Monday, January 7, 2008

If you think this sounds socialist, decent sex ed would cut back on the problem all together...

I was reading an article today about teen mothers in Denver, Colorado who are fighting for the right to have excused absences after they give birth to bond with their children and recover.

I don't think high school girls who get pregnant should ever keep their children. Either abort, or if you aren't comfortable with that, arrange for an adoption. Keeping a child at that young an age is selfish and foolish and I intend to teach my daughters that they are NOT going to be ready to care for a child until they are financially independent and gainfully employed. It has nothing to do with age or marital status, it has to do with financial ability to care for a child independently without being a drain on society.

That said... If a girl DOES keep her child, we have to do something for her. Otherwise she'll just drop out of school, and thus, not be able to properly care for her child. Maternity leave is important for their health and the health of the child-- I would say two months after discharge from the hospital, with work packets to keep up with the course load; one month if she gives the kid up for adoption, to heal. Maybe get volunteer tutors to help, or something (And if they don't come back after that, treat it the same way you would treat a normal teenager who skipped school-- go after the parents). Then, have a childcare facility attached to the school, but, have the caretakers of the children in the daycare be a few supervisory staff members/teachers and then students, who are taking a class in parenting skills and childcare. A teaching daycare, basically. Provide a free service to the teen moms (and teachers) in exchange for a unique opportunity to teach students what it is like to care for children, under the supervision and guidance of professionals. That way, kids who take the class won't want to have kids for a LONG time and mothers can come visit their kids, breastfeed them, etc, during study hall and lunch (they could eat lunch with the kids). Teen dads could even come visit their kids and play with them.

And yeah, wealthier families would put the kids into professional daycares rather than have high schoolers care for them, but the point would be that there would be a chance for girls (or teachers) who can't afford regular childcare to have care for their kids. You could even have slots for children whose mothers are working adults in other jobs, but can't afford normal daycare, for a fee that is greatly reduced from the normal cost of childcare. Basically have the same idea as a teaching hospital, just have it be for childcare.

What do you think?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Think you'll never know until your in the situation

Basiorana said...

I'm guessing from the context you are referring to my comment about abortion or adoption and not keeping a child.

At this point in my life I could feasibly handle a child, theoretically. And yet if I were to become pregnant, I would either obtain an abortion if it was really early in the pregnancy, or arrange an adoption if it was later. If I attempted to keep the child I would expect my family and friends to talk sense into me and they know as much. I know I am not ready for a child and I believe that a child is not "mine" until I decide to raise them. Therefore objectively I would understand that any attachment I felt towards that child while I was pregnant was merely a result of my hormones and not something I could base a decision on. I thus would follow my previous decisions combined with the advice of friends and family before considering my current hormone-rattled emotions on the matter.

Baconeater said...

It is more than "hormone rattled emotions," there is an evolutionary basis for a mother to bond with a child, and even a fetus. This can then create the moral dilemma that pregnant women/girls face when deciding whether to abort.
Sure, most teenagers are not either financially and/or emotionally equipped to raise a child and the right (most logical) choice in most cases would be to abort.

Basiorana said...

The evolutionary tendency to bond is a result of hormones being released that make a woman more inclined to bond with things, usually directed at the child. Yeah it's evolutionary, but it's done through hormones, which is what I meant.

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