of girls? Sheesh, no wonder girls didn't like you in junior high.

[BoneDaddy]

29. Education cool

providing mass birth control...perhaps a bit premature....The area in question suffers from alot more that pre teens having sex. Poor, disenfranchised, communities need more than some feel good liberal panacea.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

31. Mass birth control?

Did you hear this story and think they're giving birth control to all the kids?

[BoneDaddy]

55. Not competely sure but

this line "Providing birth control to sexually active middle schoolers is a crucial step" infers that any sexually active child is given birth control...Don't get me wrong hooligan, I think this is an over all good thing...but I think that given the background of this community I think they may need more importent interventions than just providing birth control...Don't blow this up or exaggerate as you seem to do with me, but anytime you give young people the power to make decisions, you need to balance that with teaching them the responsibility to how to make those decisions...

[pnwmom]

37. I doubt that they see it as a panacea to all the city's problems.

Just a logical answer to the problem that they've had 17 pregnancies (not counting miscarriages, abortions) in their middle schools in the last few years.

[BoneDaddy]

71. No doubt

but birth control needs to be balanced with responsibility. I am a full supporter of birth control and sex ed but it needs to be more than the dispensation of condoms or the pill. there MUST be a educational/psychological responsibility that goes with it.

[pnwmom]

74. As I understand what I've read about those schools,

the clinics do engage in that kind of teaching. They're not just passing out pills, unless you believe Bill O.

[BoneDaddy]

109. That is good then

no argument here.

[TSIAS]

39. Bill O talked for 2 hrs about this

I had the misfortune of taking a long drive. Every time I accidently turned to Bill O's Show, he was bitching about this.

At the same time Republicans were voting against children's insurance, he couldn't quit complaining about the SP's (Secular Progressives) and their abhorrent values.

[adigal]

65. Hannity was squawking about this too

A woman called and said that she is teaching her daughters to not have sex until much more mature, but if they choose to do it, she wants them protected. Hannity is such an a-hole - he said that his kids are never unsupervised, for even a minute, so they could never, never, never sneak away to have sex. Only bad parents don't supervise their kids every second.

Hey - stuff happens even when the parents are home. How stupid of him.

[XemaSab]

108. That's conservative morality in a nutshell...

Instead of teaching kids to make the right choices even when the parents aren't around, they think just never leaving them alone is enough.

[awoke_in_2003]

120. Hannity is an idiot

I have two stepdaughters, both grown. These kids do sneak out, had it happen to me. Only way it wouldn't have happened is if I had handcuffed them to their beds- of course, this asshat would probably condone that.

[Quantess]

124. Someone should write to O'Reilly suggesting that sex ed include...

...instructions on how to use falafels and loofahs.
:evilgrin:

[Maine-ah]

40. I'm all for it.

I knew active kids in jr. high. My best friend was on the pill. Hell, I was making out with my now husband...:evilgrin: I knew then how to protect myself if I was going to have sex. I think they should have every option available. Pills should be OTC anyway.

Interested in more Maine folks thoughts on this, go to the Maine forum.

[1000evorlrak]

42. The birth control a middle-schooler needs...

is called parents. Parents shoould know where Little Johnny and Little Suzy is it all times, including who they are doing what with. They should know their kids friends and where possible their friends parents, to make sure their kid is not hanging with the wrong crowd.

It isn't being a busy body. It is being a parent.

Little Suzy needs to know the consequences to her, in stark and no uncertain terms. Little Johnny needs the same.

[Neurotica]

43. Unfortunately, not every child has involved parents

And even if certain children do have involved parents, sometimes those parents don't feel comfortable talking about puberty, relationships, and sex with their children.

When I talked to some of our sex ed teachers earlier this year, they told me about some middle school girls who had to leave the room because they were feeling sick and thought they would faint. The topic -- menstruation. No one had ever told them about it and they had no idea what was going to happen to their bodies in the near future.

[pnwmom]

46. The city behind this controversy had 17 pregnant middle schoolers

in a few years -- not counting abortions, miscarriages, or any pregnancies not reported to the nurse.

It's nice to say that parents are in charge and teens should be talking to them -- but it obviously doesn't work for all families.

[1000evorlrak]

48. I agree...

you have to be straight up with kids, preferably shortly before they start hitting puberty.

Studies show that kids with involved parents, even just a little are at lower risk factors for all sorts of behavior. Parents are of absolute importance.

[pnwmom]

45. Little Suzy is wearing a C-cup and Little Johnny is 6 feet tall.

And few working parents can be on top of their "little" sweeties' movements every minute of the day.

