Birth Control Pills for Pupils Raise Issues ; Maine Middle School Allows Distribution, but WNY Distr

Oct 19, 08:30 PM

Current Headlines: By Barbara O'Brien

Can you imagine your 12-year-old coming to you with questions about how to get birth control? What if your middle-school daughter tells you she's pregnant?

While local health care and school officials say such instances remain rare in this area, officials at a middle school in Portland, Maine, have decided to distribute birth control pills to pupils.

Some children are sexually active. According to the latest available figures, 51 girls 14 and younger got pregnant in Erie County in 2005, the state Health Department says.

A check of two Erie County Health Department clinics in Buffalo found 62 children under 15 came in for reproductive health services.

"Is it out there? Yes. Do they seek health care? Yes," said Patty Devine, who oversees women's health services clinics for the county Health Department.

Health centers in three Buffalo public high schools provide condoms -- with the appropriate health education -- but they do not distribute birth control pills, said Sue Ventresca, director of health related services.

"Our piece is more prevention. We want to educate and guard against unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases," she said.

"Certainly the issue of sexuality is part of the curriculum in an appropriate fashion across the grades," Cheektowaga Central Superintendent Delia G. Bonenberger said.

Parents, educators and health officials in this area were shocked to learn that King Middle School in Portland, Maine, had decided to distribute birth control pills.

The Portland school board approved a plan Wednesday night to make King Middle School the first middle school in Maine to provide a full range of contraception, including birth control pills and patches.

Five of the 134 pupils who visited King's health center during the last school year reported having sexual intercourse, according to Amanda Rowe, lead nurse in Portland's school health centers.

Portland's three middle schools reported 17 pregnancies during the last four years, not counting miscarriages or terminated pregnancies that weren't reported to the school nurse.

Pupils need parental permission to obtain assistance at the health center in the Portland school, but treatment is confidential under Maine state law.

New York State law similarly allows minors to receive contraceptives if they provide informed consent, meaning that they understand the risks, benefits and alternatives to the treatment.

Laura Meyers, chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Western New York, said middle schoolers rarely visit a local Planned Parenthood office.

"When middle school-age children come to our centers, it is likely the first question is, 'Who in your family can you involve in some of these decisions?' " she said.

If staffers detect any sort of coercion or neglect, they will notify authorities, she said. But since accessing reproductive health care must remain confidential, parents are not notified if contraceptives are distributed to a minor, she added.

If teachers or counselors become aware a student is thinking about becoming sexually active, or already has had sex, they would counsel them to make a different decision, but also to seek their own health care and health care providers, Cheektowaga's Bonenberger said.

"We work on the knowledge piece and what happens according to what decisions are made," she said. "We don't solely do it in health class. Our whole approach is being responsible and making good decisions."

All Buffalo school nurses have been trained, and counselors, social workers and health teachers are receiving training in the HIV/ AIDS prevention curriculum, Ventresca said. Sixteen schools -- including Grover Cleveland, South Park and Bennett high schools -- have school-based health centers.

"They do health education and work with students who have high risk," she said.

Devine, of the Erie County Health Department, said studies have shown that knowledge about sexual activity and contraception does not lead youths to have sex.

"The higher the [sex] education level, the more likely they are to delay sexual activity," she said.

Associated Press reports contributed to this story.

e-mail: bobrien@buffnews.com

Originally published by NEWS STAFF REPORTER.

(c) 2007 Buffalo News. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.