<p>Taxpayers be ready to pay for it. Why Acorn is not working with these kids to teach responsibility. Where were our president and first lady not focuing on issues like these when they were in Chicago to teach these kids responsibility. </p>
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<p><a href=“http://cbs2chicago.com/local/Robeson.High.School.2.1251642.html[/url]”>CBS Chicago - Breaking News, First Alert Weather, Exclusive Investigations & Community Journalism;
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<p>NO it’s not over, but I can’t wait to see how they feel when they can’t go to a movie on Friday night or not fit into their low rise jeans. Or even the fact that no 18 yo will want an instant family, but see her as an easy chance to get some!</p>
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<p>What they will do after graduation? Who will take care of these baby while mom works? When these baby grow up the morality will not be taught, the baby girl get pregnant or baby boys as a grown up kid will make other kids pregnant?</p>
<p>And we call all this audacity of hope? Where is the hope for these girls with no judement or moral resposnibility for their actions.</p>
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<p>Sorry, but my first thought was, huh? They are not going to work their job will be to cash their welfare check!</p>
<p>In other news, Lil’ Wayne has 3 different women pregnant at the same time! :eek:</p>
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<p>And in the interest of fairness, what about the males with no judgement or moral responsibility for their actions? </p>
<p>Very sad situation, but it does take"two to tango".</p>
<p>Well, at least the principle is trying to be a part of the solution and to offer these girls alternatives and the possibility of a continuing education. I don’t know what else he can do, really. I guess the objective is to get them to the point where they are self-supporting, which is why I have never understood the unavailability of daycare for the use of single moms. It’s a shame, though. You just know most of these girls are in the system forever, now. Sad.</p>
<p>As for the ‘two to tango’ concept…while I am a feminist, I have to say that both of my daughters were taught that that was just wishful thinking and that any woman who believes she will be able to “force” a male to parent is not living in reality. I don’t care what they say, I told them, YOU will be responsible, so BE responsible.</p>
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<p>Yes I agree that the boys are equally responsibe. But ultimately boys never take ownership and abandon these grils and the kids.</p>
<p>Since I am not a politicain I can say this “Unless funding for rasing these kids will be cut, this cycle will keep repeting” Since it is other people money (OPM), politicains will fund the habits of these kind of parents and their kids by milking taxpayers. </p>
<p>Unfortunately these poor boys and girls pay a very heavy price in not utilizing their brains and intellectual capacity to the full extent and depends on other’s charities for survival. They never become the indepndednt person who can achieve personal suceess like the current president and the current first lady. </p>
<p>I thought the current president will influence these poor kids life, but looks like another politican who will say anything to get elceted.</p>
<p>This reminds me of a similar discussion years ago when Newt Gingrich was castigated by some activist who told him he was a jerk for wanting to further penalize the girls for irresponsible behaviour. He had a pointed reply, which was that he didn’t want to penalize it, but he certainly didn’t want to reward it either. That issue is the great conundrum in all these social problems.</p>
<p>Examining this school and this area and trying to determine why this is happening is more productive than waving a finger and saying, “Fie, you strumpet!” Teenagers get pregnant–it has always happened and always will. The height of teen pregnancies in the US was in the 1940s, nationally they have dropped since then. The question is why does THIS high school have such a high rate of pregnancy? Is that typical for this geographic area or is it something about this school’s students in particular? 1 in 8 is a lot. Some girls genuinely think that if they get pregnant, the kid who impregnated them will “do the right thing” and marry them. If that’s the case here, maybe the sex ed curriculum needs to be updated to make it clear that often (I would go so far as to say usually) doesn’t happen.</p>
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<p>What exactly are you expecting the president to do? Visit the high school and personally lock chastity belts on all the kids? Has he been airing ads that say, “Hey teenagers, getting pregnant is a GREAT IDEA!” while I wasn’t looking?</p>
<p>Having an out of wedlock birth no longer carries a stigma in lower economic classes.</p>
<p>Most of these girls have essentially guaranteed themselves a life of poverty by having out of wedlock children.</p>
<p>razorsharp-- I fear you are correct. This is why I feel, fine, have sex ed, have girls separated from the boys and have them tell it like it is. The girls are always left holding the consequences, but it isn’t “politically correct” to say this. As for Newt Gingrich. pssshaw! Total Jerk. I wonder if he wants to penalize men who cheat on thier wives while they are in the hospital with a terminal illness. Let’s just leave him out of it. Please.</p>
<p>Please let me apologize. This thread came up on the front of the site for me, but I didn’t realize it wasn’t in the politics forum. Sorry.</p>
<p>“Having an out of wedlock birth no longer carries a stigma in lower economic classes.”</p>
