this has nothing to do with anime

[dude]

i recently got a Seventeen mag. and in it was a campaign for candies foundation and the fight against teen pregnancy. i was just thinking that it might be a good idea for their to be some sort of college or university or educational foundation for those young girls who find themselves in that kind of situation. instead of giving their children up for adoption or putting their lives on hold because of their kids, they should be able to have a higher education that will give them and their new family a better chance at life. i really think this would help and i was just wondering if anyone else thought this would be a good idea. if so please email me with your own ideas. i would really appreciate it and i hope that this will be a reality really soon. thanks!

[Loverofpiggies]

-_- I think they should learn what ABSTINENCE means.

[Kaoru]

You guys are rude on the subject, but very funny.

I'd agree with the first guy tho. Abstinence is the key!

[Murasakivie]

-_- I think they should learn what ABSTINENCE means.

At the very least, they could learn to just NOT make babies. But I guess it's too much effort to go to your nearby planned parenthood for free birth control.

[dude]

completely agree, but apparently those morons think they are incapable of baby making and go for the ride anyway. however i just saw this thing in my local paper about how this couple gave their newborn (like 4 hours old) baby away to some woman in CVS. i mean really,the worst part is that now they are like trying to sue social services to get the baby back!! i don't get it. too amny newborns are being thrown in garbage bags, left on door steps, thrown in rivers, put in microwaves! all because these girls feel like now their lives are over because of it. whether their own families told them that or their "boyfriends" did, they feel like they will never have a good job or a good life because of their mistake. that is why i want to help.

[Iblis]

I certainly wouldn't support a special college or anything for higher education of someone who's too stupid to know how to not have kids. If someone feels that their life is "over" because they made a "mistake", oh well. They can try leaving the kid at daycare and getting a job.
If society/government takes care of other people's kids in the name of allowing the parent to "live their life" and allow them to live like they don't have them, it destroys anything they would learn from having to take up the responsibility of taking care of a child they produced.

Seriously... anyone who would, if they didn't have someone else to take care of it, throw their baby in the river/put it in a bag/whatever is not someone I would consider worth educating anyway. Not the right mindset, ya know?

So yeah. Abstinence. And if they don't abstain and don't take steps to ensure the child isn't born (I'm talking birth control - I don't like abortion), then they should have to take care of it. They'll learn more responsibility that way than they ever will any other way.

[JimDeVico]

Stop the name calling or this thread will be removed!

Conversing on this subject is acceptable but I will not stand for insulting or demeaning of a whole group of people - no matter who they are or what they have done.

Please tell me which of you has NEVER made a mistake?

To paraprhase a line from DocHoliday "you're in my cross hairs now". Be careful!

[KaYoKitten]

>__< You guys...Mr. Jim is right...these girls made a simple mistake. They're not "stupid", they're not "morons", they are simply girls who made a wrong turn. Many of them have LEARNED from that experience and they are trying their very best to support their child(ren) in any way they can.

Do you realize that minimum wage is only a little more than five dollars an hour? Have you ever done back-breaking work that pays very small amounts just so that you can put food on the table, to pay rent, to make the ends meet somehow? Think about it: many of us pay $9.99 per book for a manga. For that amount, at a Wal*Mart in my town, you can get: a pound of bananas, a loaf of bread, a jar of peanut butter, a jar of jelly, a gallon of milk, a package of cheese, and some sandwich meat. That's enough to sustain two people for a week, at least. How many of us don't even think about it when our parents slide a credit card for 200 dollars of mostly junk food that we'll devour in two weeks?

The average teen mother has to work two hours, away from her child, just to feed herself and him/her for a week. NOW. Add on rent. The bills (electricity, gas, water, etc). Childcare while the mother is away. Did you also know that women only make 80 cents on the dollar that a male does in the workplace (and you thought we were equal)? Now add on the fact that prices are inflating, and the wages are not going up with it.

Working on an hourly job bites. Take it from a Wal*Mart cashier. I'm not a single mom, didn't make that mistake. But I know dozens of girls my age who did. Who dropped out of high school so they could work at McDonald's just to feed their kid when their folks kicked them out. Whose so-called "boyfriends" ditched them when they found out she was pregnant. Even if they somehow get payments from those men who ditched (some don't out of fear), it's not enough half the time.

