Virginia Birth Control

By Vanessa Scott
SC Staff Writer

The argument for birth control in schools doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. Sparks flared up on the issue again when T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia stated they would be giving out birth control to teenage girls.

But you don’t want your daughter, your baby sister, niece, maybe even your grand-daughter, being promoted the idea that she should have sex because there are plenty of options available for her, right? Well, truth is, teenagers cannot be stopped from having sex. Teaching abstinence can get across to some kids, but others will just go home, throw on the Jersey Shore, or another related show be sold the idea of sex equating to a great night and realize it is okay and if everyone else is doing it, why not?

People who think that keeping preventatives such as birth control away from teens to prevent them from engaging in intercourse need to think again. Instead of trying to shadow what we don’t wish to know, we need to address the fact that it is happening. Keep in mind: address, not advertise. And that is what giving teens the option to birth control in school is doing; addressing the issue.

Some of the greatest minds don’t end up graduating high school, or going to college because of teen pregnancy. According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, “just half of girls who had children before age 18 graduate from high school, and less than 2% earn a college degree by age 30. And not only is the future of the teen mother imperiled, but that of her children as well. About two-thirds of children born to teen mothers earned a high school diploma vs. 81% of children of older mothers, the organization also noted.”

Clinics like this in schools can not only ensure our kids graduate and lead then into a bright future, but prevent the burden of psychological stress and symptoms on what otherwise could have been a teenage mother and her son or daughter.

Since T.C. Williams High School has introduced the clinic, the number of pregnancies has dropped dramatically. This is an option more states need to examine even if it require drifting away from closed-minded conservative thinking for once, addressing what is, not what should be.

Email Vanessa at:
vs4829@live.esu.edu