I'm so concerned on many levels here but the main one is that giving birth control pills DOES NOT address the issue of STDs. Like PediNurse said, a kid can get oral STDs and many of them don't know that! If it really is necessary for kids to have sex, then shouldn't they make a kid take a test to see if they have enough knowledge about being sexually active before just handing out medication? I mean, a good, well-rounded test to see if they understand the emotional mess they may be getting into as well as the physical danger. Then they could be counseled at least in the areas they are clueless in.
I just believe kids should be excluded from the privacy act. When you are 100% responsible, you need 100% of the information. Think of it as you would any job...your boss puts you in charge, but sets you up to fail by letting others keep vital information from you in order for you to do the best job you can. We are setting parents up to fail and that is so sad. How about instead we prop up the failing parents?
Oh, I understand the frusteration about the HIPPA law and the parental stuff. But I can also understand the other side of the coin too. I do have a bigger problem when it is younger teens, definetly. The older ones? Sometimes, I'm kinda like... give them their privacy. I have gotten a lot more tolerant over the years. Seen too many 17 year olds I guess that are living with their boyfriends who are admitted to the peds floor! I'm kind of like... if you're letting your 17 year old LIVE with her boyfriend, guess what? She's entitled to her privacy!! But yes... I COMPLETELY understand. But it's there, in the law. That DOESN'T exclude HC providers from reporting illegal activity, suspicious activity, hotlining, ect. At all!
Due to HIPPA, we cannot give sexually based information to the parents... and we have to remove it from the chart if the parents ask to review the chart, if there is "stuff" in there. We are just discreet about it, and the parents don't know the difference. If stuff is to go to the house where they are to see it (billing for labs, ect) then there are even supposed to be some privacy guards there as well. Privacy in these matters is why when patients go to the OB/GYN, they must sign release forms for the office to specifically give information to certain people. The last one I went to made me sign forms re: name, address, AND date of birth for my spouse and emergency contact if they wanted to call and get information on me or my lab results or medical condition. I thought that was a LITTLE specific, but it was no biggie for me!
Teaching for the pill for teens is to use a back up method when having sex to protect one's self, and to have "safer" sex. Sex outside of marriage is risky. Sexual activity at a young age is considered to be especially risky in the "eyes" of the medical community. Believe me, it isn't taken lightly from the medical point of view. Risky, risky, risky! Risk is increased especially for teens who are not in stable relationships. So, the use of condoms is automatically taught with a contraceptive method to help decrease the spread of STD's. Teens are often HORRIBLE about taking their pills every day or at the same time each day, which decreases their effectiveness, so this teaching helps keep them safer and decreases the incidence of pregnancy.
So, I would certainly hope and am 99% positive that if they are implementing an oral contraceptive distribution option with this age group... and they already had a condom distribution program in place (for years)... they would include this teaching as well. It's just another barrier put into place to protect the kids. I think they are just trying to provide the most comprehensive healthcare possible to a group of kids who DOESN'T have it available!
But seriously... people bring their babies in for well baby check ups, for their shots... and when they are fully immunized at age two? After that, we don't see them unless the kids are sick or need MORE shots to go to school or have some weird rash or a have to have a sports physical. We hardly ever see teens for just regular well kid stuff. After age two, if we see a kid regularly, its because they are from REALLY good families! And those are the ones who will put their daughters on birth control if the girls go and ask for it, because the parents talk to their daughters, and they have good relationships with their kids. They will go to their primary care providers for birth control, and it will be a very private thing for them. And birth control is more of a "well" thing than a sick thing. So I doubt that some of those decreased interaction families would bring the kid in for that. You know what I mean?
But then you have the kids who are at RISK. I think those will be the ones using the clinic. These kids are at for risk drug use, early pregnancy, and STD's. You can't tell me that MOST of these kids that were in jr. high that ended up having early sexual activity and getting pregnant early probably weren't in a high "risk" category due to a 1) horrible home life or 2) or decreased parental interaction. And those are the kids who have DECREASED access to medical care. Those kids are not going to be getting proper medical care - mom and dad aren't going to NOTICE that they are having risky behaviors, or they don't have the time to. They aren't going to get an STD check, condoms, and BC pills if they need it. Maybe if this is available to them at school, maybe the kid can get it for themselves.
Or, the third option is, maybe if the kid is too embarrassed to go to mom and dad, maybe this is a good option too. But options 1 and 2 are going to FAR outweigh the "embarrassed" option.
Those are my thoughts.
I hope that all rambling!! makes sense.
