U.S. Secretary of Education William J. Bennett has charged that school-based health clinics that dispense birth-control information and contraceptives “legitimate” undesirable sexual behavior and encourage students who “do not have sexual intimacy on their minds to have it on their minds.”
While Mr. Bennett said he agreed with proponents of school-based clinics that dispensing birth-control devices in schools would prevent some births, he said: “The question is, what lessons do they teach, what attitudes do they encourage, what behaviors do they foster?”
Advocates of such clinics responded angrily to Mr. Bennett’s criticisms, which came in a speech to the Education Writers Association in Baltimore this month.
The clinics “teach responsibility, and how to use the health-care system,” said Susan Newcomer, director of education for the New York-based Planned Parenthood Federation of America. “They are also an indication to the kids that the school as an institution does care for them.”
Mr. Bennett emphasized that judgments on clinics should be weighed by the school’s local community, but he said he considered the presence of clinics in schools an “abdication of moral authority.” By operating such clinics, Mr. Bennett asserted, schools are saying, “We give up on teaching right and wrong to you. ... Here, take these things and limit the damage being done to you.”
The Secretary also argued that the purpose of schools is to provide instruction in mathematics, English, history, and science, not to house birth-control clinics, which he called a “bureaucratic” and “questionable” response to the problem of teen-age pregnancy.
But Judith Senderowitz of the Center for Population Options, a Washington-based group, responded: “We think there is an ‘abdication of moral authority’ when our leadership does nothing to prevent children from having children.”
“Where is the moral outrage against leaders that allow teenagers to bear children too early?” she asked.
“The clinics have a real place in the schools,” said Ms. Senderowitz. “In addition to improving the health of the students, they prevent dropping out,” she maintained. “For example, in a St. Paul school, where a clinic has been operating since 1972, only 20 percent of pregnant students who use clinics for care dropped out, compared with 50 percent of those who did not have use of a clinic. Not to mention that the pregnancy rate at the school was cut by 50 percent.” (See related stories on page 6.)
She also argued that “clinics are not pro-sex; they always encourage kids to delay sexual activity. Every clinic discusses abstinence.”
Both Ms. Senderowitz and Ms. Newcomer said there was no evidence documenting a relationship between the availability of family-planning and sexual activity by teen-agers, but both said such services have been shown to decrease the incidence of pregnancy.
Ms. Newcomer added that school clinics also decrease the incidence of health problems, including vision and hearing disorders, by catching them early.
“I don’t think Mr. Bennett understands the clinics,” Ms. Newcomer continued. She said that of the 45 school-based clinics in the country, some of which have been functioning since the 1970’s, only 9 dispense contraceptives.
Mr. Bennett said that school authorities should not acknowledge that sex is commonplace at the high-school level, because parents do not want it to be commonplace. If parents want their children to have the services offered at clinics, he said, there are many other places to go.
He also cautioned school officials considering clinics to consult members of their communities--or, he said, “you may find you have created a full-enrollment policy for private schools.”
In response, Ms. Newcomer said that all of the clinics require parental permission for care, “so parents are able to choose whether or not their children participate.”
“Clinics are not making anyone choose private school,” she added. “In the schools where there are clinics, we’ve found most kids haven’t been to the doctor in five years. Do you think those kids are going to rush off to private school?”
