They must be from Mars.

I was reading a recent Pandagon post about the hubbub over the fact that a Maine middle school is going to allow its school nurse dispense birth control pills to middle school girls without their parents' consent.

Predictably, there was a lot of outrage. Do these people seriously want a thirteen year old girls to actually have a baby? Because it sounds very much like that.

There are some things to consider about this program, of course.

A middle school girl who is having sex is most likely not in the position to ask her partner to use a condom. While a condom is ideal (for STD prevention), the pill is something a girl can take without telling her partner. Someone having sex with a middle school girl is just as likely to be much older and have power over her, and there are numerous abusers that try as best they can to get their girlfriends pregnant so that he has someone to tie him to her and keep her from leaving. Giving her a way to protect herself from at least pregnancy (and I'm sure the nurse would tell her about side effects, one would hope) is better than nothing.

The Pill doesn't seem to have an effect on growing girls, and the side effects that can result are far and away less harmful than having a child at that age.

Participation in the program isn't mandatory.

A wingnut appeared in the Pandagon article and stunned me. Not because he was a father who raised "good girls" and was against the program, but that he was too oblivious to his own privilege to be involved in this debate.

To be honest, there is a part of me that hates the word privilege, but I cannot deny that I myself have quite a bit. My parents could be considered upper middle class, I've never wanted for anything, and I'm currently going to graduate school at a prestigious public university. With the education and skills that I have, my future family isn't going to want for anything either. I've never been in a true abusive situation, and the idea of not having something like affordable, reliable health insurance is, admittedly, so foreign to me that I didn't realize fully how horrible the state of health care was in this country until after I was married and no longer covered by my parents' health plan.

There are many families that not only are rather privileged in having rather easy lives, but their children are also more or less guaranteed the same. Their neighbors are likely in the same boat, and so, the world appears to be easy and happy.

Someone rebutted his "parents should guide their children and have full authority" argument with the fact that some children, especially most likely the ones this program is aimed at, don't have healthy home lives. If the guidance you receive is "shut up when I'm watching TV and drinking" or if one of your parents abuses you, someone needs to step in and help you or else you are statistically screwed into a substandard American life. There are girls that are in dangerous situations and need this, and they might need it without their parents' knowledge.

His response was something along the lines of "well, it doesn't have to be that way. It's just that culture is so darned destructive."

I remain floored by this type of ignorance and poor logic. This may make sense inside thine suburban ivory tower, but outside of that its just absurd. Especially as the "culture" this man likely aspires to only makes the poor poorer, outlaws contraceptives and abortion, and forces God on everyone. Yes, it's true, it doesn't have to be like this, but popular culture isn't the cause of this. Poverty and low education are.

To be honest, the conservative culture is more damaging than the kind that allows at-risk girls contraceptive power. Outlawing contraception means more pregnancies. Outlawing abortion means more unwanted babies (at a very high percentage with illegal contraceptives), and while this still remains controversial, less abortions likely means higher crime rates and higher poor populations.