Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

It was just a draft, so it was unsigned. The vice-principal, armed with my article in hand, stormed from classroom to classroom demanding to know who wrote it. Someone mentioned me (they knew I was inquiring about the subject previously) and thus, I found myself face to face with the principal.

On her desk was a copy of my article, highlighted, marked up in red. She informed me that the nun who "discovered" my piece nearly had a heart attack, was on the verge of tears and "very distraught" over what I had written. "It was like a punch in the stomach for the Sister," she said.  I told her, first, the article was a draft, and that I was going to rework it, and second, I honestly wrote it to bring the student-administration problem to light. I was prepared for discipline, or at least a good yelling, but the principal launched into a marketing spiel about how the school really is tuned into our needs, blah, blah, blah. Honestly, I stopped listening after "I'm not going to suspend you, but..."

The article was not allowed to be published.  But that didn't stop it from being circulated throughout the school. I had students (and teachers) telling me how much they agreed with what I wrote, and how wrong the administration was in silencing student voices.

AND NOW, LET'S TALK ABOUT TENNESSEE
These students in Tennessee wrote not about school pride, like I did, but about contraceptives.  It seems like a valuable topic to talk about in high schools in Tennessee (which, by the way, ranks 13th in the nation for teen pregnancy rates (pdf)).  And the students dared to print a photo of a student's tattoo, which the parents didn't know about.

Tennessee's Independent Media Center has a good piece about the controversey:

"The school administration should realize they don't have the power to censor our paper," [editor] Thomas said, while fellow students gathered around her living room late Wednesday afternoon to hand-paint T-shirts they plan to wear to school on Monday in protest.

"When they (the general population) see a pregnant girl, they say the girl should know better," senior Samantha Senn said. "But in a lot of cases, they (the girls) don't know anything."

Other students said they think not allowing the paper to be distributed at school is "ridiculous."

The article which explains birth control methods references a national survey, conducted in 2001, of high school students who were asked whether they were sexually active. Those national percentages were applied to ORHS students.

The article primarily covers birth control methods, quotes Dr. Charles Darling, an obstetrician/gynecologist in Oak Ridge, and tells students where they may obtain contraceptives - including a quote from Darling that says parental consent is not needed to obtain birth control.

According to the paper's Editor-in-Chief, Brittany Thomas an article placed underneath the offending story, "advises students to practice abstinence until marriage."

The students have contacted free speech attorneys.  They're staging a protest today (see the pic above).  

If you want to contact the school and give them a piece of your mind:

Contact Info:
Principal, Becky Ervin: bervin@ortn.edu
Phone: 865-425-9601
Superintendent
Thomas E. Bailey, Ed.D.
E-mail: tbailey@ortn.edu
Phone: 865-425-9001; Fax: 865-425-9070

For more information, Tennessee Guerilla Women is on top of the story.

I empathize a lot with these students.  When I had my article pulled, I was too clueless to stand up for my rights (although I did make a point of creating more troubles for the administration for the rest of the year!).  I'm really proud of these students, and they sure seem intent on not letting this story die... Update [2005-11-28 15:37:26 by Georgia10]:: Here's the text of the banned article, via this blog:

According to a poll taken in 2001, if applied to ORHS today, then there would be
34% of ninth graders = 143 sexually active students
41% of tenth graders = 147 sexually active students
52% of eleventh graders = 195 sexually active students
60 % of twelfth graders = 207 sexually active students
**This information was provided by Dr. Charles E. Darling, an obstetrician with the Anderson County Health center. **
If these figures hold true, 692 ORHS students have had sexual intercourse. There are many concerns for these teens, including emotional health, STD's, and pregnancies. I want to discuss how to lower the risk of unwanted pregnancy.
While complete sexual abstinence is certainly an option, these statistics say that many teens aren't choosing that option.
My opinion is, if you're going to have sex, then be safe. There are so man things out there that can keep you safe. These methods include:
The pill with an 8% failure rate
Male condoms with a 14% failure rate
Rhythm (avioding sexual contact when the female is fertile) with a 20% failure rate
Withdrawal (pulling out) with a 24% failure rate
Cervical caps with a 20% failure rate
Spermicides with a 26% failure rate
Depo-Provera (an intra-muscular shot received every 12 weeks) with a 3.1% failure rate
Mirena IUD (a hormone releasing intrauterine contraceptive) with a 0.1% failure rate
ParaGaurd IUD (a non-hormone releasing intrauterine contraceptive) with a 0.8% failure rate
A diaphragm with a 12% failure rate

"There are some things that a lot of people don't know about many of these contraceptives that make the failure rate so high," Dr. Darling cautions.
The only way for male condoms to actually work correctly is as soon as the male ejaculates he must pull out so there won't be any leakage into the vaginal area. This, unfortunately, is not widely practiced and therefore ups the risk of pregnancy.
"If you are taking any medications and you wish to be put on Depo-Provera you should go and talk to your OB/GYN before and make sure that they will work together. There have been many cases where a certain medication has shortened the 12 week infertility period by almost 3 weeks. This causes women to be able to get pregnant during this time period," said a current substitute teacher and a former employee at a pregnancy center, who asked that we not use her name.
"Withdrawal is risky because many men do not realize when semen is released the first bit of semen contains a large quantity of sperm," Dr. Darling stated.
If you are considering any kind of birth control, please talk to your doctor first and let him know of any medications that you may be on to be sure that it is right for you.
Statistics show the number of teens involved with sexual intercourse has been declining since 1991; now 43% of women and 49% of men admit to being sexually active in high school.
"Continuous use of the pill and the patch has not been well studied, nor are there large studies done on the effectiveness of the vaginal ring," said Darling.
"If you get a pregnancy test done and you find out that you are pregnant, you can make sure that the parents do not know. Also parental consent is not needed to obtain birth control," stated Darling.
Contraceptives can be obtained through a local physician or the local Health Department. The Anderson County Health Department is open on Mon - Fri 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and is located at 100 N Main St, Clinton, TN 37716. You can reach them during normal business hours at(865) 457-6228
although there is a growing number of teens that are now taking a stand and have chosen abstinence, there's still a large number (majority) of those teens who are sexually active. case in point - teachers, parents, and other adults (as well as fellow students/peers) keep asking, "what can we do to keep our children from getting pregnant, getting diseases, etc...?" and i truly believe they are trying to watch out for our well being, i also think that some of them might be trying to hide how they truly feel about the issue and that their too consious to think that maybe their son or daughter is having sex. for those who choose abstinence, i am not trying to put you down or anything of like. i respect you in your values and sticking to them.

but for those who chose not to go that way, some of the teens who aren't as up-to-date on how to protect themselves as others, its not always an easy thing to ask their parents about what they should do to protect themselves.

if parents were more open in realizing what their kids were doing, their kids wouldn't be so afraid of talking to them about important issues, sex being one of the most important if not THE most important issue. if more parents were willing to accept their childrens decisions and not telling them that they've made a terrible decision, than maybe they'd talk to them more.
i guess what i'm trying to say is that even though many of us know how to protect ourselves from getting sick or pregnant, there are those who don't and its not always easy getting access to whatever they may need. but when it does become available it seems so many people are offended by it and choose to take it away and think that its a parents right to know what their kids are doing. and i do agree w/ that...but i also think that parents need to be able to accept their children's decisions. they can't always make them for us and it would be easier for us all if parents were more willing to realize and trust their kids.

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We need to let these people know that our kids' rights are as important as our own. Loudly, but politely and respectfully. Join me, won't you?