So North Carolina has started a new program to help decrease the number of teenage mothers in the state. In a nutshell, girls go to weekly meetings and are given $7 each week (placed directly into a college savings fund) that they have not gotten pregnant that particular week.
Obviously critics on both sides of the "abstinence only" and "contraception education" debate are speaking out. Weekly meetings cover both abstinence and contraception education (a wise decision in my opinion) which never leaves 100% of the general public satisfied. You've got folks who think rewarding "good behavior" is not the way to go (although the argument put forth which likened this program to one which paid kids to not smoke pot seems unfounded. If cops were tougher on illegal drugs, people would reassess the risk of smoking pot, not if they were given $1 per day not to smoke it...if it's illegal, you shouldn't need to be rewarded for following that particular law if the threat of punishment for breaking it is real...but that's another issue isn't it?) You've got other folks that see this as the best thing since sliced bread, what a way to get more ladies into college (nevermind the fact that some, like the vast majority of college entrants today have no clue why they are in school, are not going to college to learn a "trade" (and yes, I consider my accounting degree "learning a trade") and will probably get a job post-college that does not require a college degree (and you wonder why tuition prices are sky-rocketing...if flipping everyone didn't go to college to the point where college turn away kids because they physically cannot accommodate any more bodies, college tuition prices would become more competitive again. And what does competition do to prices in a state where demand decreases? That's right, it lowers them. Thanks for following along, if only the current Administration understood basic economics....again another issue, another time...)
I say, "It's better than nothing."
Sure it places way too much emphasis on pregnancy being the only "bad" outcome to promiscuity (nevermind the slew of diseases you are exposing yourself to, your reputation, your self-respect, etc.) but then again, if it cuts down on the number of abortions performed in North Carolina, perhaps other states would use this type of program to help put those clinics and "doctors" out of business for good (obviously something I would champion). A girl can dream, can't she?
I'll be interested to see how this whole thing pans out...
As with most things, it all goes back to my father's Life Advice:
There are two things that will "ruin" your life forever, and here's what you do about them:
1. Pay your credit cards off every month in full.
2. You'll have to ask your mother about #2...
