Birth Control in Middle School
King Middle School in Portland, ME made the decision to make birth control pills available to girls 11 and older after the number of pregnancies in Portland’s three middle schools over the last four years rose to 17. Condoms have been given out since 2000, but this is the first school in the country to dispense pills. 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. Although the decision is controversial because many parents feel it blurs the line between the role of the parental consent and school jurisdiction, the Portland School Committee approved the plan on a 7 to 2 vote. At King, birth control prescriptions will be given after a student undergoes a physical exam by a physician or nurse practitioner. Nationally, about one-fourth of student health centers that serve adolescents 11 and older dispense some form of contraception.
Smoking Parents May Mean Lower Grades for Teens
Secondhand smoke in the home [J Adolesc Health. 2007 Oct;41(4):363-70] results in lower grades for teens, according to a Temple University study. Parents who smoke are a handicap to their 16-to 18-year-olds, and may decrease their children’s ability to pass standardized tests by as much as 30%.
When the large study of 6,380 pregnant women and children in England began in 1958, researchers initially were interested in the long-term effects of prenatal exposure to smoking on adolescent achievement test performance. They found it interesting that secondhand smoke exposure trumped prenatal exposure.
The researchers note that the United States and the United Kingdom share similar statistics on smoking: approximately one third of women in their childbearing years are smokers, 10% to 15% of women report smoking during pregnancy, and up to 60% of children may be exposed to smoke at home.
Why does secondhand smoke influence failure? This is still not known, although exposure to prenatal smoke has been linked to a higher risk of cognitive and academic defects, learning disabilities, and impulsivity. The bottom line: if you smoke, get into a good smoking cessation program—and if your teen smokes too, be sure to do the program together.