I suppose there are always microchips and videocams . . .

[1000evorlrak]

49. No, but

knowing mom and dad are watching and would not approve is enough to put many kids that age off. You can't be there all the time, but if the kid knows he's in deep deep trouble if his clothes start smelling like smoke, he is less likely to risk it.

[pnwmom]

69. Welcome to DU! n/t

[Raine]

50. That's sad

to take on adulthood so early. I'm glad that it wasn't that way when I was growing up. I had a prolonged childhood and I'm happy I did, adult responsibilities came too soon as it was.

[jmm]

51. Offering options to those who need them isn't going to

stop allowing parents to be parents. This will not affect the number of sexually active kids, it will only make them safer. My high school had a 20% pregnancy rate. I went to two junior highs and each of them had students with kids, STD's, and multiple partners. If I had kids I'd like to think they could come to me about this type of issue but if they couldn't I'd rather them lower their risk factors than to grandstand about my rights and put them at higher risk.

[joe_sixpack]

52. Just a question for those with 11- 12 year old daughters,

If your 11 or 12 year old daughters were sexually active, but on the pill, would you all rest easy and be comfortable with that?

[Maine-ah]

56. my daughter is not yet 11/12 years of age

I would obviously not be happy about my child being sexually active that young, and I will do my damnedest to teach her not too, but at least I could rest easier knowing she was taking some action to protect herself. You can't be with them 100% of the time and that's all there is to it.

[pnwmom]

73. I would be more comfortable if she were on the pill and using condoms, too.

And I hope that's what they're teaching them at the clinic.

I don't have a daughter that age, all my kids are older. Of course I'm glad that none of them were sexually active at that age -- but if they were, I'd have wanted them to be as safe as possible. Just as I would now.

And you never rest "all easy and comfortable" with your children, I don't think -- my mother, who is pushing 80, still worries about all her "kids."

[NOLALady]

83. As a parent, I never rest easy.

But, if my daughter was sexually active at 11 or 12, I would feel better if she was on the pill. The mere thought of a pregnancy for a child that age is devastating.

[mondo joe]

99. I wouldn't be. But I franky don't think my daughters are in the target population of the

school based centers.

[uppityperson]

114. I've never rested easy since having a child almost 20 yrs ago.

No matter what they were doing with whom. I'd rather they use OC and condoms if they were going to be sexually active, but regardless of their sexual activity, I've never rested easy.

[pnwmom]

70. There were four pregnant girls in my husband's 8th grade -- so this kind of

thing has been going on for a long time.

[MissB]

54. Our middle school has a sex ed week.

All week, the kids get to submit anonymous questions to a box in each room. The teachers screen the questions, but do try to answer as many as they can without overstepping the line.

On the last day, the kids divide into boys and girls and the male teachers answer questions from the boys and the female teachers answer questions from the girls. Then the male teachers take the boys bowling and the female teachers take the girls bowling. They call the event "sex and bowling".

[Neurotica]

57. What's "overstepping the line"?

Is this defined in some way?

Is there a curriculum that the teachers have to stick to when giving answers?

[MissB]

58. It is admittedly nebulous.

They won't, for example, answer questions about how to end up in the middle of a threesome.

No, there isn't a curriculum that they have to stick to. It is a small school in a small district. Mostly progressive parents.

[Neurotica]

60. Your students are lucky

Our teachers cannot in any way discuss masturbation, abortion or homosexuality.

If a student asks a question about any of these topics, the teacher has to tell the student to talk to his or her parents.

It's an especially sad situation for GLBT students and for students whose parents are gay -- the former don't exist and the latter don't have a "family" as defined by our curriculum.

[pnwmom]

75. Are you sure it's not sex and blowing?

Sorry, couldn't help myself.

But seriously, I wonder what they think is over the line, and how they respond to questions about gay sexuality.

[Qanisqineq]

59. How much research has been done on effects of the pill on girls that young?

As someone whose hormones became thoroughly fucked up by a variety of other pills I've taken and things I've been exposed to in the environment and chemical/hormone laden food, I worry about this.

Just curious.

[pnwmom]

76. I don't know, but they've been using the pill to regulate girls periods

for several decades.

And the pills these days are very low dose compared to the ones when I was a teen.

[adigal]

61. My niece was on a school bus in 8th grade, and they were

going on a trip. It came out the next day that there was oral sex openly going on with a number of the students. They were doing it right in the open. About 8 couples. This was not in some low class, poor school district, as many people would like to insinuate, so that we can believe this wouldn't happen to our kids. This happened in a very wealthy district, a top performing school, near Princeton, NJ. Kids with every advantage and very educated parents. Scary.

