ThreeSixty -

By Katy Combs, a senior at Hopkins High School and co-editor-in-chief of "The Royal Page"

For the first time in recorded history at Hopkins High School, more than half of the twelfth grade students reported being sexually active, according to the 2007 Minnesota Student Survey.

Fifty-three percent of senior males and 50 percent of senior females reported ever having sex in the 2007 Minnesota Student Survey. That’s up from 32 percent of males and 34 percent of females in 2004.

Of the 705 enrolled seniors at Hopkins High Schools in 2007, 351 of them participated in the survey. The survey is administered every three years to sixth, ninth, and twelfth grade students.

According to the Minnesota Department of Education website, the survey is meant to “provide students, parents and their communities with a dynamic vehicle for ongoing communication about issues vital to the health, safety and academic success of youth.”

The survey results for sexual activity may be unsettling for some parents and adults, but what many of them are disregarding is that high school students have either become or are in the process of becoming an adult: legally, mentally, and emotionally.

These are the same young men and women who we, as a society, have deemed responsible enough to drive in the vehicle next to us on Hopkins Crossroads.

This is the exact group of people we prepare to further their education at a secondary school or find a financially stable job after high school.

These are the young adults, if of legal age, who will vote Nov. 4 in arguably the most historically groundbreaking presidential election our country has ever witnessed.

Since we have educated these individuals to do those coming-of-age duties, shouldn’t we also do the same when it comes to their reproductive health?

The recent postponement of plans to implement a teen clinic on the Hopkins High School campus, a satellite of the West Suburban Teen Clinic, is hindering the safety of its students.

Bobbi Pointer, the school nurse, works closely with the teen clinic and has referred many Hopkins students there for care. The board of directors at the clinic took a survey of their users and the idea for a clinic at Hopkins High School was launched.

The Hopkins school board unanimously approved the proposal and plans proceeded.

This is the first time Hopkins High School has discussed housing a clinic, which would have also made it the first suburban school to do so. In Minneapolis and St. Paul, many high schools already have clinics, according to the Star Tribune.

The state survey results point to the obvious need for a clinic, and the Hopkins High School community would greatly benefit from having the resources a school-based clinic would provide.

Legally, minors may receive confidential health care, including reproductive health services, without parental consent under the Minnesota Minor Consent Law.

Numerous Hopkins students exercise this right and are treated at the West Suburban Teen Clinic in Excelsior, which for most is currently the closest clinic in the area. Last school year alone, a total of 373 visits to the clinic were made by 143 Hopkins students, according to the Star Tribune.

But with such a huge number of sexually active students, Hopkins teens need more accessible resources to make the most informed decisions about their sexuality.

During the 2007-2008 school year, at least 25 pregnant or parenting students attended Hopkins High School.

In order to prevent these statistics from continuing to grow, the housing of a convenient clinic at Hopkins is vital. Through the clinic, students would have access to free contraceptive methods such as birth control and condoms, however, it must be stressed that its services are not limited to just that.

The proposal for the school-based clinic outlines that developing knowledge of healthy relationships, the ability to refuse sexual advances, and information on sexually transmitted diseases would also be provided, to name a few.

Although the survey results showed a rise in the number of sexually active students at Hopkins, it also revealed that these students are having an increasingly difficult time talking to a sexual partner about sexually transmitted diseases.

The percentage of students who have never talked with a partner about STDs, HIV, and AIDS increased in 2007 by 12 percent among twelfth grade males to 31 percent, and 17 percent among twelfth grade females to 24 percent since 2004.

Research also shows that now 1 out of 4 teenagers have an STD, according to the Star Tribune.

A school-based clinic would promote the healthy aspects of sexuality, such as STD awareness, testing, and treatment, for no cost. But without a clinic, teens may easily let a harmful STD spread, and thus put an indefinite number of others at risk simply because they were too hesitant to ask.

Teen clinics provide a safe environment for young adults to discuss questions openly with a qualified professional. Many teenagers are afraid to communicate their sex-related concerns with their parents; a fear that exists because oftentimes mom and dad avoid having the awkward “sex talk” with their children.

This apprehension places students in vulnerable situations when they decide to have intercourse.

Hopkins students are in dire need of the resources provided by a clinic to gain a better understanding of how to treat, protect, and make educated decisions about their sex lives.

There is no proof that supports the argument that greater access to contraceptives will increase the number of sexually active students, according to research conducted by the Members of the Minnesota Organization on Adolescent Pregnancy, Prevention and Planning.

No students were present at the Hopkins school board meetings over the summer where the plans for a satellite clinic were discussed, and most of the people that did attend to share their opinions didn’t even live in the district, nor were parents of students in the district.

Since the clinic would primarily affect the Hopkins High School student body, that’s the voice that the school board needs to hear from.

A high number of Hopkins students are going to have sex, protected or not, and will continue to do so. In order to maintain the reproductive health of the student body, the satellite clinic is necessary. It’s that simple.