I stumbled upon this nicely argued blog post against letting 11-14 year olds access to birth control pills without first informing their parents. The post basically shuns the idea saying that if side affects arise because of the hormone-altering medication then the child may not be well informed enough to recognise these, and in turn not seek medical assistance.

Programs like this one have been going on in England for at least the time I have been a teenager, I was given preliminary sex education at ten years old. At that time I wasn’t particularly thinking about having sex, so it was more based on “changes” to the body around the age of puberty. The second time sex-ed was brought up, I was around the age of 13, much more inclined to be involved with the girls.

The first session we had featured the many different types of STDs you can get and the ways in which to protect yourself. Including the pill to protect from pregnancy, we were also told that we could go to a clinic and get free condoms, and if we were of the female sex we could get either the morning after pill or go on the pill to protect from pregnancy. All of this without the prior permission of parents, or infact them finding out at all.

I have took advantage of the free condoms on numerous occasions, being a skint student and all. I also happen to know many girls who have been prescribed the pill. They aren’t legally old enough to be having sex at the time, but do you think that will stop them? Of course not.

As for the side effects, well doctors are aware of the naivity of teenagers looking into protecting themselves and inform them of the risks of birth control and the possible side-effects. Parents aren’t informed because some simply wouldn’t want their daughter having sex, that means that they wont get their pill and could end up getting pregnant even if the child was using another form of protection such as a condom which can fail. Especially if in the hands of a horny teen boy.

I think that parents shouldn’t be informed because most wouldn’t be supportive of the idea simply because of the bias of their child having sex, which scares them and makes them think they are “losing” their children. Not all parents would think their child protecting themselves from pregnancy, even as a precaution, is a sign of maturity and the child taking responsibility for their own body.

Anyway, its a good program. It has certainly saved me a few quid in condoms and has saved a lot more people than me from contracting diseases and maybe getting pregnant.