How young is too young?

I'm sure you've all heard about it. I meant to blog about it last week, but time got away. I'll be honest, part of my reason for not blogging about it was because I needed to sort out my true feelings. I'm a liberal. I believe in certain freedoms. I believe that every woman has a right to birth control. I believe every woman has a right to determine what is best for her and her body. However, I'm not sure how young is too young.

When a school in Maine decided to start offering birth control pills and the patch to its students, a controversy erupted. My first thought was "IF" it is necessary, it's a good thing. Then I began to think.

These weren't 17 year olds. They weren't even 14. Most of these girls were 11 - 13. Is this appropriate? My mind began to churn.

See, I have an 11 yr old son. Do I want him to have access to birth control? Yes, I would like to know that if he was sexually active(at 11? eeek!) he could get a condom if he needed it. Do I think sex at 11 is acceptable? No way. Do I want a school to just toss my 11 yr old a condom and let him go on his merry way? Absolutely not.

I have an 11 year old. Do I think he is responsible at age 11 to be able to remember to take a pill each day? Absolutely not. Do I think an 11 year old girl is responsible enough? I doubt too many are. I still have to remind the kid to put his homework in his backpack. I don't think he would remember a pill every day.

I did some reading. Was teen and pre-teen pregnancy a big problem at this school in Portland, Maine? No. In actuality, only five students who were treated at this clinic last year reported being sexually active. So why is this so necessary?

How would I feel as a parent if my child was given a prescription without my knowledge? I'd be upset enough if she were 17, but to think my 11 year old was given something like that without my knowledge would be horrible in my imagination. There are so many what ifs.

What if that 11 year old has a horrible, possibly deadly, reaction to the pills and as a parent, you don't know what to tell the doctor treating her because you don't KNOW she's taking the pill?

What if the girl is responsible and takes the pills every day, but her boyfriend has some awful disease--maybe even AIDS. No, she won't get pregnant, but she can still get very sick!

What if the pills are taken sporadically and she thinks she's "safe" but winds up pregnant anyway?

What if we are letting 11 year olds believe they are intellectually mature enough to have sex by giving them pills rather than more education?

What if it was MY kid?

I know quite a bit about the state of Maine. It's a liberal state. Portland is a very progressive city, but is this just too much? Apparently some seem to think so because there's a proposal to allow parents to prohibit the dispensing of birth control to children under 14.

Now, before you think I think that if we give a kid a condom or a pill that they think it's giving them permission to have sex, I don't think that. I know that kids are going to have sex no matter what, but at 11, aren't there more important things for them to think about? I know some parents don't pay attention. Some kids are home for hours alone after school. Still, I think if a child is having sex on a regular basis at 11, there are bigger issues other than just handing out birth control.

I'd much rather see them take those 11 year olds and counsel them. The parents don't have to know. No one needs to know, but if you are going to give them a pill, give them some counseling as well.

After much thought, I think that's what I think.

A first!

Yesterday, I was out shopping and saw my very FIRST Hillary bumper sticker. I realize this might not be a big deal to some of you, but we've just moved to a red state after years in a very blue state, so it was like seeing a friendly face!




Hillary in '08. Suddenly, I don't feel so alone.

To be honest, this state wasn't always red. In fact, it was always blue until the past two elections. I grew up here and was so disappointed to see how things went. The other side used the scare tactics on the people here. If you vote for Gore, he'll take your guns. If you vote for Kerry, you won't be safe.

Hopefully this time around, there will be enough of us with Hillary stickers to keep it from happening AGAIN!