My daily outrage:[10/25/07] Extending prison sentence for a minor offender

[Wezil]

Originally posted by Dis


ahh but countries such as England and some south american country hold records for youngest pregnancies.

Yes that may be but I haven't heard of their school boards handing out the pill to 11 year olds. Obviously not as serious a problem as it appears to be in the US.

[Wezil]

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- After an outbreak of pregnancies among middle school girls, education officials in this city have decided to allow a school health center to make birth control pills available to girls as young as 11.


Maine's King Middle School is the first in the state to offer full range of contraceptives to 6th-8th graders.

King Middle School will become the first middle school in Maine to make a full range of contraception available, including birth control pills and patches. Condoms have been available at King's health center since 2000.

Students need parental permission to access the school's health center. But treatment is confidential under state law, which allows the students to decide whether to inform their parents about the services they receive.

There are no national figures on how many middle schools provide such services. Most middle schoolers range in age from 11 to 13. Watch parents react to the school's plan »

"It's very rare that middle schools do this," said Divya Mohan, a spokeswoman for the National Assembly on School-Based Health Care.


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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.

The Portland School Committee approved the plan, offered by city health officials, on a 7-2 vote Wednesday night. Whether the prescriptions would be offered this school year or next wasn't immediately clear.

King is the only one of the three schools with a health center, primarily because it has more students who get free or reduced-price lunch, said Lisa Belanger, who oversees Portland's student health centers.

Five of the 134 students who visited King's health center during the 2006-07 school year reported having sexual intercourse, said Amanda Rowe, lead nurse in Portland's school health centers.

Committee member Sarah Thompson, also the mother of a King eighth-grader, supported the policy, even though it made her "uncomfortable."

"I know I've done my job as a parent," Thompson said. "(But there) may be a time when she doesn't feel comfortable coming to me ... (and) not all these kids have a strong parental advocate at home."

Chairman John Coyne opposed the change, saying the roles of social agencies and public schools have blurred over the years. "At some point there needs to be a clearing of the gray lines," he said.

The other "no" vote Wednesday night came from Ben Meiklejohn, who said a parental consent form, which allows students to receive any kind of treatment at the school health center, does not clearly define the services being offered.

Some opponents cited religious and health objections.

"We are dealing with children," said Diane Miller, a former school nurse said. "I am just horrified at the suggestion."

Another opponent, Peter Doyle, said he felt the proposal violated the rights of parents and puts students at risk of cancer because of hormones in the pill.

Supporters said a small number of students at King are sexually active, but they need better access to birth control.

"This isn't encouraging kids to have sex. This is about the kids who are engaging in sexually activity," Richard Veilleux said.

At King, birth control prescriptions will be given after a student undergoes a physical exam by a physician or nurse practitioner, Belanger said.


Nationally, about one-fourth of student health centers that serve at least one grade of adolescents 11 and older dispense some form of contraception, said Mohan, whose Washington-based organization represents more than 1,700 school-based centers nationwide.

A high school in Topeka, Kansas, stopped providing free condoms to students Wednesday after district officials learned of the month-old program. The district has a policy against providing contraceptives.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/10/18/middleschool.contraception.ap/index.html

[Patroklos]

Society didn't forget him, his parents forgot him. I have no obligation to raise some druggie's kid.

Freedom is a *****.

[Patroklos]

You will notice Wezil, that the main objection to this program is in fact the parents in the school district.

This is just some liberals wet dream reenactment, not an effort to rescue our children inattentive parents..

[SlowwHand]

Originally posted by Vesayen


I had good parents and got plenty of cookies and hugs.

This does not preclude me from feeling sorry for those society forgot.

THIS is what I don't understand. This "forgotten one" blew the back of a guy's head off, and you think 20 years penalty is severe.
Bull****.

[Wezil]

Originally posted by Patroklos
You will notice Wezil, that the main objection to this program is in fact the parents in the school district.

As opposed to? Who else would object?

This is just some liberals wet dream reenactment, not an effort to rescue our children inattentive parents..

Okay, so you don't like the solution...are you denying the impetus? Are there not enough sexually active 11 year olds in the community to be a concern?

[Wezil]

Originally posted by Patroklos
Society didn't forget him, his parents forgot him. I have no obligation to raise some druggie's kid.

Freedom is a *****.

Your empathy kills me. Of course it's the kids fault his parents are druggies. **** him.

[DinoDoc]

It's teh kid's fault he shot a man.

[Wezil]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
It's teh kid's fault he shot a man.

I think our discussion has moved past the original subject of the thread.

We are now talking about kids and bad parents in general. Apparently if your parents are awful it is the kids fault for not picking better parents.

[Vesayen]

Originally posted by SlowwHand



THIS is what I don't understand. This "forgotten one" blew the back of a guy's head off, and you think 20 years penalty is severe.
Bull****.

I think a 20 year penalty for a child is too much.

A 12 year old with no positive influences in his life, only criminal ones was not a criminal, he was a mental case.

The injustice system of Texas ruined him for life.

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Wezil
I think our discussion has moved past the original subject of the thread.

We are now talking about kids and bad parents in general. Apparently if your parents are awful it is the kids fault for not picking better parents.

What should we do with the kids of awful parents that don't turn out to be murderers?

[SlowwHand]

Originally posted by Vesayen


I think a 20 year penalty for a child is too much.

A 12 year old with no positive influences in his life, only criminal ones was not a criminal, he was a mental case.

The injustice system of Texas ruined him for life.

You're a total jackass.

[Vesayen]

And I think you should be banned from the forums for pointless personal attacks.

And the world keeps on spinning.

[Patroklos]

Your empathy kills me. Of course it's the kids fault his parents are druggies. **** him.

I didn't say **** him, what I said was:

1.) Its not society's (my) fault he is this way/did what he did as per Vesyan's blame game, it is his/his parents fault.

2.) I have no obligation to raise him/fix him as per Vesyan's guilt trip.

[Vesayen]

None of us have any inherant obligation to help deviant children. However if they commit a crime it seems unjust and heartless to punish them for it for their entire lives, instead of helping them.