GET YOUNG GIRLS OUT OF THE BUSINESS OF HAVING BABIES

(Originally Posted 1/15/2008)

Beginning September 2009 young men and women in Texas high school health class will be learning about parenting: how to establish paternity, what it takes to be a parent, and finally, love, marriage and a baby carriage. What these new classes will not do is condemn early parenthood or teenage sex. These classes will not warn young girls and boys of the hardship and lifelong burden that having a child brings. They are not taught that having a child as a child, for women especially, will likely put them into second or third class society and lead to a life of poverty recycled and regenerated for years to come. No, these classes will only focus on the facts of pregnancy and parenthood hoping to provide “activities where the teenagers can learn about themselves.”

Women are in crisis and in denial. No doubt this generation has the largest feminist presence this country has ever seen with female athletics surging onto the scene of once before male dominated sports and earnings on par with men. Examples of this abound in tennis, golf, and basketball, business and politics. Annika Sorenson in Golf, Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams in tennis. Women like Meg Whitman of Ebay are running fortune 500 countries. Hillary Clinton is running in equal consideration with men for President of the United States of America. Housewives are not desperate but running their families, serving on boards in their communities and making a difference in our world. This is worth learning.

It’s no secret that pregnancy becomes the full burden of the female and her family for the larger course of her life so why are we continually pushing women to consider that teenage sex and pregnancy can be normal and okay as long as you know what to expect. Why are we informing them about what to expect as a young unwed parent instead of warning them of all the hazards and hardships that will come their way. Why aren’t we imposing an expectation of self-control and an interest in something more meaningful in their future than their boyfriend’s penis? Why not share with them the evolving roles of women and the what the best picture of motherhood is? That is a woman with options.

What they can discern about themselves and learn about these successful women is the one thing that all these successful women - the top female athletes, politicians, CEO’s, and stay at home moms with the cushy Escalade and nice shoes do not have: an illegitimate child from a high-school boyfriend, that’s what.