Should Teens Be On Birth Control?

Apparently, more and more teen girls are popping pills -- birth control pills, that is.

A Thomson Reuters study released this past March reported that 18 percent of girls ages 13 to 18 were on some form of oral contraceptive in 2009. These figures represent a 50 percent increase in birth control prescriptions since 2002 -- a mere seven years earlier.

Good Morning America’s Elisabeth Hasselback explored the debate surrounding this trend, speaking to doctors, moms and the teens themselves. The primary motivation behind putting teen girls on birth control (in many cases the parents seem to be active participants in making this decision) is the fear that they will end up with an unplanned pregnancy -- the type of scenario that is splashed across the small screen in MTV television hits “Teen Mom” and “16 and Pregnant.”

This is not necessarily an unfounded fear, as approximately 750,000 teen pregnancies occur each year in the United States, many of which are not intentional. And as of 2009, 46 percent of high school students reported being sexually active.

“No matter how much I tell her and talk to her, she doesn’t know what’s going to happen when she’s with a boy and it all happens too fast,” one mother, who recently made a gynecological appointment for her 13-year-old daughter, said to Good Morning America.

When making the decision to go on the pill -- or to put one’s daughter on the pill -- an array of considerations come into play including sexual pressure and the possible side effects that these pills might have on young women in the long-run. Even the common, short-term side effects of hormone-based contraceptives can be an unpleasant impediment to a teen’s daily life and may include weight gain, soreness, mood swings and nausea.

So what do you think? Take our poll and weigh in!

Quick Poll

Should teen (and tween) girls be going on the birth control pill?

No way -- they're just too young.

If a young woman feels that she should be on the pill, then she should be.

Share your vote on Facebook so your friends can take this poll

Comments

[rtgmath]

01:33 PM on 08/21/2011

The fact is children do have sex. Most of them "aren't ready for sex", but have it anyway.

So the question is: should parents look to mitigate the effects of their children's behavior? Or should parents decide that disobedience deserves all the punishment it can get? Because whether a parent forbids their children to have sex or not, children will make up their own minds on that issue. Parents cannot absolutely prevent sexual behavior in their children unless they virtually imprison them.

To my way of thinking, it is better to help mitigate the effects of their behavior. Children do not think like adults and often do not see the (what adults might view as obvious) consequences -- even if they are given sexual education classes! The Media emphasizes growing up and sexuality. So some (many) will engage in sexual behavior. If one determines not to provide birth control on the idea that provision of it will give permission or encourage sexual behavior, then one might have a grandchild much earlier than expected!

A child who bears a child has a pretty dim future, generally. Is a ruined future an appropriate punishment for a childhood indiscretion? As a parent, I don't think so. I love my children. They may make mistakes, but I still want to protect them.

So I think it is better to offer protection, and let my children understand that while I do not approve of early sexuality, I want even less for them to get hurt.

[psychedelic breakfast]

11:53 AM on 08/17/2011

My doctor put me on birth control when I was 11, because I started my period in elementary school. It was to make sure it was regular and predictable. I have heard though that being on birth control before age 18 can lead to bone weakness in later years.

[liberalbarbwire]

04:50 PM on 08/16/2011

talking to your teen and i mean TALKING.. is the way to go... they can still go the wrong way but most of the time they take the right path..

[mazzles]

11:42 AM on 08/04/2011

I have a 14 yr old daughter, We have a good relationship and do discuss the importance of protecting yourself not only from pregnancy but STDs too. She is an intelligent girl who understands, and will be using condoms.
However... She is a teenager, which we know are not the most reliable of creatures. Especially in the 'heat of the moment'
When she is ready to begin a sexual relationship she has decided she will be going on the pill.
If she can take a pill with her morning juice and know that she is protecting her future then I am happy with that.
And as for damage to her body.... I would rather she take a regulated well researched amount of hormone than have to go through a teenage abortion, Which can be far more damaging not only physically but emotionally.

[markopolio]

04:38 PM on 08/03/2011

Why do I feel that the quick poll was a bit baited?

[LemmonHerk]

01:35 AM on 07/31/2011

I went on the pill when I was 16, in 1970 (thank you, Planned Parenthood). I wasn't promiscuous; I had a steady boyfriend. But I wanted to protect myself from an unwanted pregnancy, in case things went farther than I intended, which eventually, they did. I wasn't date-raped or anything like that; I just had a sidden change of heart in the middle of a make-out session. That's how it goes for many, if not most, girls when they have sex for the first time, I suspect. Anyway, it sure didn't hurt me at all. My periods were regular (and never on a weekend), and after many years on the pill, they got lighter and lighter until they eventually disappeared altogether -- HOORAY!! They came back after I went off the pill for a while, and no harm was done.

[Raven1970]

05:02 PM on 07/26/2011

Here's another suggestion that could be a nice detterent to teenage pregnancy, make the boys family just as financially responsible as the girls family...50/50! If your underaged son gets a girl pregnant you should pay half the bill! What happens now is the boys go on to live their lives just as they've done before and the girls are left to raise the child at the cost of her parents who shelter, feed and clothes the child. Time to put a little of the boys' families skin in the game and they might take sex education a little more serious as well. I think that's more fair than forcing hormonal treatments on our young developing girls and putting all the responsibility on them to avoid pregnancy when they're the ones that are usually being persuaded or pushed into sex before they are ready.

