Two words: mandatory sterilization.

[Ptarmigan]

Some people deserve to be sterilized permenantly so they don't contaminiate humanity.

[Miss Mia]

I tend to think about how I was raised.

I was taught about sex and boy and where babies come from by my mom putting a set of books on the bookcase (I was an avid reader and she knew I would read them).  But also, my mom was always there.  In 4th grade when us girls were taught about menstrual cycles at school, my mom was there.  In 6th grade where we saw the video about boys sexual organs vs girls and what they were for at school, my mom was there. 

My mom was always there. 

She was always there when it concerned puberty and sex.  I was told to wait until you're married. but when I was 18 and I knew that it was going to go further with the boyfriend that I had, I told my mom.  My mom was there when I had my first physical.  (my doctor did give me a good lecture about STDs when I was there as well.) 

I knew girls that had sex at 13 and older.  I never did.  My mom was always there.

I think that's what kids are missing these days.  It's not necessairly all the sex on prime time (though there's too much) but the fact that parents these days aren't there for them.  Aren't teaching them and talking to them about this important aspect of life.

[JohnnyReb]

Well, OK, I'll finally tell about having sex for the first time. Like Rodney Dangerfield, I wasn't afraid, I was alone.

When it came to sex, way back when, Boys learned to how to handle their little problems by coming to grips with them. Girls, well, I guess they learned to keep a finger or two on their problem but they would never admit to just exactly how they handled it.

[Ptarmigan]

This maybe a bit off topic. Having children is really life changing. It comes with great responsibilities. Having children makes you more mature or it should. Those teenagers who want to be pregnant want to give love. Lot of them feel they have no love and attention. They feel the need to compensate. They get pregnant to get more attention. These teenagers are not mature enough to raise a baby into a child. Also, teenage pregnancy is a vicious cycle. People who had teenage parents are at greater risk of being pregnant as a teenager like their parents.

There are many ways to give attention and love, like helping poor and disadvantaged people or getting a pet and showing love to it. Pets like attention. Sadly, there are many people who have children that are just as immature as the children themselves. Wanda Holloway and Lori Drew come to mind as being immature adults who give the word parent a bad name, but they are just extreme cases. Being a parent is more than just reproducing. It is also a state of mind and becoming more mature. 

[MrsSmith]

This maybe a bit off topic. Having children is really life changing. It comes with great responsibilities. Having children makes you more mature or it should. Those teenagers who want to be pregnant want to give love. Lot of them feel they have no love and attention. They feel the need to compensate. They get pregnant to get more attention. These teenagers are not mature enough to raise a baby into a child. Also, teenage pregnancy is a vicious cycle. People who had teenage parents are at greater risk of being pregnant as a teenager like their parents.

There are many ways to give attention and love, like helping poor and disadvantaged people or getting a pet and showing love to it. Pets like attention. Sadly, there are many people who have children that are just as immature as the children themselves. Wanda Holloway and Lori Drew come to mind as being immature adults who give the word parent a bad name, but they are just extreme cases. Being a parent is more than just reproducing. It is also a state of mind and becoming more mature. 

Sometimes,  having a child does make Mom much more mature.  My oldest daughter was a real problem from her 16th birthday on.  I was able to ship her off to family sometimes and keep her under enough control to graduate high school, but that was about it.  Then she got pregnant.  She cleaned up her life, quit the drugs and drinking, went to college...now has a second child, a Bachelor's degree, and a job that pays better than mine. All because she got pregnant. 

[Ptarmigan]

Sometimes,  having a child does make Mom much more mature.  My oldest daughter was a real problem from her 16th birthday on.  I was able to ship her off to family sometimes and keep her under enough control to graduate high school, but that was about it.  Then she got pregnant.  She cleaned up her life, quit the drugs and drinking, went to college...now has a second child, a Bachelor's degree, and a job that pays better than mine. All because she got pregnant. 

God bless your daughter. Sometimes you have to bring something so life changing to change a person. For others it does not work.

[BEG]

One of the biggest reasons for teen pregnancy is that these girls are so hungry for love...and really believe that a baby will be the one person who will love them.  Instead of children being the desired addition to a marriage, they are the "replacement" for the parents who didn't love them enough and the boys that love them and leave them. 

