I watched an episode of George Lopez, and Carmen, the soon-to-be-16-year-old-daughter was asking for birth control pills.
Some plus-sides to the pill are:
- clears up your skin
- is good for your heart
- regulates your period cycle
- and helps prevent pregnancy
Looking at these facts, birth control doesn't sound too bad after all, does it? Except for, the name. I wouldn't mind taking the pill, I mean, who wouldn't want clear skin, a healthy heart, regulating menstrual cycle, and less chances of getting pregnant all in one pill every day?
My friend actually had to take birth control because her period cramps got so bad. As proven here, the pill is not just used to prevent pregnancy.
I'm not a parent, but would you let your teenager take birth control? Would you believe them if they said they wanted it for all the reasons, and not just one? If you've taken birth control, what was it like? Why do so many people automatically assume what the pill is for when somebody uses it?
Comments (480)
If it's birth control or risking her getting pregnant, then yes, definitely birth control.
I would definetly allow my 16 year old be on birth control. I want the kind of relationship with my daughter that she can come to me and tell me those kinds of things, so we can have talks about being in love with your husband before having sex. That doesn't mean that she will completly agree with everything that I have to tell her, but I'd rather her come to me and tell me she wants to have safe sex then to have sex and being a parent at a young age.
Nah, I'd rather let my daughter get pregnant. Then perform a Falcon Punch and abort that sucker. Then I have dinner for that night.
I'm going to hell...
When I made the effort to get the pill, I went to Planned Parenthood. They told me all the negative side effects, and all the risks associated with taking the pill. Then they set me up for free (so far, the only plus in being a minor).
Anyways, yes, if I have kids, and my teenager wants birth control, I don't even care if it's because she's having sex, I'd much rather set her up with birth control than be taking care of grandchildren at that stage in her life.
There would be only 2 reasons I would but my teenage daugher on bc. 1) She was sexually active or 2) for health reasons such has extreme irregularity in periods or extreme cramps. It is proven that if you do not have regular periods you are at a greater risk of ovarian cancer (not the case when this is caused by being on bc itself so take a sigh of relief for those of you whose bc only lets you have a period a couple times a year).
Believe it or not I didn't go on bc until I was 23 because I had only had a couple periods (2-3) in the past twelve months. I've never been regular but it had gotten bad.
I would NOT encourage anyone to go on bc for clearer skin. It is artificially messing with your hormones so it is not without risk. Different people react differently. Do your research before making any decisions.
i'd let them try it, if they didn't like it, they could stop.
i think if I had a daughter, i would ask her to take it.
I'd rather her take it then end up a grandma, taking care of her baby.
My mom asked my sister and I if we wanted to be put on it when we were around 16.
I'm glad she did
I'll let my daughter take if she wants to, when she's old enough. Especially if her cramps get as bad as mine were. I'd want to make sure that she'd still act responsibly though.
I want to get on it.But have the fear of asking my mom. Not saying I'd necessarily have sex, but I think it's better to be safe than sorry.
I'm not a parent, but there are some freaking 7th graders taking the pill now, and they're having sex and all that stuff. what is this generation coming to now ?!
@averyswife@xanga - Thank-you- I totally agree with you! I think there are far better, natural means of dealing with acne and even irregular cycles. Messing with hormones is just scary. I think I would rather my daughter deal with acne (and cramps and all that) now than not be able to have children later. Heck! I won't even take the pill again! I took it for 5 months after we were married and it messed me up so bad and contributed to my 20 lbs. of weight gain.
Our children will also be taught abstinence until marriage (and when I say 'abstinence', I don't mean they won't even know what sex and things of that nature are, as some people who oppose abstinence teaching seem to think, lol), the 'birth control' part of the pill will really (hopefully) not be needed. If my daughters are going to go ahead and do the deed (again, hopefully not) they can wait until they're 18 and get the pill themselves.
In response to someone who mention fixing the 'broken' natural, I'd have to say that there are a lot of other ways to fix that. Stay away from any meat or milk that has been produced using steroids and/or hormones. Stay away from soy products as soy looks like the estrogen molecule to the body. To combat acne, avoid greasy junk food and eat more fresh, whole foods- especially fruits and vegetables, preferably organic.
My 19-year-old sister struggles with acne and she's always cooking up some witches' brew to smear or rub on and has decent success with it. She wouldn't dream of going on BC just to clear her face up.
i'm curious how the pill is good for one's heart considering women on bc have twice the stroke risk as nonusers.
@kpsmom3@xanga - I found out I have Dysmenorrhea, which caused my cramps to be so severe I wouldn't be able to get out of bed without throwing up, so I too missed a lot of school.
I would allow my daughter to be put on birth control, because I myself have first-hand experience to know that there are reasons besides sex for going on the pill.
@Mom2Be - There was a post recently saying that greasy food and chocolate don't cause acne. Sounds like you're still listening to the doctors in the 70s who said 'JUNK FOOD CAUSES ACNE.' My mom is in her 50s and still has terrible acne. I eat EXTREMELY healthy food and have terrible acne as well. My birth control helps a bit, but there are many causes for acne besides what you eat.