[Pepper MD]

11:05 AM on 07/26/2011

You know what else prevents pregnancy, protects against STDs, AND doesn't risk breaking? Chastity belt.

[SayBlade]

01:03 PM on 08/21/2011

There are chastity belts for made men. Perhaps it's time to put them on the boys. At least it's non-invasive, unlike birth control pills for girls where artificially introduced hormones into the bloodstream have an effect inside their bodies.

[Libertarian5]

10:07 AM on 09/09/2011

Already exists, though I guess originally intended for male politicians

http://www.amazon.com/The-CB6000-Male-Chastity-Device/dp/B0039GQBRI/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_1

[Mike Brumfield]

01:59 AM on 07/26/2011

Once someone is old enough to have sex they are old enough for birth control. We can all preach abstinence but in reality many don't practice it, why risk ruining your life with an unplanned pregnancy.

[Beth Alexander]

12:18 AM on 07/26/2011

If it means fewer unwanted pregnancies and fewer abortions, I don't see the harm. I do however, feel it's important for parents to stress the risks of STDs as being on the pill should not replace the use of condoms.

[madnana]

10:32 PM on 07/25/2011

I grew up in a time of no birth control pills without parental consent and the use of barrier contraceptives (condoms- couldn't even get a diaphragm without parental consent). I thought sex was too bothersome until I got to college. Then I nervously used condoms until I got married and my father signed for me My daughter had a baby when she was fifteen and rejected my offer of condoms because she wanted that baby. If yours insists upon having sex then for heaven's sake give them to her while reminding your son barrier contraception prevents STDs .The word RESPONSIBILITY should be on their bedroom walls from toddler hood in all things, not just the pill.

[Jeffery McClain]

09:10 PM on 07/25/2011

If and when I have a daughter, she's going on the pill as soon as she starts having her period and starts dating...period. I'm too young (40) to buy anybody's reasoning otherwise. I was the one sneaking through the window in the middle of the night to have sex with inumerable 14 and 15 year olds when I was a teenager way back in the late 80s and early 90s...teenage girls are NOT to be trusted when it comes to sex...trust me parents.

[Bianca S]

09:27 PM on 07/25/2011

Great, have fun having a sexually active 14 years old girl with herpes....but at least she's not pregnant, so it's all good!

[Jeffery McClain]

09:57 PM on 07/25/2011

Hey Bianca...you're a real simpleton obviously. I didn't say that I wouldn't also educate my daughter about STDs and how to prevent them. Also, she wouldn't be allowed to date outside her peer group and wouldn't want to. Kids don't have herpes...no matter what our fearmongering media tells you, the chances of a teen girl getting herpes from some other inexperienced teen boy is almost a statistically impossibility. Why don't you come back to reality. You are probably a lot like the naive parents that we used to laugh at when I was laying in some girls bedroom at 4:00 am in the morning.

[Bianca S]

09:02 PM on 07/25/2011

I'm absolutely apalled by the backwards attitudes of the people here-and this is coming from an atheist liberal lol.

"Well my 13 year old is holding me hostage and threatening to get pregnant, so here ya go, I'll put your developing body on synthetic hormones! And if you object, then you're a Bible thumping, anti-women's rights, pro pregnancy lunatic!" I mean seriously? Let's think about why the h*ll your 13 yr old is having sex in the 1st place and go from there.
Parents and schools are failing hard in the Sex ed dept., which is DIRECTLY linked to higher teen sex and pregnancies. "Duh ,we know" everyone says. Well apparently not, bc kids clearly aren't getting the msg. They're either being taught "God=no sex til marriage (unreasonable), or 'Well, you're gonna have sex anyway, no matter how young, so here's some pills' (unreasonable). What happened to teaching girls self esteem to respect their bodies, and waiting until they're ready? Spin it anyway you want, no 13-16 year old girl is emotionally or physically ready for sex. STDs are on the rise, so somewhere they're also not getting the msg that condoms are ALWAYS necessary, regardless of pills. And if they ALWAYS wore condoms, then they would 99% never get pregnant or STDs. 2 birds 1 stone, cheap and drug free, no govermnent intervention. Let's start there, before handing out pills as a knee-jerk reaction to our failings.

[markopolio]

04:42 PM on 08/03/2011

Problem being, the uproar from giving kids condoms would be huge

[kittiesgoruff]

08:39 PM on 07/25/2011

I started taking birth control pills when I was 17 due to having really heavy periods and since then my periods have been significantly smaller. I wish I had taken them sooner, as they would have help me avoid some embarrassing situations when I was younger. I'll probably take a break off them, since I'm scared of the consequences they might bring for me in the future as far as my health goes and retake them again when I start a relationship.

[Kimberly Zerkle]

08:37 PM on 07/25/2011

Many young women are also on the pill due to ovarian cysts....get the facts~!