When it was clearly understood by everyone that marriage preceded sex (most of the time, or it was horribly shameful), the girls didn't get "Mr Perfect," but they did get someone they could love (and hate, and learn to tolerate  )...and it was understood by everyone that he was responsible for providing for her and her children. 

Today's sexual permissiveness totally screws the girls, the children, and even the boys - who've been told all their lives that they really aren't necessary, only their sperm and their money is needed.  The only good fix is to shut down this liberal attitude toward sex and put it back where it was a blessing instead of a curse.  (Though I have no idea how we can do that...unless McCain wins and all the whackos that threaten to move actually do.)

When my son was in 10th grade he had this one girl that was in his group of friends.  She said several times to me that she wanted a baby.  I about crapped my pants.  I asked her why she wanted one now and she said she wanted to have one because the baby would love her "no matter" what and it would be "fun".  My husband and I both pulled our son aside on different occasions and told him to stay the hell away from that girl.  He ever liked her in that way (thank God).  She is originally from Canada and her sister used to be friends with my older daughter.  They were a very strange family.  She isn't going to college and is at least working from what I hear (at Wendy's).   She hasn't been pregnant yet but it is only a matter of time. 

[MrsSmith]

One of the biggest reasons for teen pregnancy is that these girls are so hungry for love...and really believe that a baby will be the one person who will love them.  Instead of children being the desired addition to a marriage, they are the "replacement" for the parents who didn't love them enough and the boys that love them and leave them. 

When it was clearly understood by everyone that marriage preceded sex (most of the time, or it was horribly shameful), the girls didn't get "Mr Perfect," but they did get someone they could love (and hate, and learn to tolerate  )...and it was understood by everyone that he was responsible for providing for her and her children. 

Today's sexual permissiveness totally screws the girls, the children, and even the boys - who've been told all their lives that they really aren't necessary, only their sperm and their money is needed.  The only good fix is to shut down this liberal attitude toward sex and put it back where it was a blessing instead of a curse.  (Though I have no idea how we can do that...unless McCain wins and all the whackos that threaten to move actually do.)

When my son was in 10th grade he had this one girl that was in his group of friends.  She said several times to me that she wanted a baby.  I about crapped my pants.  I asked her why she wanted one now and she said she wanted to have one because the baby would love her "no matter" what and it would be "fun".  My husband and I both pulled our son aside on different occasions and told him to stay the hell away from that girl.  He ever liked her in that way (thank God).  She is originally from Canada and her sister used to be friends with my older daughter.  They were a very strange family.  She isn't going to college and is at least working from what I hear (at Wendy's).   She hasn't been pregnant yet but it is only a matter of time. 

I have heard this over and over from friends of my kids.  Our local high school even has a class in which the kids have to carry a mechanical baby for a week...it wakes them at night, demands feedings, etc.  Of course, skipping out on that one is only a grade, not a child's life, but you'd think some of the girls, at least, would start to catch on!! 

As 2 child families have become so common, many teens have literally never taken care of a baby in diapers.  They have no clue what kind of endless work and responsibility a child is.  It used to be much more common for older kids to have cared for younger siblings/nieces/nephews/neighbors back before birth control.  They had enough knowledge, aside from the shame factor, to know that babies are NOT FUN.  Today's teens just don't know.  It's tough on the teen mothers, and way too tough on the innocent babies.

[MrsSmith]

Sometimes,  having a child does make Mom much more mature.  My oldest daughter was a real problem from her 16th birthday on.  I was able to ship her off to family sometimes and keep her under enough control to graduate high school, but that was about it.  Then she got pregnant.  She cleaned up her life, quit the drugs and drinking, went to college...now has a second child, a Bachelor's degree, and a job that pays better than mine. All because she got pregnant. 

God bless your daughter. Sometimes you have to bring something so life changing to change a person. For others it does not work.

I have thanked Him repeatedly that things worked out the way they did.  My grandson literally saved his mother's life, in my opinion.  He is also the perfect grandchild!!  (He gets even for me every day!   )