15-Year-Old Kendall Jenner Being On Birth Control Demonstrates Good Parenting

Kendall Jenner, the 15-year-old sister of the Khardashian “klan,” has recently been revealed to be on birth control. The internet seems to be brimming with articles asserting how irresponsible it is for her parents, nudging readers about her age, and even alluding to her sister’s sex tape. These sloppy, easy attacks on the sexuality of a young girl fail to recognize the smart parenting in being proactive with birth control.

Kendall could  be on the pill for many health reasons, something other writers gloss over but don’t mention. Young girls often go on birth control for so many reasons: acne prevention, regulating menstrual cycles, relief from extremely painful menstrual cramps, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, and cancer prevention to name a few.

That being said, if Kendall is on the pill because she’s considering being sexually active, or is sexually active, there is no shame in admitting that too. Although the national average for first-time sexual intercourse is about 17 years old, there about 13% of 15-year-olds that are sexually active in our country. Whether you think that’s appropriate or not, the efforts by Kendall’s family to ensure that their child is prepared and safe speaks highly. After all, the birth control pill is 98% effective against unwanted pregnancy while a parent’s insistence to simply not have sex is, what — 20% effective? 40% at most.

Guttmacher reports that while the US and Europe tend to have the similar sexually active rates, Europe has much higher use of contraception than we do — and so they have significantly lower pregnancy rates than us.

No family, I would think, would love the image of their child being sexually active (no matter what the age), but pretending that your children aren’t having sex is not birth control. Assuming that they’re not sexually active or won’t be does not put them at lower risks for pregnancy, STIs, or HIV infection. While I agree that abstinence should be a choice available to teens and young people, preventing education and awareness about sex and STI risks that includes contraception, even for those teens who do choose to abstain, does not prepare them for decisions they may choose to make. Keeping children ill-informed, in the dark, and unaware of risks and birth control options sets them up to compromise their health.

As long as Kendall is planning on using condoms with those birth control pills, I don’t see the problem. I see a responsible, sexually-prepared young lady.

 

 

 

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