Shocked is an Understament

Ive read an article from a British News paper online that the number of pre-teenage girls on the Pill has increased fivefold in the past decade.

 The article said that last year doctors prescribed the oral contraceptive to more than 1,000 girls aged 11 and 12, usually without their parents' knowledge.
Another 200 aged between 11 and 13 were given long-term implanted or injectable contraceptive devices on the NHS ( National health Service)

In The UK the age of consent is 16, but doctors are allowed to prescribe the Pill to children if they believe an underage girl is mature enough to have sex.

WTF, how can any 11-12 year old be mature enough to have sex, let alone be in the right mind to bring a child into the world and parent it. 

And because of patient confidentiality, parents have no right to be told if their children are being given the Pill.

This has had me thinking all day.

These children are having their childhoods stolen from right under their noses...... their being given choices that they don't even realize that there are consequences to. They just assume that they will never get pregnant. 

Has anyone bothered to explain to these children that just because your on the pill doesn't mean your safe.... when sex education is introduced in school do they tell them that not only can you get pregnant when having sex you can reduce your chances of ever having children if you contract Chlamydia. 

Chlamydia is the most frequently reported bacterial sexually transmitted disease in The UK & The USA.

Chlamydia is known as a "silent" disease because the majority of infected people have no symptoms. If symptoms do occur, they usually appear within 1 to 3 weeks after exposure.

Then there is HPV ..... Human papillomavirus  is the most common sexually transmitted virus in the . At least 50% of sexually active people will have genital HPV at some time in their lives.

Do you think anyone has told them about any of the above ..... 

And lets not forget Gonorrhea, Pelvic Inflammatory Disease, Syphilis, Trichomoniasis.

To name just a few more.

I have to say Im in shock that this is allowed to happen and all in the name of patient confidentiality and maturity.

Can you imagine finding out your 11 yr old daughter is on the pill, because the doctor believes she is mature enough to have sex ..... I mean how do you react to that... me I'd have a fit ...and his arse would be in court faster than he would be able to write a prescription.

The UK has the highest teenage pregnancy rate and teenage abortion-rate.
It was among the worst in Europe for many years and part of that was the lack of awareness in children about the risks of sex and pregnancy.

So who do we blame for that..... the parents, school education or society in general.
I dont have the answer to that.....

All I know is  there are more risks to having sex than just having a baby...... and I wonder if children of that age understand the potential risks after the initial fact.

*note back to the old layout... the new one would not let people comment. so if you tried to comment and couldn't ...thanks for trying ....*

*photo imagine Teen Pregnancy Statistics