Birth control for middle school students?

AP/CNN:

After an outbreak of pregnancies among middle school girls, education officials in this city have decided to allow a school health center to make birth control pills available to girls as young as 11.

King Middle School will become the first middle school in Maine to make a full range of contraception available, including birth control pills and patches. Condoms have been available at King's health center since 2000.

Students need parental permission to access the school's health center. But treatment is confidential under state law, which allows the students to decide whether to inform their parents about the services they receive.

There are no national figures on how many middle schools provide such services. Most middle schoolers range in age from 11 to 13.

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Portland's three middle schools reported 17 pregnancies during the last four years, not counting miscarriages or terminated pregnancies that weren't reported to the school nurse.

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This really makes me feel old. I just find it hard to imagine the need for birth control by middle school students. That it is needed suggest that parents are really doing a poor job of instilling values in some very young children. It also suggest that the community is creating an atmosphere where such conduct is acceptable. The school and the parents should be ashamed.

Watch parents react to the school's plan »