[pnwmom]

77. It sounds like your niece didn't actually see anything though.

Are you sure that this wasn't some crazy rumor? I could believe it happened, but I also know that sometimes stories get wildly exaggerated.

[adigal]

88. No, the kids were all suspended from school

and her parents were horrified when they got the letter home. My niece explained to them, in great detail, what had gone on, and why oral sex was not really a big deal. (OY!!)

[barb162]

78. That makes me wonder what is going on now with the kids.

Can you imagine that happening a hundred years ago, fifty years ago, twenty years ago? No. Why now?

[pnwmom]

81. Sad to say, but I think it started with all the wall-to-wall publicity about

Monica Lewinsky.

Just my theory, nothing to base it on.

[barb162]

111. You could be right.

I literally don't get this behavior by what I call "kids."

[uppityperson]

116. 'tis always interesting to look back in family trees, see what is there

I have a bigamist ("proper" story is he deserted, emigrated/immigrated, remarried, etc). Friend's grandparent's "aunt" was really her sister. Another friend's greatgram had no pictures, was French Canadian, finally figured out French part was freed slave from Louisiana, moved to Canada.

People have been sexually active forever, some as soon as they could, some later.

[Maine-ah]

85. no of course not.

we made sure they were married before they started having sex.

[barb162]

112. Yeah, except they were about 15 and 16, not eleven or twelve n/t

[piesRsquare]

63. This is disgusting!

"Of those who reported intercourse, 36 percent were age 11 or younger at first sex, 27 percent were 12, 28 percent were 13, and 9 percent were 14 or older."

Eleven years old or younger at first sex! ELEVEN YEARS OLD!

I want to make sure something is clear to everyone here. THIS is what eleven years old is:



AND THIS:



AND THIS:



*******************

What the hell is going on?! I wasn't even THINKING about sex when I was eleven years old, let alone younger! I got my period when I was 12, and my FIRST KISS when I was fourteen!

I had a personal standard for myself...and, interestingly enough, when I overheard other girls having conversations, their standards were the same: Age 15 was the earliest I would lose my virginity (and I did at age 15, with a guy who had lost his at age 13).

Something is VERY VERY WRONG in society, when 36% off a surveyed population had sex at ELEVEN YEARS OLD OR YOUNGER!!!

Sorry for the yelling, but this is really disturbing to me!

As for the topic at hand, if they're having sex, give them the birth control...but something has GOT to be done in terms of encouraging kids to WAIT! And when I say wait, I mean at least wait until you're older than ELEVEN OR TWELVE YEARS OLD!

Are we talking to kids at all about masturbation? If not, why not?!

[KittyWampus]

66. I also find it disturbing. And discussions about masturbation would be valuable for kids

who are beginning to wake.

But part of the dynamic here is society at large.

Sex is used to sell and now that is reaching to younger kids.

Children are sexualized in the USA by corporate America.

And a good many DU'ers are willing to look the other way when it comes to the inappropriate behavior and what it says about our society.

To suggets its normal for that many kids is just sad.

[piesRsquare]

72. True, very true!

I didn't want to say it earlier, but media play a role in this...

[pnwmom]

82. I agree with you that advertising and TV have a lot to do with it.

And that teens are not benefiting from this.

But once teens or even pre-teens HAVE become sexually active, it's past time to make sure they have information about and access to good contraception. This town had had 17 pregnancies among its middle schoolers in a few years. I don't blame them for taking measures to deal with the problem.

[pnwmom]

79. Keep in mind that the population here consists entirely

of teens who had sex prior to the age of 15. So among the early starters, apparently they are most likely to start very early.

Yeah, intuitively it isn't what you would expect, is it? I would have expected that a steadily increasing number of kids start having sex every year, beginning with the onset of puberty. But maybe there's a clump of kids starting at the beginning of middle school, then another group at the beginning of high school, then probably another group in college.

[Breeze54]

97. Let me guess, do all those kids live in the suburbs?

:shrug:

They seem to have only "one type of bread" in those pics....

School district: Sixth graders had sex in class
http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=6180780

April 9, 2007 05:17 PM

Indianapolis -

For months it's been a well-kept secret. But now Warren Township Schools confirm a disturbing case of sex in the classroom. The illicit activity has parents concerned and a district at a loss for words.