I think the idea is terrific. We do need to get together a special scholarship just for working single mothers. This isn't to help them "get on with their lives" WITHOUT the child. It's to help them help the child grow up with all his/her needs met, with a great mom. Did you know that moms, not dads, are becoming the major source of influence over children? When a person seems utterly in control of the situation, a child wants to be like them. That's WHY people like the characters on TV that seem like they always know what they're doing, that's why they're defined as "cool".

Now put that into a child's life with a mother who wants to guide them AWAY from their own mistakes. Now whadya got? A child who doesn't make those same mistakes, and doesn't continue in the same path as their mother. They'll make mistakes, sure. But we hope and aim for mistakes that can be reversed or fixed.

[Kyaa the Catlord]

I firmly support charitable organizations doing such things. If you choose to give your money to help out those less fortunate than you, kudos.

If the government does it, I completely stand against it, in the US at least. I believe this falls outside of the role of government defined by the Constitution. I favor a more limitted interpretation of the "general welfare" clause where Congress is granted its powers. This should be to the welfare of the state, not of the citizenry, as was laid down by United States vs. Butler (1936). *cough* I'm such a politics nerd.

[Andrew Cunningham]

What we need is sex education programs that cover birth control in accurate detail.
Having condoms available in vending machines would also be a big step.

[Aratos]

What we need is sex education programs that cover birth control in accurate detail.
Having condoms available in vending machines would also be a big step.

We have those around here. Yet Dundee (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dundee) has the highest rate of teenage pregnancys in Europe. Teaching birth control doesn't work. Particularly when you teach it to children who legally aren't even suposed to be in a position to need it!

[Andrew Cunningham]

I works better than teaching abstinence, which will just get ignored.
Japan has a much bigger problem these days. According to the less than trustworthy Mainichi english paper, ridiculous numbers of young people have sexually transmitted diseases. The young people don't use protection, and their parents don't use protection, and nobody talks about sex between generations, so people believe all kinds of mystic bullshit. Obviously, school can't teach what needs to be taught at home, and huge numbers of kids aren't going to listen to their parents either, but surely it's better to make an informed mistake than screw up because you honestly just didn't know any better?

[Aratos]

Teaching abstinence gets ignored becasue the media encourages it to be ignored. The fact is, they did a good job of not ignoring it in the past, at least to an extent, and if the government'd pull their socks up and actually start making policys that might offend people, teaching abstinence would work.

[GracieLizzy]

Teaching abstinence gets ignored becasue the media encourages it to be ignored. The fact is, they did a good job of not ignoring it in the past, at least to an extent, and if the government'd pull their socks up and actually start making policys that might offend people, teaching abstinence would work.

Actually studies indicate that about 70% of these people who take chasitity pledge thingies that abstinence-only programs support break them, and if they break them they are much less likely to use contraception than those who are taught comprehensive contraception or abstinence-plus. That's what I think they said on Dispatchers (http://www.channel4.com/news/microsites/D/dispatches2006/).

[Andrew Cunningham]

Abstinence is against human nature. It's a decision some people choose to make, but trying to push the belief that it is correct onto people is impossible. I'm not saying we stop recommending abstinence, but pretending it will take the place of informed decision making is not going to get us anywhere.

[KaYoKitten]

Normal psychology: Tell someone not to do something and they will inevitably do it. Agreed, it's a problem that many young women make, but not because of a lack of an informed decision (at least not in the US). Most schools have sex ed classes beginning at very early (and IMHO, TOO early) ages.

Television has begun using very gritty, very real situations that I think actually scares some teens away from those decisions. Seeing the bad AND the good in a situation is the best way most people can make a weighed decision. And unfortunately, only the media and the creative culture known as that infernal television set is going to be able to do it.

We live in a time where kids are placed on EQUAL GROUND with their folks, sometimes right from the get-go. The normal age for a married woman to have a child is 18--straight out of high school. For many unmarried women, that age is far less--and growing lesser. The last I heard, the average mother's age was 16--a sophomore high schooler!

My 13-year-old brother is in a middle school where one of the eighth-graders is ALREADY pregnant. The prevailing attitudes of sex, drugs, and trouble have trickled down into the middle and into the upper elementary ages. I went into a classroom to teach a writing venture, and some of these kids had horror stories that I couldn't believe. One of them was three years younger than I had been when I'd seen my best friend shoot himself--and she'd watched her brother be murdered in her bed.

The problems aren't going to get better, and there is no quick fix. We can't just automatically 180 an entire generation's ideas of how the world works. Despite how much anyone here thinks they have authority because of age seniority, the truth is much more frightening. Our world is being run by children more and more than it is by adults.

