Drug use in schools made national headlines again recently, rattling parents from Connecticut to California.

But this time, it wasn’t marijuana, cocaine or heroin creating the furor. And the suppliers weren’t dealers on some street corner or deserted alley.

Nope. The drugs were contraceptives, and the proposed distributors were school officials.

The Portland, Maine, school board voted overwhelmingly to allow a health clinic run by its King Middle School to supply birth control pills and patches to students. The independently run clinic provides services such as immunizations and checkups and has been handing out condoms since 2000.

Students need parental permission to go to the health center, but treatment is confidential under state law. They only need to undergo a physical exam to get their prescription.

We are talking about children as young as 11 here. The board has decided that these preteens can decide for themselves whether to take a powerful prescription drug without telling their parents.

I think the decision is not only wrong, but also dangerous. And sadly, it’s emblematic of a worrisome trend: Parents expecting schools to assume some of their more challenging duties.

The board said it took such a drastic step after 17 middle-school girls became pregnant over the last four years.

It’s no wonder school officials want to do something. Becoming pregnant at such an early age is heartbreaking. Preteen girls can barely deal with the physical and emotional impacts of menstruation, let alone an unplanned pregnancy. And the impact on babies born to teen moms is even more staggering.

Middle-schoolers run mostly on emotions and hormones. They act impulsively and irrationally. Most of them are still really just kids.

They need their parents to help them understand the unsettling world of sex. But many parents have trouble doing so. I admit it – I’m one of them. I envy friends who candidly discuss sex with their children, honestly answering any questions their curious little ones ask. I thought I was being really progressive calling private parts by their correct anatomical names, but some parents, shall we say, lay bare every detail.

But as uncomfortable as most of us are talking with our children about sex, we must. We have to stop abdicating our responsibility to do the hard work of parenting, assuming schools will pick up the slack.

I also reject the idea that since kids will engage in risky behavior anyway, we can only take pre-emptive actions to reduce the risks.

Like parents giving their kids beer or pot at home so they can experiment in a safe atmosphere. Or purchasing them R-rated movie tickets – and then leaving the theater.

Supporters of the Maine school board argue that making birth control available doesn’t encourage children to have sex; it only helps those who are.

But that misses the point that getting pregnant isn’t the only undesirable outcome here. Having sex at this age damages kids, whether they get pregnant or not. And besides all the rational and moral arguments, the best deterrent to sex is the fear of getting pregnant. When you remove that barrier, you’ve made it easier to engage in risky sexual behavior. I can see girls getting contraceptives “just in case.” And when a boy finds out they’re “safe,” watch out.

What our kids need is us, their parents, not some little pill that doesn’t address the real problems.

Kids are bombarded with sexual images every day from every angle. It can feel overwhelming – to them and to us. But that doesn’t mean we are powerless.

As adults, we still have some control. We need to tell our daughters what happens when they give themselves to a boy they think they love, and tell our boys that they’re just as responsible as the girl who says yes.

Throwing contraceptives at a sexually active kid is a Band-Aid, not a solution. The best birth control is an involved parent, grandparent or guardian.

Anne McGraw Reeves writes for The Patriot-News of Harrisburg, Pa. E-mail her at [email protected].