Shop class gives students a chance to learn outside of the book. But at Warren Township's Raymond Park Middle School, two students engaged in illicit acts in view of goggled eyes.

13 Investigates was tipped off by a disturbed resident who writes:

"...during school hours in a classroom with an experienced teacher present, two sixth graders completed the act of intercourse...at least ten students were witnesses. No disciplinary actions were taken against the teacher... All teachers were told to keep quiet."


-----------------

Fifth Grade Students Arrested for Having Sex in Classroom

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/206091/fifth_grade_students_arrested_for_having.html

Published Apr 06, 2007

LOUISIANA -

Last month, it was reported in this story that two sixth grade students in Indiana had been accused of having sex in their shop class, while the teacher was present, and that the school district covered up this occurrence, not admitting the event had taken place until months later, when a television news station broke the story, thanks to a letter that tipped them off.

This month, in a small city in Louisiana, FoxNews reported this morning that a similar event occurred at the Spearsville school. Unlike the incident in Indiana, the students involved were arrested Tuesday morning. Their names have been withheld due to their ages, and the students have been released to their parents pending court.

The students arrested were: one 13-year old boy, one 12-year old boy, and two 11-year old girls; each charged with obscenity, which is a felony. Also charged was one 11 year old boy who allegedly acted as a lookout for the other students. He is being charged with accessory to a felony, also a felony charge.

Children in the middle schools are engaging in sexual activity.

--------------------------

http://www.talkingwithkids.org/twk-press-release-030199.html">Kids Ready to Talk About Today's Tough Issues Before Their Parents Are: Sex, AIDS, Violence, Drugs, and Alcohol

The "big talk" is bigger than ever with kids wanting to know much more from their parents than just the "birds-and-the-bees." A new survey of parents and kids ages 10-15 conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Children Now, as part of a national initiative called Talking With Kids About Tough Issues, finds that many families are still waiting too long and not talking enough when it comes to what their kids say they need to know.

What may surprise many parents is that the issues they are not talking about—as well as even some they feel they have already talked about—are what their kids want to know more about.

High on a list of topics 10-12 year olds say they personally want more information about are:

How to protect against HIV/AIDS (50% of kids want more information);

What to do if someone brings a gun to school (50% of kids want more information);

How to handle pressure to have sex (44% of kids want more information);

How to know when you are ready to have sex (43% of kids want more information); and

How alcohol and drugs might affect decisions to have sex (43% of kids want more information).


"The Big Talk(s)" About Today's Tough Issues

When parents sit down today with their children to have the "big talk" the subject matter usually covers topics their own parents never imagined. (And, for that matter, it shouldn't just be a single conversation, say experts). At least three out of four parents of 10-12 year olds say they have talked with their pre-teen about drugs or alcohol (90%); violence (85%); drinking and driving (82%); AIDS (78%); and how girls get pregnant (73%).

But, many parents of 10-12 year olds are steering clear of some of the more difficult conversations about sex,

including:


How to handle peer pressure to have sex (46% of parents have not discussed);

How to know when you are ready to have sex (50% of parents have not discussed);

How alcohol and drugs might affect decisions to have sex (46% of parents have not discussed);

and

How to prevent pregnancy and STDs (62% of parents have not discussed).

"The 'big talk' isn't what it used to be. It now needs to be ‘supersized,’" said Matt James,
Senior Vice President, Kaiser Family Foundation. "When parents today talk with their kids
about tough issues that means covering the basics, plus a whole lot more."

[joe_sixpack]

119. It's not just about getting them to wait

I'm not even sure that a kid of 11 is making what we would call a conscious decision when they do this, or let it be done to them. I have a female friend that worked in center that dealt with teen sex, planning and prevention etc. She told me once that it seemed to her that the younger girls who came in for either counseling, or who were pregnant or who were brought in by parents or guardians for advice or other services, all seemed to have a significant low self esteem. I'm not sure exactly what that says about the issue, but it is revealing. Birth control, the pill, might be a band aid and provide some measure of relief to parents of kids who take it, but there's a larger issue that needs to be addressed eventually.

[Catherine Vincent]

67. Wow!

This is just sad. :(

[pnwmom]

80. I think so too. Kids are missing out on a lot, being pushed through

childhood so quickly.

[Beerboy]

87. My quick story.. I had sex against my will when I was 11,

and it had nothing to do w/ birth control. Some weirdo picked me up in a '74 VW Bug, I'll never forget it.
Anywhoo, it's a good thing kids are educated to the patterns of pervert adult behavior. I wish I was back then, I would've taken that fucker's own car, then ran over him a time or two. Live and learn.

