Emergency Contraceptives Should Be Issued by Guidance Counselors to High School Girls

Emergency contraceptives should be issued by guidance counsellors to high

school girls.

An emergency contraceptive is a device or drug used to prevent a woman becoming pregnant and is used in a serious and unexpected situation requiring immediate action. (Oxford English Dictionary)Therefore it is safe to say that an emergency contraceptive is used in the termination of pregnancy. Issuing emergency contraceptives to high school girls means that the person issuing them is going beyond Christian beliefs by promoting pre-marital sex to underage children; it also means that they will take more risk and they will be prevented from pregnancy, but not HIV/VD, therefore it should not be issued.

A large percentage of Jamaican's has Christian background and follows Christian teachings. The Christian's guide, The Holy Bible, refers to pre-marital sex as fornication. The Bible goes on to define it as illicit sexual intercourse and warns all to "Flee fornication" (1st Corinthians 6:18 NIV). The age of consent in Jamaica is 18, children under this age are deemed underage and unable to maturely make certain decisions. According to Tricia Blake (October 11, 2008) "typical students enter high school at the age of 12 and stay until 17"; hence all of them are still underage. Giving these children emergency contraceptives means that you are giving them the O.K. to take the opportunity to use them although you say they shouldn't. As adults, our purpose is to guide the younger generation and set rules and examples that will serve as guides for them, not confuse them by contradicting ourselves in our teachings. Now, what kind of example is being set by knowingly helping an underage child to terminate a pregnancy?

Secondly, teenagers love the idea of exploring, they like finding out for themselves and experiencing for themselves. This is normally at the parent's expense. The fact that the emergency contraceptives are at hand, means that these highschoolers will take more risks. If they used to use a condom that will eventually stop, because they will want to feel each other's skin. This could mean major problems, as it was for a teenage mother who stated in an article to the gleaner that she wishes she had known the consequences that she would have to face as a teen mother, she further went on to say that she wants to advise other teens that are having sex to use a condom or abstain. There are reasons why children are considered likewise until they have reached a certain age. One such is that children cannot maturely assess the dangers and risks associated with choosing or not choosing to do something. This is where adults come in; an adult acts as the brain for a child. Any decision a child under the age of 18 makes, not only impacts himself/herself, but his or her parents also. After a child has passed the

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