The Lynn School Committee has decided to distribute contraceptives to adolescents without their parents’ consent. This will include: providing condoms, injecting Depo-Provera, and providing Plan B emergency contraception in Lynn Public Schools to students who ask for them. Have they considered the consequences of this decision, especially when you take into consideration adolescents’ neurological development, the long-term effects of taking medication, and the long-term emotional well-being of these teenage girls?
First, we know from structural MRI studies that parts of the brain mature particularly late and do not reach adult levels until the mid-20s (Giedd, 2009). MRIs consistently show how a teen’s frontal lobe circuitry, which directs decision-making, long-range planning, problem-solving, controls reasoning, regulation of emotions, response inhibition, and other abilities, are still changing and maturing well into adulthood.
Should adolescents be allowed to make these life-altering decisions without parental oversight and approval when given this understanding of brain development? This is why parents are responsible for the welfare of their children until the age of 18.
The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health has cited the adolescent’s sense of connection to their parents and families as a protective factor. Is the school going to be liable if a teen girl develops side effects from taking any one of these medications, and how will a parent be able to help and aid their daughter without the knowledge of what the teen has been given?
How about the long-term effects of taking these drugs, not to mention that condoms do not protect you from all STIs such as herpes, genital warts, and syphilis, which can be spread from skin-to-skin contact. With the rise of teen suicide and mental health issues, why would the Lynn school community want to encourage young girls to be sexually active where their emotional stability and well-being will be in jeopardy?
Maria Perez Ed.D
Lynn