Adding additional obstacles to ensuring teens' access to birth control are draconian rules against medication use in schools. While these rules vary from district to district, some students find themselves risking very severe punishment for taking Tylenol, Aspirin, and of course... birth control pills. In Fairfax, VA, one student received a two-week suspension for taking her daily pill.

This, obviously, is more of an issue with medication in general, but it clearly affects girls on birth control. The pill is most effective when taken at the same time each day. If that time is most convenient for girls during school hours, the school district should not prevent her from taking medication. Many students, even those over the age of 18, do not inform one or both of their parents that they are on the pill. Taking the pill at school may be necessary to ensure they take the steps necessary to prevent pregnancies while avoiding conflicts with parents. These conflicts are known to be a factor in the physical abuse of teens.

School districts are overstepping their rights and responsibilities by passing these rules, anyway. If a school bans all medication use (one district banned sunscreen without a doctor's note)what is a student with an asthma inhaler suposed to do?


-Gabriel

Normally the Columbus Dispatch political cartoons are full of right-wing propaganda, but I thought this one was funny.



-Gabriel