Ah great... I love babies.

Good for them...I'm glad they could all find something in common. A lot of the problems in high school happen when you're an outcast...but with everyone preggers they've all got something in common and hopefully they'll all bond.

I say we all bond together too...and quarantine this fucked up school.

let's start putting birth control in the happy meals.

also, you don't see any news stories about how 20% of the boys in a high school are teen parents.

They taste just like chicken.


In all seriousness though, I'd be willing to be this has something to do with abstinence-only sexual education and a lack of education about, and availability of, protection.

When are people going to realize that teenagers have sex whether you want them to or not? Providing education and protection is the only real solution.

>> ^vaporlock:

Ah great... I love babies.

I'm not sure that this is the reason. You think these kids don't know what a condom is? This isn't a rural isolated school.

There have been anecdotal reports of young women getting pregnant so that they will have someone who will love them. To me, this epidemic of pregnancies is a reflection of low self-esteem and poverty, of young women seeking to feel relevant and empowered.

Teachings about condoms isn't going to fix that.



>> ^Skeeve:

In all seriousness though, I'd be willing to be this has something to do with abstinence-only sexual education and a lack of education about, and availability of, protection.
When are people going to realize that teenagers have sex whether you want them to or not? Providing education and protection is the only real solution.
>> <

siring a child does not a parent make
>> ^peggedbea:

also, you don't see any news stories about how 20% of the boys in a high school are teen parents.

I didn't like that question from the interviewer, asking if the teenagers were making pacts to get pregnant. Next he'll be trying to paint a picture of these girls wanting to best UK teen pregnancy rates (the highest in Western Europe).

My next piece of opinion will probably result in me being torn a new one, but ahh to hell with it - it's about time we in the Western world started taking China's policy of 1 child per family seriously, plus the necessary education to make our younger members of society aware of why such steps will help us all in the long run.

>> ^bareboards2:
I'm not sure that this is the reason. You think these kids don't know what a condom is? This isn't a rural isolated school.
There have been anecdotal reports of young women getting pregnant so that they will have someone who will love them. To me, this epidemic of pregnancies is a reflection of low self-esteem and poverty, of young women seeking to feel relevant and empowered.
Teachings about condoms isn't going to fix that.
>> ^Skeeve:
In all seriousness though, I'd be willing to be this has something to do with abstinence-only sexual education and a lack of education about, and availability of, protection.
When are people going to realize that teenagers have sex whether you want them to or not? Providing education and protection is the only real solution.
>> <


Sounds very much like why my youngest sister got herself pregnant. That plus the benefits situation in the UK can help someone generate an income for the next 16 years, longer if the children stay at home while attending uni or other forms of further education. You're right that teaching these teenagers about condoms might not fix the problem, but teaching them what it's like to raise a child might be a good way to put them off - let's have all teenagers (boys and girls) work in old folks homes for a few months so they get first-hand experience of nappy-changing, bathing, feeding, and overall the responsibility of having to look after another person.

I understand what you are saying, but it's not that they don't know what condoms are. There are millions of people in the world who know what condoms are and still don't use them (or use them properly); the key is in teaching why to use them.

The girl does say that there should be classes that teach the girls about protection and about not getting pregnant so I imagine it is a bit of both.

@Reefie As for the comment about the 1 child per family as per China, I don't even know where to start. First there's the massive problems associated with the policy in China; ie. the 4-2-1 problem (one child not able to help support 2 parents and 4 grandparents), the increase in infanticide, the huge gender disparity, etc. Then there's the fact that its results have been exaggerated; better economic status and better healthcare are more effective at controlling birthrates than the one-child policy, plus China's most dramatic decreases in birth-rate occurred before the policy under the voluntary "late, long, few" policy. And finally there is the fact that most "Western" countries are facing a population decline already - with so few people being born to the Baby Boomers that there will not be enough people to support their pensions. I'm not sure what the suggestion had to do with this video, but it doesn't really have a place in any realistic discussion about population.


>> ^bareboards2:

I'm not sure that this is the reason. You think these kids don't know what a condom is? This isn't a rural isolated school.
There have been anecdotal reports of young women getting pregnant so that they will have someone who will love them. To me, this epidemic of pregnancies is a reflection of low self-esteem and poverty, of young women seeking to feel relevant and empowered.
Teachings about condoms isn't going to fix that.

>> ^Skeeve:

In all seriousness though, I'd be willing to be this has something to do with abstinence-only sexual education and a lack of education about, and availability of, protection.
When are people going to realize that teenagers have sex whether you want them to or not? Providing education and protection is the only real solution.
>> <

Yeah, I didn't believe her when she said that, though. It had the ring of rote to me, of passing off blame.

I agree with you that education is the key. I think it is more complicated than a condom on a banana or classes in poopy diapers. Both those things are important, however they are just a piece of it.

Somehow, we need to teach these kids Hope. Pride in something bigger than making a baby (both the boys and girls).


>> ^Skeeve:

The girl does say that there should be classes that teach the girls about protection and about not getting pregnant so I imagine it is a bit of both.

Agreed.

Reminded me of this Mitchell and Webb skit - his comment at the end about having children is spot on - we need to enable young people to achieve things that are real achievements.
>> ^bareboards2:

Somehow, we need to teach these kids Hope. Pride in something bigger than making a baby (both the boys and girls).
>> ^Skeeve:
The girl does say that there should be classes that teach the girls about protection and about not getting pregnant so I imagine it is a bit of both.

carrying it in your womb doesn't give you sole responsibility for the act of creating it either.

>> ^Trancecoach:

siring a child does not a parent make
>> ^peggedbea:
also, you don't see any news stories about how 20% of the boys in a high school are teen parents.

i failed to use protection as a teenager mostly out of an enormous fear of my uber controlling puritanical mother. not that i was ill informed about safe sex and how babies are made. i wasn't at all. i spent my kidhood in a house full of sex. spent my later teen years with a hyper controlling puritan who terrified the shit out of me.

i was terrified of her finding the evidence. i'm 28 years old and i'm still mildly terrified of her finding out if i'm having sex with someone.

that's why middle class white girls get pregnant.

One statistic that holds true pretty much everywhere is a very very strong anti-correlation between education of women and birth rates. Need more sex ed. My school district had some sex ed in 3rd, 5th, 6th, 8th, and 10th grade but down in the bible belt or shitty inner city schools (or both, in this case) they might not have any.

@peggedbea evidence: Roll it up and flush it down the toilet. It'll fit.

>> ^bareboards2:

I'm not sure that this is the reason. You think these kids don't know what a condom is? This isn't a rural isolated school.
There have been anecdotal reports of young women getting pregnant so that they will have someone who will love them. To me, this epidemic of pregnancies is a reflection of low self-esteem and poverty, of young women seeking to feel relevant and empowered.
Teachings about condoms isn't going to fix that.

>> ^Skeeve:

In all seriousness though, I'd be willing to be this has something to do with abstinence-only sexual education and a lack of education about, and availability of, protection.
When are people going to realize that teenagers have sex whether you want them to or not? Providing education and protection is the only real solution.
>> <


That would be addressed in the general millieu of primary and secondary education. Sex ed is way more than just putting a condom on a banana. Sometimes a sex ed class is its own separate thing and other times it's just a subsidiary part of a home ec class or something.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/29/opinion/29males.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha212


Turns out not to be true. Ah, the media. Don't bother to actually investigate before reporting.

*dead

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