Teenage pregnancies and the battle to end them...

[Jessika]

Last time I checked people without parents or with very litty parenting support still have morals. Morals are self obtained. I have morals that my parents don't.

Morals begin to be instilled at day one, the day you are born. Even if the person is not your parent, or biological parent, they will still have a figure that they look up to who will, knowingly or unknowingly, instill morals upon them. It does not have to necessarily be a parent but a figure they look up to.

[sasvermont]

When I referred to education, education, education, earlier in the posting process - I was referring to a general education, not just sex education. I think that, in the US, we fail to education our children properly and as a result, generation after generation fall in to the welfare, social services that were originally put in place for emergency circumstances not to sustain people for years. "Let the government programs take care of me" syndrome. With a good education, you can earn a living, contribute to society and not live off society. That is not to say that every uneducated person lives off society, but it is the education that keeps you interested, informed, productive and off the welfare rolls, or having your parents support you, for the most part. Are there exceptions? ... Surely, but without at least an high school diploma, you are looking at minimum wage jobs.

How can you support a family on minimum wage? Even then, with a high school diploma, if you don't have any direction in life...which is typical of someone 16 years old, how the hell do you expect to rear and support a child. This falls in to "what were you thinking" when you had sex without regard to birth control or the consequences of pregnancy?

I just don't get it. I think many parents fail their children in this regard. Parents and adults set the standards. Maybe some parents fail their children because they (the parents) never learned how to parent.....maybe their parents were poorly prepared as well. Who knows.

Lots people make the best out of teenage pregnancy and the baby and the teeenager grow up at the same time. It is a tough life, at best and one that could have been so different with good parenting and a good moral foundation....religion, I suppose so, although I don't think you have to be religious to have morals and be responsible and see a real future for yourself.

I am sure many of these comments will make some folks cringe. Some of the earlier posts made me cringe.