A few things that annoy me…
Oct 19th, 2007 by Amanda
I just saw these “I Watch Joel Osteen” pins. That’s annoying to me on so many levels. Everybody knows of my faith struggles, but they haven’t changed my opinion of Joel Osteen. I don’t like him. I think he’s a fraud. And these pins are essentially equating him with Jesus (only because the Icthus fish symbol is symbolic of Jesus).
The Maine School Board has approved giving out contraception to Middle Schoolers. Now I’m all for giving it out in high school. But to 10 year olds? That’s just… I have no words for my feelings on the issue.
This article in Christianity today about “Red Letter Christians” makes me want to scream out loud. Stan Guthrie essentially says that because this group of Christians tends to have more Democratic views, then they aren’t quite as Christian as everyone else. At least, that’s the feeling I got from reading the article. Tony Campolo’s response, however, rocked!
I too was a little surprised at the Maine school thing. Mostly because it was bold and new, and humans have a real problem with change.
So then I started thinking about it, and what I had written here before.
But this program was instituted in response to kids this age already having sex (a tiny minority but there nonetheless). Further, no one is forcing a kid to take the pill or wear a patch. Most kids have been brought up to not have sex this early.
this looks like an experiment. Does the teenage pregnancy rate drop or rise because of this? If the pregnancy rate drops, then what is wrong with providing this?
We already vaccinate 11 year old girls with guardisil with the idea that they may be having sex at that age. Why wouldn’t we also make pregnancy prevention methods available to the tiny minority of kids who are having sex at this age anyway?
don’t worry. This will be struck down in a matter of weeks anyway.
Joel Osteen = doubleplus ungood.
And what bothers me about giving birth control to pre-teens and young adolescents isn’t ZOMG they’re having sex!, but a real wariness about putting them on hormones that could have untold effects on their developing bodies. That’s just crazy, if you ask me.
Emily, you need to remember that teens are going through puberty earlier and earlier these days. In many cases, they are developed, just smaller than an adult. At least physically.
Just for the record, doll, I’m not a Joel Osteen fan by any stretch of the imagination. But if you’re going to say something that condemning and judgemental, don’t you think you ought to have something to back it up other than just an opinion. I mean, you know what people say about opinions.
And regardless of your so-called “struggle” with your faith, does that mean we all have to tiptoe on eggshells around you? If you don’t like Joel (or any other Christian for that matter), move on. But it’s not your place to condemn him.
As for Red-Letter Christians, so you’re in favor of an expanded role of government in addressing social issues. Alert the media! Of course, we’ve seen how well government intervention has played out historically in addressing such social ills as poverty, education, crime, hunger, birth control, and numerous other issues.
Oh, I suppose that little incident with the middle schools in Maine has nothing to do with any of this.
Tear it up, girl. Your future awaits.
I’m not sure where to start…
Doll? I’m not a doll, dear.
Nobody around here tiptoes, G. And I’m pretty offended at your insinuation that my faith struggles aren’t really struggles.
It’s interesting how much you read into my little paragraph. My commentary had nothing to do with the government, but everything to do with the way one man completely generalized a group of Christians and made it negative.
tech…they aren’t vaccinated at that age because they are thought to be having sex, that age is chosen because it is a time when most children are having booster vaccinations, so they just added one more.
Plus….if an 11 year old is having sex, I think birth control isn’t really the issue. The issue is why is an 11-year-old having sex in the first place? I think that would be a huge red light about what is going on with that kid. What have they been exposed to, what’s going on at home, and who are they having sex with?
Early sexualization can be an indicator of abuse.
No, the gardasil is given that early because it needs to me adminsitered BEFORE the girl’s first sexual encounter, which carries the risk of HVP infection. The drug maker assumes that girls aren’t having intercourse before age 11, but might anytime after that.
As for you,GCW, grow up. Not even Superstar Min is as arrogant and nasty as you. We all have very differernt opinions here, but crap like that is out of line for even the most militant of us.
(Sorry, Mandi, but I couldn’t let that jackass sound off without adding my own two cents. You did a great job of defending your positions, as always.)
Totally agree terri,
it IS a huge red flag that these kids are having sex. My point was not: “Hey, they are doing it anyway, lets help em out”.
I was more addressing that making birth control available doesnt mean these kids are going to use it, because the great majority of them are not having sex at that age. Making it available to the tiny minority of girls who are having sex , for whatever reason, is good for the general population as a whole, and is one more step in reducing abortion rates.
Yes, lets focus on what the hell is going on with these kids. Perhaps it IS media and sexual availability on the internet (I have no data one way or another), perhaps movies and TV, perhaps there is some physical biological changes that are happening to use as a species as the planet gets warmer, new chemicals are introduced into our blood streams, etc etc. note: If you told an ancient roman that a 12 year old child was having sex, I bet they would be less horrified than we are. Of course that doesn’t make it OK because we recognize there are emotional and physical needs and consequences of sex. but there are some sociological issues at work here resulting in our shock at this because it is outside of our current norm.
But while we are getting to root cause on the early sexuality, lets not enhance the problem by letting these few kids not have birth control availability.
emily,
I’m with ya on the unknown effects of BC on people this young. But if they are already having their period, is it really such a huge unknown? Granted if they are flooding their system with hormones, of course there will be issues, but i think pills, patches and rings these days are generally far lower doses than when the pill first came out.
All, have no fear, I predict they will rescind this within the month.
What people need to remember about hormonal birth control is that it has side effects that can be serious. Also it has to be used consistently and faithfully to actually work. You can’t skip pills, or take three all in one day because you forgot to take them the last few days…..things an eleven-year-old child might do or think is feasible. Remember we are talking about children, some of which can barely remember they have homework to do.
well,
they are offering patches also. I sound like I’m in full support of this, i’m not. I would like to understand exactly what they are trying to solve (perhaps I am right, and its simply teenage pregnancy), how they are measuring success, and when they are going to evaluate the program for a go-nogo decision
If they dont have these three key elements in their program, they don’t have a program.
“they are offering patches also.”
Oh, fabulous. Those have even an even greater risk of side effects than the pill does. And you know, it does concern me that girls might get a false sense of security about the pill and neglect safe sex methods to prevent STDs.
I really, really don’t want 11-12-13 year olds getting pregnant, but what I’d like to see is girls (and boys) to be educated about the many different types of safe sex/pregnancy prevention options including the *non-hormonal ones* as well as their effectiveness and risks.