I attended the SxTechConference.org with over 400 health educators across the country and one of the main barriers to responsible treatment and/or accountability with teen actions (whether it was STD clinic issues or birth control) involved anonymity and NOT being outed among peers. sigh.

The fact that she handed over the story to the media signals that she’s aware of what she’s getting herself into, controversy wise…and as you say, there’s complicity in the ‘making a point’ issue btwn. mother/daughter; but the damage of teens ‘rethinking’ the ‘safety’ of their decision-making environs altogether is dicey.

No doubt the teen should be sensitive to the fact that school is not a ‘show-n-tell’ moment, nor is it a ‘hide-n-seek’ game; still, it’s a fuzzy ‘separation of school-n-state’ type of issue when it comes to health care privacy that leaves a lot to be desired.

I’m working on a story about why teens seek ‘online internet counseling’ w/anonymity vs. in person counsel/school clinics (in the rare instances they’re available) due to the peer to peer stigmas associated with same…so this story really resonates w/me.

What we don’t know is whether her lunch break moment was discreet, and therefore a heavy-handed intrusion of privacy on the schools’ part…or whether the the school is accusing her of disruptive/influencer type of peer to peer contact. (e.g. big diff if she’s parading the pill around like a trophy; they DO have liability issues, as the other commenter said above)

Keep me posted, I’d love to find out the particulars. Meanwhile, I highly recommend the ISIS site for teens to find worthwhile medical advice using social media as a conduit for responsible health advocacy.

http://www.isis-inc.org

I think they’ve posted the keynotes and data on their blog from the 2009 conference too. It was really worthwhile and informative. I’ve planned a series on it and been backlogged on Shaping Youth! Thanks for this, Cate! –AJ

This girl is not only an honor student and letter athlete, she also handed over her disciplinary record to the Washington Post when interviewed. She’s pretty clean. Clearly, she and her mom made this decision together. She’s not hiding anything. No matter how you feel about teens and birth control, I think the administration should have looked at this particular case and let her off with a warning.

Next time, I’m sure she’ll leave her prescription in the nurse’s office!

BTW: It’s gotta be a bit embarrassing for her, though she and her mom weren’t identified by the WaPo. Of course all the kids at school know who she is! ~crazy.

However, last time I checked it was legal for a minor to be prescribed them, so I think this situation is ludicrous. She didn’t have cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, etc. Why are they treating her as a criminal?

I don’t like zero tolerance across the board policies because they mean we teachers and administrators can’t exercise common sense. On the other hand – allowing kids to walk around with non-emergancy medications is asking for a law suit. Some kids are going to switch pills. We had a 4th grader give away baby aspirin on a field trip. What if someone had been allergic, what if she ate the whole bottle herself. The media would be demanding the teacher’s head on a platter. Kids have used asthma inhalers to huff in school. Kids take prescription meds to get high.

I went through this at school with my old style epi kit. I had to turn it in each day at the nurse’s office. Pick it up after school and turn it into my Drill team instructor for during my practice. During events we attended, I kept the epi kit in my bag – with their knowledge. Now this was a syringe that could be emptied and then refilled and used for something else – different from current epi pens that can’t be reused. I always felt this was for my protection that I didn’t get beat up so someone could get the epi kit. My sister was both threatened and offered bribes for her migraine meds. So my parents would drop them off at the beginning of the year.