Area teen pregnancy rates jump dramatically - Sentinel & Enterp...

A cultural phenomenon!! Mostly Hispanics and then they go on welfare and the rest of us take care of them. Who pays the medical bills? Who pays for their housing? Many people wait to have children when they can afford to raise them. Not so with the Puerto Ricans-they go on welfare. What a contribution to America.

Ignorance breeds ...

Where are the parents and why aren't they stepping up to the plate? I love when I hear the excuse that " I can't afford birth control" yet they somehow think they can afford the child. The fifteen year old has no idea how her life will change once that baby comes. A fifteen year old doesn't have the skills to raise a child properly, it's pretty sad. I would love to hear what her parents think about this pregnancy. Will they be funding the raising of this child solely or will they kindly let the taxpayers take care of it? Will this girl decide to use birth control next time around or just leave it up to chance?The state needs to mandate that while you are receiving welfare you cannot have any more children and if you do get pregnant while on welfare your benefits will be terminated. If your receiving Mass Health then there is no reason you cannot fill a birth control prescription for yourself at our expense.

use asprin
hold tightly between knees

It's all my fault so many girls are getting pregnant in the Leominster/Fitchburg area. They can't resist my big fat brown ****!

Truffles wrote:

A cultural phenomenon!! Mostly Hispanics and then they go on welfare and the rest of us take care of them. Who pays the medical bills? Who pays for their housing? Many people wait to have children when they can afford to raise them. Not so with the Puerto Ricans-they go on welfare. What a contribution to America.

You are so wrong. Most of them are slutty white girls!

Stupid, stupid, naieve, children having children. What kind of chance in life will they have come adulthood? Not Much. Poverty breeds poverty..........

The point in the article that should have been made and that is if more teens are deciding to have the babies and not abort them. An interesting comparison would have been to see if teen abortion rates were down over the same period. This in my mind would have been a good thing as there are many couples out there who would die to have a chance at adoption.

Dominican Papi wrote:

<quoted text>
You are so wrong. Most of them are slutty white girls!

Word!

Kacey,
What can parents truly do? We can educate our kids and hope for the best.
We can not keep them locked up 24/7. You can not blame a parent when a teen gets pregnant.

People are going on a tangent about teens, pregancy and welfare. Not all teens that are having babies come from families living on welfare. To make the assumption /accusation is not fair.

A research study conducted by Stephen Small and Tom Luster study concluded that parental involvement and their values were significant factors in preventing early sexual activity. They also concluded if a parent had permissive values regarding adolescent sexual behavior the adolescent would perceive their permissiveness as acceptance of adolescent sexual activity. The report was published in the Journal of Marriage and the Family

Children need to learn that sexuality is more complex than just a physical act. http://www.troubledwith.com/ParentingChildren... or troubledwith.com is a reference site that offers information and materials for parents.

Lois wrote:

Kacey,
What can parents truly do? We can educate our kids and hope for the best.
We can not keep them locked up 24/7. You can not blame a parent when a teen gets pregnant.
People are going on a tangent about teens, pregancy and welfare. Not all teens that are having babies come from families living on welfare. To make the assumption /accusation is not fair.

It goes without saying that the more submisive the parent, the more risky the behavior of the teen. For example, if a parent has a lax curfew for their teens or a laxidasical approach to "sleep overs", and get togethers with no adult supervision, then of course the risk will be higher for teen preganancy. Statistics show these types of parents will be just as lax at teaching their children self-control, responsibility, and consequences of one's actions.

That may not cover ALL teen agers who become pregnant or engage in risky behavior, but it certainly covers most.

Parents need to be plugged IN! And that means supervision, limits, communication, and consequence!. Rules should be in place for BOTH sexes, not more lax for the boys than for the girls, because of course, it takes a boy to get the girl into a life altering situation.

Lois wrote:

Kacey,
What can parents truly do? We can educate our kids and hope for the best.
We can not keep them locked up 24/7. You can not blame a parent when a teen gets pregnant.
People are going on a tangent about teens, pregnancy and welfare. Not all teens that are having babies come from families living on welfare. To make the assumption /accusation is not fair.

It is true some kids will get pregnant no matter what. We are living in an age where many parents are not parenting their kids. They are not setting appropriate limits nor are they informing their child what is appropriate behavior. Many parents do not even know what appropriate behavior is? Teens/Children should not be out late at night alone. They should not be home with a friend (opposite sex) alone. They should not be allowed to go to parties without knowing their will be drinking. They should be informed of your standards and expectations throughout their lives. They should have several little talks while they grow up explaining your beliefs and values regarding sexual behavior, not once when they are 16 years old. Parents should not give the school system the responsibility to teach something that the parent should be teaching. Moreover, the school system should never be allowed to over-step the parents belief system.

Parents may want to try this book

A Chicken's Guide to Talking Turkey With Your Kids About Sex

By Dr. Kevin Leman & Kathy Flores Bell

Saundra wrote:

<quoted text>
It goes without saying that the more submisive the parent, the more risky the behavior of the teen. For example, if a parent has a lax curfew for their teens or a laxidasical approach to "sleep overs", and get togethers with no adult supervision, then of course the risk will be higher for teen preganancy. Statistics show these types of parents will be just as lax at teaching their children self-control, responsibility, and consequences of one's actions.
That may not cover ALL teen agers who become pregnant or engage in risky behavior, but it certainly covers most.
Parents need to be plugged IN! And that means supervision, limits, communication, and consequence!. Rules should be in place for BOTH sexes, not more lax for the boys than for the girls, because of course, it takes a boy to get the girl into a life altering situation.

"These types of parents"??? That is a loaded statement. Pregnant teens come from diverse backgrounds and the statement "these types of parents" is really just an unfair stereo type that justifies other people unfair and uncalled for ridicule. Like pointing fingers.

