Yes, they should, because though I believe that the best case scenario would be parents and kids talking honestly about sex, many parents don't put out enough effort in that arena and most kids aren't going to listen anyway, so, isn't it better for the lying teenager to grow up and stop being a crazy teen rather than that crazy teenager becoming an irresponsible young parent?

Of course they should! But then there will be those who say "No, that encourages promiscuity" etc. ... come on, it's your kid's choice. Don't blame the school for handing out protection (though this article says "comdoms and such" (I wonder what the "such" part is? Surely they can't just hand out birth control pills???). In the long run, it's better to have protected sex (and they're having sex ANYWAYS, so wake up!) than end up with these strange pregnancy pacts (which I find cultish, btw) or unwanted pregnancies.

As the mother of two teenage girls I say yes, yes and yes.

ANYONE should be able to get birth control whenever they need it.

No, it is not their place. Schools cannot and should not take over a parent's role in society. I think it's inappropriate.

And Sake, I hope by 'birth control' you just mean condoms. Because handing out hormonal birth control to kids without consulting their parents is dangerous. Their parents know their medical history and are better equipped to make decisions regarding the safety of any drug that their child might consume.

I agree that hormonal birth control is a bad idea without parental--or at least a doctor's--consent, but I think that condoms are a good thing to have available. I was one of the people who said that teens should need parental consent to get abortions because it's a very serious thing, but as much as I'd like to see kids talk to their parents more about these things, some kids just don't have that kind of relationship with their parents. If they're going to have sex anyway I'd rather they try to prevent pregnancy & guard against STDs than just throw caution to the wind because they think they have abortion to fall back on.

I'm for it - I'd rather the kids feel there is a place where they can get birth control and reasonable advice than assert my parental authority.

I think that condoms should be made available, but not handed out.

Honestly, though, this wasn't an accident and I think that no amount of condoms would have stopped these girls.

I dont agree with this at all, its not the schools place to hand out condoms/birth control to the students. I dont buy the "they are going to have sex anyway" idea. I know from personal experiance that , that is true.

It's not the school's place to provide my kids with this, especially without my knowledge. Let's get out of the social pograms, and back into the business of actually teaching our kids reading writing and 'rithmatic.

Out of curiosity since I don't live in the US, but what is the stance of municipal governments regarding birth control? I can only speak of Toronto (Canada), where government run clinics provide sex ed information, prescriptions for bcp after full examinations by RNs, free condoms, etc. all in confidence directly to both young women and men. True, this is in part covered by our provincial health plan, but it would be interesting to hear how things are handled in the US

(btw, I do real this may vary greatly from city to city, much less state to state).

*real - realize

In WI, there are several "education" programs that are provided for women, but these are independent from the school systems, and minors do need parental consent, but do get government funding.

Thanks UnDave, always good to know what happens across the border.

I'm the product of teen pregnancy and I'm now 29. I'm greatly against teen pregnancy because it ruins the teens lives, their parents, and seriously effects the child's life. I can go on and on about my feelings about teen pregnancy and how I believe that they should have access to birth control and safe sex information and products, however I don't see why a school should offer this. Kids can go many places without their parents knowing, so they can get to Planned Parenthood or the drug store and pick up some condoms. If they don't feel comfortable doing it themselves (I still hate buying this stuff), then they can talk to one of their friends or maybe even their parents. In this day and age, we have to be open with our kids and not just tell them that something is bad we need to explain why it's bad and give examples. If they want information, they're going to get it and it's better to get the truth than something that's been passed around the school and is completely untrue. As this is something that's so important to me, I hope that I'm making sense and not letting the emotion get to me. Also, I believe that there's research out there about this.

You make perfect sense Queen.

I'm for it. I think a lot of young girls may be hesitant to honestly discuss this kind of thing with their parents, feel they don't have anyone else to go to, and thus are less prepared than they could otherwise be.

What is it with "secret pacts," though? Wasn't it shown that there was no secret pregnancy pact?

Jude, I think that they did prove that there was no pact, but just a bunch of misinformed girls.

And honestly, if they're not comfortable talking about this with their parents, how are they going to go up to a teacher or a nurse and say "can I have some birth control pills and a condom?" Giving them out does not address that the kids will still be embarrassed. And if that's not addressed, how does this really help?

I see what you're saying, queenegg, but I think parents are a special case--the girls may be more comfortable going to an outsider than to a mother or father whom they're terrified will judge them or whatever. I know I was a lot more open with teachers and counselors and stuff than with my parents when I was a teenager. It's not about being embarrassed about being sexually active exactly, it's about being embarrassed in front of one's parents.

I was raised by my grandparents, so I know where you're coming from on the embarrassment thing. I really need to find the research that was presented to me that actually turned me off of this idea. It studied schools that did this and schools that didn't. If I wasn't at work, I'd look this up, but I don't think that they'd like me googling this topic due to the sites I might accidentally find.

One in three American woman are pregnant by the time they are twenty, that's an alarming statistic.
Maybe giving out condoms in schools could be a way of lowering this figure and stopping the spread of STD's.