Youth / OPINION : Norplant: ‘A Green Light for Sex?’

CARMEN BURNS

Senior, 17, Dorsey High School, Los Angeles

Unfortunately, there is a prevailing attitude among members of the Los Angeles School Board that treats the subject of birth control in inner-city schools as a non-issue. It is a racist point of view in that as long as teen pregnancy remains predominantly an urban problem, the board is content to bury the issue. But if this same problem were to become as prevalent in white schools as it is in urban schools, then you can be sure the school board would get on it immediately. The problem is great enough in my school and other inner-city schools that (Norplant) should be used.

Unfortunately, there is not a lot of discussion between parent and child in this regard. Many parents have the false impression that the schools are doing this for them. So, it would only seem appropriate if the schools educated kids on these subjects.