I did a little math of my own and came up with a more astounding figure; Suppose that of the 978 pupils attending grades 8 through 12 at Frayser High School, half of those are female (489). Now those 90 female students who have given birth recently or are currently pregnant puts the percentage of female parenthood on up to almost 20%!
The Memphis City School District folks are a'wondering what can be done about this problem. They're looking for grants, for funds, for what amounts to TAX money, to correct this problem. I don't know about you all, but I can think of a few corrective measures that don't have a damned thing to do with throwing good money away:
First, someone tell me what in the hell being a student at Frayser High School in Memphis, TN has to do with being pregnant? Did they get pregnant while attending school?
Make the students/teens/parents accountable. Back when Hector was a pup, and me too for that matter, if you decided to have unprotected sex before marriage and became pregnant, you, the father-to-be and your families somehow came together and came up with a plan. The plan did not include not knowing who the father was, or applying for medicaid to pay for the doctor and hospital bills, or receiving money, WIC, or Food Stamps from the government to raise a child.
Educate your kids about sex and contraceptives and don't wait until they're grown to do it. You should also not expect the schools to do it for you. More than half of the U.S. states allow that minors do not have to have parental permission to ask for and receive FREE birth control. (Hey Frayser students, TN is one of them!) The states that don't allow it, have legislative bodies who are about as dumb as a box of rocks in my opinion. Parents and teens should put out at least as much effort at obtaining AND practicing birth control as they do waiting in line to fill out all the paper work to have the government pay to have and raise a child.
Ok, I'm done.
11 comments:
My guess is with THAT high of a pregnancy rate it has become cool to get pregnant at this school so birth control being given out may not have much of an effect.
I really don't know what the answer it but I think someone needs to get real with these kids that haven't gotten pregnant yet and give them some straight forward facts and statistics to let them know that if they do what is cool they will probably be destined for a life of poverty and their child will probably not reach near the potential it could if they waited a few years.
I also think all these shows on TV about teen pregnancy aren't helping any and just glamorizing it. I haven't seen them but I know they are popular shows and I'm guessing the more teens see others having babies the more normal and okay it appears to be.
Couldn't have said it better myself. It's all about not having to take responsibility for your actions!! And then there's shows like "Teen Mom" and "16 and Pregnent" that probably don't help, either!
and a very SOLID Amen from Texas!!
hughugs
I could not agree with you more; it's ridiculous that parents don't "own" some of that responsibility! But, I seriously doubt they would with the world the way it is now. Too many tax dollars going to "help" those who don't want to help themselves. :(
I know a lot of people don't agree, but make birth control available. The thinking seems to be abstinance and that's a good thing but guess what? These kids with raging hormones don't think about that. They're watching 'South Shore' and such and woohoo. Rant all you like Brenda.
Another Amen from Texas!
Its your blog and you are entitled to rant all you want!
It is a national trend with teen pregnancy.I am not sure why, I had a bumpy road being a MARRIED parent, making ends meet.It hurts me since this was a special moment in my life.I often tell that my best job in life was as a father.I was a single parent and it was rough with an education and career.
Agree totally!! I was ranting on our local paper comments about tax dollars paying for AIDS treatment. I had no idea! I thought their health insurance paid for it.
Where IS the responsibility any more? I know from the time David could practically talk, I preached condoms...well that's exaggerated LOL. Are the parents too busy? What is going on. Ridiculous.
Ranting is good! SOMEBODY needs to stand up and say something!! Where the hell are the parents??? I totally agree with you Brenda!!!
Hi Girl...The Linky will close on that Friday so don't wait too long and forget!
hughugs
You're singing my tune about wasteful government spending! A government program is NOT the answer to teen pregnancy. Where do folks get the idea that we need to turn to the government for solutions to everything and everything under the sun? This country is turning into one big nanny state and that is why we are headed toward financial disaster.
The problem with the teen pregnancy issue lies in the culture and society that no longer holds the values of the past. Parents are not fulfilling their parental responsibilities, and these failures are going to be passed on to the generations down the line. And how many of babies are going to end up on the public dole? Unfortunately, you and me have to ultimately pay through our tax dollars because others shirked their responsisilibites. The responsible folks are supporting the irresponsible folks. And the politicians think that setup is just fine with them because the irresponsible are quickly becoming the majority in this country and that translates to more votes.
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