Acne is caused by excess sebum being produced under the skin. That has nothing to do with the grease or fat or any part of the 'junk foods' you eat. That would be like saying eating carrots affects the dead skin and oil under your finger nails.
I know many people who went on birth control as teens as hormonal regulation. I don't even assume why people are taking it if they are taking it.
I started b.c. pills for contraceptive use when I was 17. I continue them for P.C.O.S.
Of course, hormones are NOT 100% hunky dory safe.
I intend on having a very open and honest relationship with my children, if I have any. If it were for sex, I'd sit her down, have a talk with her explain all the risks and discuss non-hormonal options, etc. and listen to her go, "I know, Mom.... Yes, yes, I'm aware.... You've already told me all this." If I raise them right, I'll be able to trust them and things won't be an issue.
No, neither for "regulating periods" nor birth control. The pill isn't a quick fix for "regulating periods", gyns are so quick to simply prescribe the pill b/c of abnormal periods, without doing any sort of evaluation to find out the cause of abnormal periods. Also, teens WILL have abnormal periods being that they're still so young.
As for birth control... responsible teens don't have sex, period. Once a teen has sex, they've lost all sense of responsibility.
Perhaps I'm old fashioned, yes, but I also have morals, something which we're passing on to our children. It's possible to raise children this way. My parents did so with me.
I would get the pill and just not tell my parents because its not a subject we discuss and i wanna keep it that way.
@averyswife@xanga - I'm an environmentalist and I'm on the pill.
Trust me, BC in not the problem here, its agriculture, meat factories (yes factories) if you eat commercial food, or meat you are doing far more damage.
There is a really good frontline about this, and this op-ed in NYT last week...
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/28/opinion/28kristof.html
On another note, I went on it because my hormones were completely out of wack.  No I don't like using drugs especially something like hormones, but when your body is messed up already I have no issue fixing/regulating it...
and my period had a nasty habit of coming during finals week, and I almost failed a class/fainted in another final.
I gained a few pounds, but I was skinny anyways, I don't plan on having children so it messing up my reproductivity isn't much of a issue/fear for me.
@Mom2Be - Wow, you would rather have your daughter suffer then be put on an extremely safe and helpful medication?  What if your child was suicidal, would you forgo medications because they are scary (and trust me, those meds are REALLY scary) and force them to suffer as well?
Trust me, I tried everything I could to stop the pain before it came to BC, but after I fainted once and could have very easier hit my head on a concrete floor I said enough is enough- and my pain tolerance is through the roof (or so says my doctor).
Acne is not caused by greasy foods, and I stay away from all hormone full food and my periods were exactly the same.
Count your lucky stars you have the fortune of not having to deal with extreme craps and pain, but I hope for your daughters sake that if she ever ends up in my position you make the same choice my mother made (and my mother is a very VERY conservative mother) and get her REAL help.
p.s. I'm sorry but abstinence only teaching is a very dangerous idea as well, I also hope your school has the sense to teach your children other options (mine didn't, but thankfully I had the sense to teach myself).
I would let them take it. Not that I would necessarily believe them that it was for the innocent reasons but.....well, yeah
Bottom line is, people have sex, teenagers have sex. Wouldn't you want to be protected and informed?
also, it's a good way to get prepared. I honestly couldn't see myself remembering to take a stupid pill every day. I can't even remember to take TUMS(for the calcium) every day or every few days. So I would want to be SET in the habit by the time I'm active, and I'm not yet.
You need to get used to it, and I mean, you have to be honest. Personally I don't like the sound of hormonal birth control like the pill. Makes me nervous. Especially that "4 periods a year" one...>_>
My period was absoloutely insane, and when I got on the pill it came on the same day every month :) Thank god for the pill! (Not to mention I haven't had a breakout since before I was even pregnant ((and my son is almost two)) and I got on the pill after that and it's been amazing :)
@ManoAngeliukai9902@xanga - Wow, thank you for being so close minded. I got pregnant when I was fifteen, and yes that was irresponsible of me, but saying that once they do the deed they're NEVER responsible ever again is just bullshit. I'm graduating ahead of my class and already accepted to a private college.
Dont' be so fucking ignorant.
My parents let me go on the pill for acne when I was 16 and it was great. They knew I wasn't and am not sexually active, and we knew the side effects. I went off because I was so inconsistent that I'd force two periods on myself a month sometimes, as well as wanting to take a more natural approach to clearing up my skin.
If I have a daughter who asks for birth control, I wouldn't mind letting her go on it - for what it's worth, if she is in fact sexually active at the time, I would be more comfortable and happier that she is considering her future and playing it safe on the pregnancy side, but I would also opt that she consider other options as well. While HBC can do wonders, it's not the same for everyone and I'm not too nuts about the potential for wonky hormones, depression and terrible mood swings, and future risks.
I would say to just sterilize every teenage girl. Problem solved.