?THE CITY of Portland, Maine is allowing King Middle School to make available to its students a full range of birth control products, including birth control pills and patches, a decision which is both staggering and exceedingly reprehensible. ?Not only should children of middle school age not be having sex, but in no way should a public school or any sort of governmental institution be providing them with a tool to facilitate it. This is especially significant, given the age of consent for sexual activity in Maine is sixteen. This essentially amounts to condoning and even facilitating sexual intercourse for people at a wildly inappropriate age.
The middle school in question allows nurses to give out "a full range of contraception" if a student asks for it. The nurses do not require parental consent to give the student such material. Bear in mind that this is a middle school of sixth, seventh and eighth graders, with most students aged between 11 and 13.
First and foremost, middle school students should not, under any circumstances, be having sexual intercourse, and therefore should not under any circumstances require birth control. If you think this isn't a big deal, imagine yourself in middle school. Remember how awkward, how clueless and innocent -- how, for lack of a better word, foolish you were? Most people are not ready for the emotional ramifications of a sexual encounter or relationship at that point in their lives, much less the potential physical repercussions. Many will argue the purpose of allowing the middle school to distribute contraceptives is to prevent the students from having to suffer the physical consequences of sex -- especially pregnancy -- but birth control pills and patches cannot prevent sexually transmitted diseases.. The effectiveness of contraceptives is not the issue. The issue is morality.
A primary matter of concern ought to be the message such an action sends to the children in question. For children, schools are a source of legitimacy, so for a school to be condoning sexual conduct by providing on request products that enable it sends a message to children that sexual intercourse is an activity in which they can and ought to engage. Allowing this practice in middle school sets the bar even lower for sexual activity in a culture where the standards are too low already. Middle school-aged students have enough problems finding their identity during a period of physical and emotional change in their lives without having a public school implicitly condoning sexual activity for them and their peers. Though it would be a mistake for public schools to simply ignore sexuality for older middle school students, they ought not do anything that condones or encourages sexual activity.
A well-rehearsed argument against the distribution of contraceptives by schools is that the school is usurping the role of the parent in engaging the student in discussion about sexual activity. In many ways this is true: The primary responsibility for educating children on the rights and wrongs, dos and don'ts of sexual conduct always lies with the parents of the children. The argument for the school distributing contraceptives lies in the fact that parents often fail in this responsibility. Instead of providing messages that implicitly condone sexual activity, middle schools ought to be discouraging it at all costs, especially given that all the students attending the school are below the age of consent.?.
The fundamental problem with middle schools giving students contraceptives is that they are simply too young to responsibly have sex?. Middle school students are still children in every way. They shouldn't have to think about having sex, much less about whether to use a contraceptive. The mere existence of this issue saddens me greatly, and the fact that somewhere in America the need to give middle school children contraceptives exists seems to me a great tragedy of constantly shrinking childhood. Just as unfortunate is the fact that the public school system feels the need support it.
Robby Colby's column appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at rcolby@cavalierdaily.com.
Read More
BURSTEIN: Federal workforce cuts target Virginia — and Youngkin’s response falls short
By Carly Burstein | 6 days agoForcing employees to choose between uprooting their families or losing their livelihoods is not just callous — it is economically reckless.
HUYNH: Virginia’s proposed ‘whippets’ law is laughable
By Viet Huynh | May 1, 2025As people continue to be harmed by nitrous oxide abuse, Virginians will see this new law as the ineffective, ultimately harmful policy that it is.
EDITORIAL: We can demand more of our university presidents
By Editorial Board | May 1, 2025We hope for greater transparency because for the principles of solidarity in this statement to be enacted and effective, stakeholders must be treated as partners in resistance.