The bottom line is, no matter how involved a parent is, all you can do is give them the tools and the knowledge. It is up to them to use it and no matter how much a parent rants and raves, most kids have a mind of their own.

For every set of statistics that proves on thing, there is another set that can say the opposite.
Statistics are merely numbers and do not equate to life.

I pity parents who are smug with the attitude "not my kid" because they communicate, they are there for their kids, and they do all they can. GUESS WHAT, it does not make a whole lot of difference.

Kids are making bad choices every day regardless of how they were raised. Good kids from good families have issues and blips just as much as parents who have the could care less attitude.

Nobody, no matter how much they are involved with their kids will have complete control over any of their children and certainly not over all of their actions and choices. Just because they think they are "open minded folks" does not mean the kid will listen in a mannet that they expect.

KEEP IT REAL and don't rely on assumption or statistics.

sue wrote:

<quoted text>
It is true some kids will get pregnant no matter what. We are living in an age where many parents are not parenting their kids. They are not setting appropriate limits nor are they informing their child what is appropriate behavior. Many parents do not even know what appropriate behavior is? Teens/Children should not be out late at night alone. They should not be home with a friend (opposite sex) alone. They should not be allowed to go to parties without knowing their will be drinking. They should be informed of your standards and expectations throughout their lives. They should have several little talks while they grow up explaining your beliefs and values regarding sexual behavior, not once when they are 16 years old. Parents should not give the school system the responsibility to teach something that the parent should be teaching. Moreover, the school system should never be allowed to over-step the parents belief system.

SUE,
We are also living in an age were teen sexuality and situations are apart of almost every TV show geared at the teenage viewing audience. Some of the summer reading books are about these very situations.

As much as someone wants to say pregnant teens are not being educated, I will beg to differ. Between schools, t.v., family, and friends, kids know far more about sex at earlier ages than most of us did that are parenting them today.

The facts are out there and more kids know about them vs the assumption that they simply did not know any better.

SEX is a social status for these kids.

Does it make it right? Of course not. And it certainly does not make it excuseable. It does not matter what our standards were or are of them or what our expectations of them may be.

There comes a time where the child WILL assert themselves and try to make their own independent mark on this world aside from the influence of what their parents want or expect.

THAT is what people need to be prepared for.

The statistics show that most teen pregnancies in the Fitchburg /Leominster area occur amongst the Hispanic population, Enough said. Sorry ,Dominican Papi, but you can't do much with a diseased baby jerkins according to the slutty white girls who know you!!!

Wow... Could SOMEONE edit this newspaper?? If you're a writer you should know the difference between your and you're, and USE it appropriately. I'm not perfect grammar-wise, but I don't write for a newspaper, either.

"You can't just throw abstinence in there as an option because then your giving out condoms..."

Read your newspaper, but the job section this time.

It's the Sentinel, silly. Often it is used in school classrooms so the students can pick out the grammatical errors. The Sentinel is written for people at the 6th grade reading level. After all, it serves the Fitchburg Leominster area. You know, the area where teen pregnancy is up, prostitutes and drug addicts clutter the main streets, MCAS scores are below average, the schools are falling apart, and aesthetically, a very ugly place.

Lois wrote:

<quoted text>
"These types of parents"??? That is a loaded statement. Pregnant teens come from diverse backgrounds and the statement "these types of parents" is really just an unfair stereo type that justifies other people unfair and uncalled for ridicule. Like pointing fingers.
The bottom line is, no matter how involved a parent is, all you can do is give them the tools and the knowledge. It is up to them to use it and no matter how much a parent rants and raves, most kids have a mind of their own.
For every set of statistics that proves on thing, there is another set that can say the opposite.
Statistics are merely numbers and do not equate to life.
I pity parents who are smug with the attitude "not my kid" because they communicate, they are there for their kids, and they do all they can. GUESS WHAT, it does not make a whole lot of difference.
Kids are making bad choices every day regardless of how they were raised. Good kids from good families have issues and blips just as much as parents who have the could care less attitude.
Nobody, no matter how much they are involved with their kids will have complete control over any of their children and certainly not over all of their actions and choices. Just because they think they are "open minded folks" does not mean the kid will listen in a mannet that they expect.
KEEP IT REAL and don't rely on assumption or statistics.

You are the one who is ASSuming parents don't play a large pivotal role in their children's lives. Children from diverse backgrounds who have lacking to no parental control lead decisions lacking in responsibility.

The parent who focuses more on work; the parent who focuses more on their own social life; the parent who wants to be their child's "friend"; the "religious" parnent who doesn't feel 'comfortable' discussing sex ed with their own kid.

JESUS! The list goes on and on when discussing the lame parents I have come across whose kids end up expecting their own offspring! Social class doesn't come into play; Ethnicity doesn't come into play; Married or Single status of the parents doesn't come into play.

The MAJORITY of pregnant teen parents (boys AND girls) come from homes lacking in some sort or parental guidance or accountability. TEACH our kids self respect; TEACH our kids control of body and decisions; TEACH our kids consequence of CHOICES; and MOSTLY - TEACH our kids BIRTH CONTROL.

Our kids are assaulted on a daily basis by media DRIPPING in sex. And then, we've got the parents who think that as long as they say "Hey, hows are things?" once in a while that, that means they're involved!

I see it far too often with my job. Lazy ass parents who claim blindlesss until I ask just the right set of questions - THEN the truth comes out. We are NOT our children's friends. We are their CONSCIOUS' until their own kicks in. We are their CONTROLERS (whether you like the term or not) until they are adults. They are our responsiblity first and foremost. And their lives and influences come BEFORE ours. The majority of teens do not go wild without lax boundaries.