<p>Or in the entertainment world…talk about role models!</p>
<p>There are so many different things going on that contribute to this situation that addressing one of them does little to prevent the situation of continuing–Family dynamics, lack of supervision, little regard for consequences, no discipline, failure to take personal responsibility, few positive direct role models in their lives, no standards set by parents, repeating of the same patterns of multiple births by different fathers, welfare, lack of self-worth, no direction or ambition or drive to do better than the previous generation, etc.</p>
<p>There is plenty of blame to go around regarding this issue. Unfortunately, most of these families seem to place more of the blame on others while failing to accept their own personal responsibility in getting themselves in this situation. They would rather blame the school system, blame their peers or blame the government rather than accept the notion that they and their family unit have failed to teach, model, and live by certain core set of values and goals. Change will come when families begin to act like families rather than act like completely random strangers living under one roof.</p>
<p>Naturally - what I expect of our Government leaders is leadership. </p>
<p>And that means telling the relevant communities that the problem of poverty and poor educational development DOES NOT mostly stem from racism, capitalism, or any other form of ism, but rather from the poor life strategy decision of having a child without an intact and stable two parent home to take care of that child. Moreover, communities must begin to stigmatize this behavior as it has given rise to a growing parasitic class economically, with fewer and fewer productive people to pay for it all. </p>
<p>And no - this is not some moral religious issue. It is simply a question of sound judgment and life strategy - have a kid in circumstances in which it cannot be properly cared for, and the life prospects for the mother and the child are dim. </p>
<p>Tough talk about sexual irresponsibility is in order. And in anticipation of arguments that this problem is due to the teaching of abstinence only education - bull - let’s make people responsible for themselves. I don’t at all agree with abstinence only education because it is naive and does not work - but let’s tackle the problem head on, no matter how many feelings we hurt. </p>
<p>Kay Hymowitz, a noted researcher on marriage, points out that the women most able to handle single motherhood - in her example - the highly paid single mother senior associate/young partner at a New York law firm, rush towards marriage in droves, and have children only after they are married. They realize even at their income level that marriage is the key to their offspring having a middle class life. Of course, in some of these communities, there is a shortage of marriageable men. But that argues again that there is a significant cultural problem in these communities that is of a far greater order than that caused by any identifiable ism.</p>
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<p>Some of the students at the college I work with are moms. Or dads. The ones who were properly stigmatized (ie, thrown out of the house) are much, much less likely to graduate and be able to support their kids than the ones whose families accept the situation and help them make something of themselves. And yes, some *were *thrown out of the house. Maybe this is not what you meant. Perhaps a scarlet A would be better.</p>
<p>Naturally:</p>
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<p>Presidnet to say starting 1/1/2011 any teenager while in ghigh school who gets pregnant will be not getting any dime for rasing kids by kids. Period. Harsh yes but will it help these kids to understand, once they know money disappears very few will be doing this. Some of the kids will suffer for their action but others when they will see reality will stop these behaviours. Male kids who are impreganting these girls will also be liable for the costs. They should not be off the hook also.</p>
<p>Otherwise since there is no peanlty for bad behaviour, this pregancy funding for young peroon to raise kids while they are kids themsleves route will continue forever.</p>
<p>And tell why Presdient himself and his wife waited to raise kids as they were responsible adutls. I want president who is acomplished and has strong perosnla moral value to be a leader not a politican who will say anything to get elected. He has moral responsibility to make these kids life better as he choose to be the presdient of USA. He has to take leadership route and not just talk about it , then no one cares.</p>
<p>Can someone move this thrad to politics section, sorry for posting in wrong place.</p>
<p>The reason I am advocating this harsh line as I work with these poor kids and see this problem. They do not want to hear resposnibilty message as they know taxpeyrs will be footing this bill. Some of these kids are extremely bright but they waste their life by not making right choices.</p>
<p>It’s not clear that the nonpregnant kids at Robeson are going to do much better in life than the pregnant ones.</p>
<p>There will be some small percentage that graduate, enter college or learn a trade, and have a steady life in the working or middle class. But most of them will not achieve that, whether they get pregnant in high school or not.</p>
<p>I’m a big fan of sex ed, but I don’t think that’s the issue here. Girls are getting pregnant on purpose, or by purposely leaving the possibility up to chance, because they don’t have plans to do anything else that’s worthwhile. Unless they believe they have something better to do, they’ll take this route. Tightening restrictions on welfare did little to change this pattern.</p>