There are at least 6 dead trees on my desk as I gear up for my first blog entry. I am nervous. I am excited. I don't know what to write about so...I will tell you why the dead trees -- I mean, the massive reports -- I have in front of me are distressing. All are from very well regarded groups. All are scholarly, loaded with graphs, bloviating at full throttle with phrases like "priorities for public policy should be based on the following core principles..." ALL talk about the problem of poverty in
But not one of them says a single word about how reducing teen pregnancy as well as unplanned pregnancy more generally might help make things better. I am staring at pages and pages of material about early childhood education, about parent support services, about reconnecting fathers to their children, about ways to improve high school graduation rates, about services to support teen mothers ....I LOVE all these things. I often make yearly contributions to groups that do these things. I believe they are valuable.
But why the aversion to going "upstream" to help people postpone pregnancy and childbearing until they are through school and really ready? Until they AND their partner are committed to the demanding task of raising the next generation -- which, by the way, means they are committed to each other? Is this idea -- so old and so familiar -- out of fashion? Why is it not on the list of ways to help?
Sarah--Well said. Those trees did not die in vain. I look forward to "more" in the future.
Like you seem to be, I too get very upset at the literature on what to do to make things better. The reality is that many fathers do not want to stay in the picture, and the percentage that do is very low. To change the trends on teenage pregnancy, lets educate more and lecture less. Teenagers need honest and real instruction, throw a little humor in there and you might just reach them. Show them the reality of the risky behaviors that they are engaging in-nothing works better than the photos of worst case scenarios. And parents, stop being so scared to talk to you kids. They want you to!