[porphyrian]

89. Is it mandatory, or do they have to ask for it?

I have no problem with availability and accessibility.

[Maine-ah]

90. not mandatory. have to ask.

[porphyrian]

110. So it really doesn't matter how many are sexually active or not...

as, presumably, only those who are or who soon intend to be would ask for the birth control, if any would at all. The only good argument against this I can imagine surrounds the dangerous side effects birth control pills can have for some women and the possibility this could happen to a child without the parents' consent or knowledge. I also understand that there are some family situations where notifying the parents would be more dangerous and harmful than the possible side effects, so I'm torn on this point.

[distantearlywarning]

92. When I was in middle school

My best friend lost her virginity at the age of 12. I had sex for the first time at barely 15, and I was one of the last of my friends to do so. And that was 15 years ago.

Anyone who doesn't think this is going on is naive. Kids need to be educated about this stuff in 5th or 6th grade these days.

[Quantess]

104. Some 8th graders in the mid-1980s were sexually active, I remember.

Some of my friends had lost their virginity by 8th grade, and a few of them were downright promiscuous. A boy I liked had "sleep-bandited" a drunk girl at a party, was the rumor. Yes, that's AKA date rape. Nothing like a rumor of sleep-bandit-date-rape to ruin your image of a cute boy.

These people are now in their mid 30s and have teenagers and pre-teens of their own.

[lostwilderness]

93. wow

at 8?thats scary

[Dorian Gray]

95. I know that this will probably not be a popular position

but I don't like this. I don't like the idea of providing Birth Control to middle schoolers. (Though I suppose that they mean Condoms. They couldn't prescribe Birth Control Pills at the school.) It makes me uncomfortable. Sex Ed? No problem. Go for it! They need it. They need to be told the consequences of their actions. Play up that there are responsible ways to be sexually active. Play up the birth control angle. But, I am not comfortable with school dispensing birth control to 11, 12 and 13 year olds.

[Maine-ah]

96. they already supply condoms.

this is about the pill, you should read the whole article.

[mondo joe]

98. Does it make any difference at all that the kids need parental permission to get care

at the school based centers?

[joe_sixpack]

117. What' s even more crazy

Is that some people aren't really looking at the 11-12 year olds around them. You really think they can be responsible enough to think clearly and use any kind of birth control, all on their own? Just because their engaging in adult behavior doesn't mean they think like adults. Yes, they need information and yes, it is better that they don't make the problem worse with an unwanted child, but if you're serious enough to want to dispense the pill to kids this age, then you're going to have to take the next step of logic and somehow have an adult administer it either in daily doses or as an injection. And that idea doesn't seem quite as palitable as the first.

[Quantess]

102. 8th grade girls who have sex should face the consequences of pregnancy.

Getting pregnant would teach those girls not to have sex at such a young age. Handing out birth control would just give them a free pass to not get pregnant. Do the crime, do the time!

Edit to add: Once pregnant, (which is what we all want because they disobeyed God's orders to not fornicate) they can't just get an abortion, because those girls should have to accept the consequences of their sinful actions. Do the crime, do the time!

[yurbud]

105. I grew up in Portland, Oregon in the 70s, and schools took opposite approach to drugs

they turned a blind eye to the drug dealer who sat parked at the edge of campus everyday.

I don't like the thought of middle schoolers having sex either, but it's better to be pro-active than wait for the problem to explode.

[RB TexLa]

106. Number 56,923 on the list of things I never have to worry about

:)

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

107. I can confirm it's a true statement.

I first "hooked up" when I was just 13. Hmmm... that would have been 1968. I guess some things never change.

:shrug:

[denem]

121. The United States has the HIGHEST RATE of teen age births

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_tee_bir_rat-health-teen-birth-rate

of 40 comparable counties.

[sam sarrha]

122. it is the 'growth hormones' in everything, milk, eggs, cheese, ALL MEAT,. whatdaya expect..!!!!!!

[Manifestor_of_Light]

123. It happened in the 1950s in Oklahoma.

girls got pregnant in junior high or high school and a local doctor conveniently gave them illegal abortions, at least the affluent ones.

I knew a lady who was born in 1901 in Indian Territory, before it was a state. She got married at age 14 to get out of the (sod) house she grew up in. She had two kids by the time she was 17.

Back in the old days they married 'em off young, so that they'd be miserable the rest of their lives, because divorce was such a disgrace, even if you were not catholic.

The idea of having to marry the first person you ever kiss is hellish to me.