And you know what? Our own attitudes are turning them against us. Even as I sit here, age 20, and look back at the girls in high school now, it's like a completely different world. Changes are being made. I don't think any of us are really ready for them, though.

[dude]

all i wanted to know was if anybody thought i should try bake sales or hitting up local shops for money for the cause. i didn't want to bash teen moms. sorry.

[lunylady]

I tend to agree. Abstinence is the more definite avoidance of disease and pregnancies. But then again, you aren’t counting the unforeseen and unavoidable situations that can easily deviate this. Think hard you don’t get it.

Education will help and research shows that it helps to limit unplanned pregnancies. But no amount of education is going to fully help you cope with “love” and “lust.” Those more primitive instincts are a bit more stronger. A straight A student could the next day while being sent into a situation could (I) remain on course (II) get sidetracked with the wrong influences (III) just not care. No amount of education or reeducation can changes a person’s personality.

I’ve read what some of you have said, rude or not, you should respect another’s opinions. Besides, I doubt you’d be arguing these opinions or calling yourself “stupid” should you be in the situation. Don’t always just blame the female. It takes “two to tangle” people. Get that?
Also, have any of you considered that perhaps this is an escape for finances? There are people who “breed” children for government pay. Anyways, the “separation” of government and state is a bit farfetched. Read the Constitution again and see. Also, the government is for the people by the people. It’s a social contract and thusly they have a responsibility to care for the citizens. On the other hand, finances are a big issue. And war is top priority absolute.

We may be animals but abstinence is not against human nature. Not for the females in priority. You cannot use evolution as an excuse.

As for the statistics one of you posted, you are wrong. Majority research of modern day women shows a prioritization of women in the working field trying to achieve equality with men. Women have lost their domination of the race and are trying to take it back. Over 55% of women are now desiring less to no children or have the intention to create a career prior to childbearing then become plagued by depressive issues of never having children or even getting married since they are nearing menopausal age.

There is also the problem of age and sex. Females of the millennium are approaching menses at an earlier age. Another issues is that this triggers hormones and unnecessary occurrences. Also age is a factor seeing as there are cages of 8 year olds having sex with 4 year olds. Too bad you can’t call that kind of behavior a crime just yet.

Media is a high factor but so are family relations. One factor, a female born to a mother of 18 or raised in lower income families have a higher rate of sex and pregnancy. Also, media offers sex, starvation, and heterosexuality. The latter may not seem important but it really is.

As for the “forbidden fruit” syndrome is out of course. Get new material. If your parent warns you not to touch that rattler coiled out two feet away, then would you? I really don’t think so. Unless you have a death wish or supreme yet odd fascination.

Luny Lady

[Katsy]

Ok so as someone who was a teen mom (17) I have a little insight on this. I WAS taking birth control everyday at 8am, when I had to get up for school and a part time job on the weekends. AND I never missed a pill, but guess what? I got pregnant anyway. So what did I do? I chose to have and keep my baby. I have had a crazy life and sure things are harder for me. But was it a mistake? No things just sometimes happen for whatever reason. Was I out sleeping with whoever? No Was I too young to be sleeping around. Ya. But when you are that age you do things that when you get older you are like "what the **** was I thinking?!" But that is no reason to get down on some of these girls. Some want to fit in with everyone, some want that "guy" to like them, or are just naieve. Not everyone of these girls are out there to sleep around and get knocked up.

We shouldn't be thinking about the "stupid girl who got herself knocked up", we need to think about what is best for the child. These girls need an education to be able to provide these children with the best life and hope for their futures. A mother who dropped out to raise her child and is flipping burgers can barely pay the bills. I've worked my a$$ off to raise my children. I have sacrificed so much to make the best life I can give them. I am 24 and I work 50-60 hours a week to make ends meet. I get up take my oldest to school, and my youngest to daycare (that costs almost $800 a month!) and then I go to work. my parents pick my children up and take them to their dad's. When I get home they are either sleeping or it's time for bed. I miss everything, and I feel like the worst mother ever. But I have to do this, or they will have nothing. I worked for five years at $8.00 an hour to finally recieve the title of manager, and that barely pays for everything. And you know if you don't have an education, you are not getting a good job.
I will never be able to go to school because I can't afford it, and I have no time to because I have to work to pay my bills.
So am I saying kid's with babies should have special treatment? No, but as someone who has lived through it, a little help wouldn't hurt.