How will money fix teen pregnancy?
Teenage girls in North Carolina ages 12-18 are getting paid a dollar a day not get pregnant.
It’s part of a new program from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro aimed at keeping girls baby-free and in school. All the money a teen collects goes to a fund to pay for her college tuition.
The $75,000 a year program is funded by taxpayer dollars in the form of a grant from the state’s Department of Health and Human Services, according to Fox News. The program also includes 90-minute meetings every week and to participate, girls must have never been pregnant, be enrolled in school, have a desire to attend college and have had a sister who gave birth before age 18.
In the Fox News article, Brown claims that the program is successful, and said its critics should consider the “cost of a teen getting pregnant.” But many remain skeptical:
“It makes me a bit uneasy,” said Bill Albert, chief program officer at the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. “I do have mixed feelings. It’s hard to pay people to do something that we think they should be doing regardless. It would be like if you didn’t want young people to experiment with marijuana, you’d pay them not to do it.”
A similar program in New York City also caused some controversy. According to a June 8 article in the New York Post, students were also paid to get good grades. The Sparks program that pays seventh-graders up to $500 and fourth-graders as much as $250 for their performance on a total of 10 assessments proved to work and improved students’ scores since last year’s state tests by margins above the citywide average.
Because of the New York program’s success, other states are catching on. But is money the only way to motivate teens to do the right thing? It seems that these programs are taking the easy way out by offering money. Shouldn’t the price of making a bad decision be enough to motivate teens to make the right one? Is money really the only way to influence teens today?
When students stop getting paid, what do you think will happen? What might the long term effect be?
What about male teens? Isn’t it only fair that they pay them for not getting anyone pregnant too? After all, they too have a responsibility to practice protected sex.
Faith– Grow up– I’m not talking about rape victims, but teens who ON PURPOSE get pregnant for the free money , Its happen more often they you care to believe— but I’m tired of seeing blings up 19 yr old with 3 kids and another in the oven buying crab legs and lobster tails with FOOD STAMPS. While my elderly mother must still work 40 hrs a week just to make it thru the week for her perscriptions..
COMMENT DELETED. Faithful–Your comments cross the line. Please leave out personal attacks too.
—As long as we keep throwing children out into the world without parental controls, this is not going to make any difference.
The kids[girls] I see who chase my 14 year old son around like a cream[no pun intended]sicle, is frightening. The lack of parental control of these children is as obvious as their lack of clothes, discretion, or sense.
Don’t know how to even approach the issue with them, so I keep my son busy in sports, home-work, and anything else I can think of.
Luckily, he has been blessed with his mother’s keen insight into the world, and stays clear of the trouble-making types. Don’t know how some parents allow the behaviors and wardrobes I’ve witnessed.
Don’t see how this program challenges ANY of the root causes of this liberalization of our children. Yet the Obama wants to FORCE sex-ed on pre-adolescents, as if this would help do anything but exascerbate the problem.
And there it is- it’s Obama’s fault.
free to speak-[except the truth]…
Not blaming the Obama for this in particular. But the liberal agenda he represents is a big part of the problem, you have to admit.
The hyper-sexualization of society began long ago, and was advanced by the Supreme Court decision knocking down laws concerning pornography. The ability of communities to negate this and other liberalizations in defiance of free-speech provisions, has had a wide-ranging and serious effect on ALL of society.
Children are now bombarded by not just sex, but ALL forms of devaluation.
Parents are powerless in many instances to counter all the negative influences.
Now public and private schools have become breeding grounds [pun intended]
for a lot of these influences. What can most parents do to combat this?
Do you have an answer, or just more sarcasm?
What about the rich teens who have sex? They don’t need the money. Dumb idea. Teenagers have sex. Always have. Always will. Some will get pregnant. Some people have no grasp of reality.
Most teens (like most adults) do not appreciate a dollar and will just waste it. Any time someone gets something for nothing, the message or the value is totally missed. Why do you think 90% of us are in debt?
I suppose it is better than giving them free abortions. Giving incentive for good behavior is a step up from giving them an “undo” with a drive thru abortion.
Does seem to be a lazy way to go about it, and it seems that the parents here really are the ones who should feel shame.
As for the boys, that is a little harder to enforce in such a program.