Texas:  no birth control for kids, highest teen pregnancy rate in nation.   Twenty-four percent of them were *NOT* the first birth for the mother.

http://www.dallasnews.com/s...

Texas' policy is to deny contraceptives without parental consent wherever possible and to push an abstinence-only sex education program in public schools.

Experts, though, are questioning that approach. They note that from 1991 to 2004, the state's teen birth rate dropped by 19 percent, while the U.S. rate dipped by one-third.

By contrast, California, which has seen its teen birth rate drop by 47 percent in the same period, teaches abstinence but also explains contraception at school and has gone to dispensing birth control to teenage boys and girls – for free, no parental consent required – in community clinics and doctors' offices.

You know, on the off chance Mom and Dad may not want their seventh-grader having sex. "

Sure, because everybody know that availability of contraceptives determines whether kids have sex, right? It isn't like a kid has ever decided, "you know what, I may be undertaking a risky behavior without protection, so I guess I won't do it."

It works with wearing helmets while riding bikes, because I've never seen a kid riding a bike without a helmet. It works with kids on rollerbaldes, because I've never seen a kid in rollerblades without wristguards. It works with video games, because I've never seen a kid play video games without a wrist brace to prevent carpal tunnel.

Kids are the safest, most intuitive (since we're removing sex education from them as well) beings on the planet. Why would we want to mess that up?

.

A question to the conservatives on these boards: Why is it that in order to be safe, everybody should own a gun; but in order to keep kids safe we take away contraceptives and education? The big argument is always "well, I'm trained to use my gun safely", but the same doesn't hold true for sex (which by the way, is much more enjoyable than shooting a person, not to mention much more common)?

We're taking away contraceptives and education? Where, exactly, is that happening? In California, minors have access to birth control and abortions without their parents' consent or even knowlege. The only way we could make getting contraceptives any easier would be to deliver them to their doors.  

I support "the fewest resources" regarding safe sex practices? Why? Because I believe parents should be in on the secret when their 11, 12 and 13-year-old children are having sex? 

There are a lot of ridiculous assumptions here, but what better way to take the focus off topic, which is that our young children - we're not even talking high school  kids here - are becoming sexually active in growing numbers. What I'm reading on this blog is resigned acceptance - where's the shock, the concern, the sadness? There are a lot of reasons these kids are becoming sexually active at such early ages and not one of them is good or healthy - but by all means, let's just apply the contraceptive band-aid. No pregnancies, no problems, right? Perhaps we should next mandate birth control for all girls at the start of their first menstrual cycles or maybe even introduce selective sterilzation at birth.

No, no reason to worry, at least not in California. The state is ever vigilant in protecting the right of our young, vulnerable and emotionally immature children to have sex where ever and whenever  they like - and without their parents' knowledge and guidance.

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.” Think about it.

"Learn from your parents' mistakes:  USE BIRTH CONTROL!"\

.

Medic, it isn't an either/or proposition.  Schools can teach reading, writing and arithmetic *AND* have condoms available for those who need them. 

•Sixty percent of teens younger than 18 who use a clinic for sexual health services say their parents know they are there.[18]

•Among those whose parents do not know, 70% would not use the clinic for prescription contraception if the law required that their parents be notified.[19]

•One in five teens whose parents do not know they obtain contraceptive services would continue to have sex but would either rely on withdrawal or not use any contraceptives if the law required that their parents be notified of their visit.[20]

•Only 1% of all minor adolescents who use sexual health services indicate that their only reaction to a law requiring their parents' involvement for prescription contraception would be to stop having sex.[21]

If I thought that was where the clean-needles program would be most effective, I'd join you, Medic.  You have evidence that school-age children are contracting AIDS and hepatitis in significant number through sharing needles? 

.

If that's how you'd hand out condoms to young people, maybe it's best if you leave it to the school nurses.

I am sorry but I have to laugh when I see statements about how it is the parents responsibility to teach their kids about sex and safe sex and condoms and birth control. I promise you that conversation isn't going to stop them , especially when they think they are  "IN LOVE" . I do agree it is the parents responsibility to teach this at home but lets face it most don't . My mothers explanation of sex to me was this, " a man's body is the ugliest thing you will ever see in your life" end of conversation.(and if you think that didn't peak my curiosity well......) Reality check people what we have been doing  or not doing as parents hasn't been working and isn't working now.

no , the ugliest thin I ever saw was .........

Anyone who gives birth control devices or pills to my underage child will be spitting teeth!  Parents can only parent when they're in control, not the government schools that only screw up everything they touch.  I teach our religious and moral values to my kids -- and I don't send them to government schools to be contradicted or mocked.

If his underage child asks for birth control pills, it means that either his religious and moral values failed him, his parenting sucked as far as instilling those religious values, or both. Only a really immature parent would make someone else spit their teeth as a result of his own failure in religious and moral parenting.

PS. Who needs birth control when all you need is the right software?