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The percentages are interesting but not surprising. The key thing to consider is that the white population in the USA is 5-6 times the black population, thus there is a greater NUMBER of unwed white mothers.
The numbers and percentages cry for attention. I believe the late great Senator Daniel Moynihan, perhaps our smartest Senator ever on the issue of Welfare spending, pointed out that OUR welfare laws are structured in such a way as to push fathers OUT of the picture. Moynihan pointed out that a mother cannot collect welfare if the father is living in the home, thus millions of absentee fathers, black and white and brown. OUR own rules built it into the system; i.e., structural singleness, and poverty. Hopefully, those laws got changed, but I haven't followed that topic.
Either way, it's an issue to address - ECONOMICALLY. There is no moral issue for me, people can choose to get married or not, that's THEIR personal call to make. If these unwed parents PAY THEIR OWN WAY, that's fine, and I've NO gripe with them. But, IMO, the issue is economic; when tax money gets used to help single parents, it crosses a line to where the issue sticks its hand into EVERYONE's wallet and then it is OUR issue and OUR place to speak up.
So, I get back full circle to the Bush administration, during which ONLY the rich got richer. The working class, and even the middle class, lost economic ground, putting lots of single parents into economic distress. The Bush administration, by pushing a line of thought (abstinence ONLY) that is NOT followed by most people, further set the stage for the unhappy situation noted in the CNN report. Yes, I lay much of this at Bush's feet, he let our economy go to hell, so the shoe fits, and HE gets to wear it.
Last edited by Mike from back east; 04-11-2009 at 12:02 PM..
Location: The Chatterdome in La La Land, CaliFUNia
39,031 posts, read 23,012,380 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by momonkey
First of all, if you can't get kids to stop copulating, What makes you think they will do what you say when you tell them to wear a condom? Do you know how long that condom will remain on? Exactly as long as it takes him to find out what it feels like without it.
The depths of victimhood I see in your post.
"You can't just dump these girls who were fed a line of goods about abstinence only."
As though being told that sexual abstinence was a good idea caused them to spontaneously conceive. As though the GOP abducted teenagers, drove them to the nearest motel, ripped their prom attire off and said "now don't copulate because that would be morally wrong".
Kids are at extremely high risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases. Telling them to wear condoms when they don't listen to you about abstinence is an indication that your kids going to do what he or she wants anyway. The solution is to be a better parent.
Did Palin spend too much time being Governor when she should have been spending her time with her daughter? Maybe so. But your solution is obviously flawed for the reasons stated. The world is full of kids that wait and the results are always positive ones. The pregnancy rate amongst abstaining kids is always zero. The spread of VD amongst these same kids is zero. It works, when used as directed, 100% of the time.
Location: The Chatterdome in La La Land, CaliFUNia
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HIF
Abstinence only has been shown not to work. However, those parents who teach it to their children believe it to be the right thing to do. It is the agencies that push it that perform a disservice to the public. Government funding, IMO, should not be directed to these agencies.
Comprehensive birth control and disease prevention should be taught in the schools, abstinence being included in the curriculum. Morals and religious values should be taught in the home.
I believe that ALL sexual education should be the responsibility of the parents. The government had only made a mess of things when they got into the whole sexual education business anyway. I wonder what the teenage pregancy rates were like BEFORE government sponsored sex ed?
First of all, if you can't get kids to stop copulating, What makes you think they will do what you say when you tell them to wear a condom? Do you know how long that condom will remain on? Exactly as long as it takes him to find out what it feels like without it.
The depths of victimhood I see in your post.
"You can't just dump these girls who were fed a line of goods about abstinence only."
As though being told that sexual abstinence was a good idea caused them to spontaneously conceive. As though the GOP abducted teenagers, drove them to the nearest motel, ripped their prom attire off and said "now don't copulate because that would be morally wrong".
Kids are at extremely high risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases. Telling them to wear condoms when they don't listen to you about abstinence is an indication that your kids going to do what he or she wants anyway. The solution is to be a better parent.
