Are all school nurses now encouraging teenage girls to have the contraceptive implant?

I don't think it is about being pc at all, the implant isn't a substandard product for an excluded social group. Many capable women choose it as suiting them, others make different choices...

Eugenics? How?

It is easy for us to critisize school nurses for offering contraceptive implants to teens. But i have seen another side of this through working with inner city family planning projects in the US in Baltimore. The most effective way out of poverty for young inner city women was NOT to get pregnant at a young age.

This meant that they were more likely to stay in school, finish their education, get a decent job and move out of the poverty stricken environment they were bought up in. By delaying pregnancy until a later age they had far more chance of being in a stable relatonship with a partner. FP nurses in these projects were positive about implants because of their efficacy. they still advocated condoms for STD protecton, but at least they were offering young women the near certainty they wouldnt have an unwanted pregnancy. Yes the drugs aren't perfect in tems of side effects, but they offered young women in the inner city cycle of poverty and teenage pregnency a better chance of a route out.

FWIW the bush administration got elected and then pulled most of the funding for these projects. But thats a whole different topic

Sq, not necessarily the same girls! There are groups I know who are never drunk but who do have sex usually outside of their faith and community group- these were the girls I was thinking of although there are many teens who don't want to risk parents finding out in less obviously contentious circumstances.

So maybe the nurse didn't feel like a balanced conversation or maybe she is a bit rubbish or sees the implant as progress, who knows. There will be policy behind this too but that doesn't take precedence over the established rules that govern hcps interactions.

I think the implant is a long way from the norm and it is certainly not the cause of an upswing in stis. There are many tens who eshew hormonal contraception often only too aware of weight/skin changes as possible side effects.

If implants do reduce teen pregnancy then it could be argued that they have done a group of young girls a huge favour. The physical risks to mother and baby, the risk of ss intervention/ care proceedings, the reduced economic power and potenial dependence issues, the damage to education prospects are very real.

This is a very interesting thread. Dworkin when you said 'Also implants are well known to reduce sexual desire in women', how do you know this? Do you have a link to evidence, or somewhere I can look for some? I have never seen it mentioned in connection to implants, yet it seems to be true, in the couple of young women I know with an implant.

"SQ the pill is still prescribed but for lots of girls they know at the start they will not remember to take it, taht they are too often drunk or drugged for it to be reliable or that they dare not have it in the house for fear of family finding evidence that they are having sex."

I mean, come on, if you're that off your tits while you're that age and living at home then your parents are bloody well going to notice!!! They are going to notice that you are drunk, off your head, whatever. Out all night.

I haven't read the whole thread but has anyone mentioned Frasier Competency / Guidelines yet? And / or the Gillick case?

I'm trained in sexual health and can issue condoms to the young people I come into contact with without letting their parents know under the council's sexual health policy.

S'cuse typos - bit drunk.

The fact that this is a policy rather than an individual decision between a girl and her doctor ought to make it easier to challenge.

Yes, if you phone the school office they should be able to give you the number.

Idohopenot school nurses are part of School Health Teams, not Education.

Any parent can contact the School Health Service.

However in some areas CASH (Contraception And Sexual Health ) services can be provided to young people in education by other organisations such as Connexions, Get It On, Sex Sense, Outreach services etc.

If your child is deemed competent than you have no rights, as far as I am aware, to have any dialogue with hcps about contraception/termination decisions your child has made whether a nurse of any sort or a GP etc has organised these choices for her.

Generally yes, IME, older teens like the idea of an implant. Most have tried an oral contraceptive pill and for whatever reason wish to try something more reliable. IME the vast majority of teens pay lipservice to using condoms, or if they do use condoms don't trust them enough to protect against pregnancy and want to double up, using hormonal and barrier methods.

We do have to rely on asking the young women themselves about their medical history, but many do bring their mothers with them. Also it's part of the contraceptive assessment for under 16s that they are assessed as being 'Fraser competent' and encouraged to discuss sex and contraception with their parent/s.

SQ the pill is still prescribed but for lots of girls they know at the start they will not remember to take it, taht they are too often drunk or drugged for it to be reliable or that they dare not have it in the house for fear of family finding evidence that they are having sex.

Yes Sidge, that's my experience, that condoms are promoted first and foremost, alongside information and support on healthy, respectful relationships. I don't mean to suggest that that's a waste of time - it can make a difference to the decisions young people make about when, how and in what circumstances they engage in sex.

But, it isn't the panacea for all ills, in the same way as the abstinence movement in the US hasn't been (well, actually has lead to an increase in pregnancies and STI's where it's been adopted.)

The fact that young women are in situations where they aren't always in control of when, how and with whom they have sex is part of a wider social, economic and political context where women and girls aren't regarded as being of equal value to boys and men. They are sexualised and objectified and that paves the way for such abuse and exploitation to become almost "normalised," especially by the young people themselves. We absolutely must tackle the patriarchal values and structures that enable this to happen. But in the mean time, surely we also owe it to the young women caught in the middle of it to be able to at least do something to reduce some of the risks they face (even if we may have less chance of reducing the others.)

I meant when I said that nurses operate within usual boundaries that they are not permitted to 'push' a contraceptive option. They are also compelled to go through side effects as part of informed choice. If a nurse doesn't do either of these things with teens whilst assessing them for competence than she is failing in her role and can be reported/sanctioned. Schools have no say in any of this as they are in no way part of the health service so the only over lap tends to be CP issues which are sometimes but not always shared with the CP figure in a school either by a nurse or by ss later.

I have contact with these nurses sporadically primarily through yp I work with and they are usually very professional and a long way from being apologists for male sexual dominance. They work with the yp as individuals and provide information and education alongside contraception.

In terms of what rights I think we have as mothers to know what contraception our daughters are on then I believe we have non. I hope that healthy relationships lead to discussion and dialogue but the principle is established to protect those girls who have no chance of having healthy dialogue about sex and contraception with family members.

Someone asked was the girl I mentioned under the age of consent, no she wasn't and the sex was consensual by legal definitions but representative of changes in our culture that profoundly damage some young women.

Kritiq's post mirrors what I see/think.