Did Palin spend too much time being Governor when she should have been spending her time with her daughter? Maybe so. But your solution is obviously flawed for the reasons stated. The world is full of kids that wait and the results are always positive ones. The pregnancy rate amongst abstaining kids is always zero. The spread of VD amongst these same kids is zero. It works, when used as directed, 100% of the time.
And just think, these are the people that will taking care of us when we're sitting in the rest home in out last days . Just shoot me and get it over with, please .
We all AGREE that abstinence works, but ONLY if it's followed. But it ISN'T followed.
If only a few percent of people remain celibate until marriage, that's a pitiful success rate for "abstinence-only" education, thus, any government that relies on just this one approach is doomed to failure, thus my knock on Bush, et al.
I believe that ALL sexual education should be the responsibility of the parents. The government had only made a mess of things when they got into the whole sexual education business anyway. I wonder what the teenage pregancy rates were like BEFORE government sponsored sex ed?
Parents? No way. I got ZERO sex ed from my parents, but I saw at least one of my sisters get preggo as a teen. First thing I bought with my first paycheck was "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex, But We're Afraid to Ask" by Dr. David Rueben. AFAIC, that book saved my life.
We cannot depend on parents to do the job, most are poorly equipped. Those of us on here with the education, income and smarts may do a good job, but can anyone honestly believe that lower-working-class parents do a decent job, hell, most of them are barely literate as it is.
Since we have to bear the costs of welfare spending, we must have our schools teach the young all the hazards, ramifications, issues and preventative means to protect their lifelong economic and physical well-being. Anything less is an Rx for failure, and Bush, Rove, Dobson, evango-fascist winguts, et al, have NOT served us well with their "abstinence only" crap.
Location: The Chatterdome in La La Land, CaliFUNia
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stac2007
I was brought to believe in using many different methods to solve or deal with a situation. How can you expect kids not to have sex? The questions to ask is which one will work best concerning my kids so they will not have children out of wedlock and stay disease free.
This is the crux of the issue. We are communicating to our children that we expect them to not be able to abstain and are scratching our heads to find ways they can do so "safely". Guess what? There is NO such thing as "safe sex". Birth control measures fail all the time (if our kids even remember to use them) and condoms are not effective in preventing many STD's. Maybe parents need to be more actively involved in their teen's life and set some moral boundaries instead of pushing this whole "safe sex" myth.
Oh, before you bring up Palin's daughter... Keep in mind that Bristol's mother was likely too busy being a governor and campaigning with McCain so it's likely that she was not spending enough time with her daughter to set moral boundaries.
I believe that ALL sexual education should be the responsibility of the parents. The government had only made a mess of things when they got into the whole sexual education business anyway. I wonder what the teenage pregancy rates were like BEFORE government sponsored sex ed?
Believe it or not, teen pregnancy rates were higher in the early 60s! However, the girls usually got married then, so it doesn't show up in the "unwed moms" stats. I am old enough to remember a number of "have to get married" people in my high school class, some as young as sophomores (15-16). If the parents (who often have little knowledge themselves) were actually doing the job, yes, I'd agree with you. But we have decades of experience to show this is not the case.
We all AGREE that abstinence works, but ONLY if it's followed. But it ISN'T followed.
If only a few percent of people remain celibate until marriage, that's a pitiful success rate for "abstinence-only" education, thus, any government that relies on just this one approach is doomed to failure, thus my knock on Bush, et al.
So you saw a stat and decided to make GWB responsible for the behavior of teenagers who obviously have a communication problem with their parents, but also add to that single women with the desire to conceive out of wedlock and lesbian couples who typically don't marry. Did you read the article?
I'm kinda a political buff. I tend to keep up on all things political. Perhaps I missed something and you could better inform me about this policy of GWB to prevent all forms of contraception from being used, especially by teen aged females. I have to admit I'm unfamiliar with his opposition contraception.
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. Just shoot me and get it over with, please 
.
