Speaking of unplanned pregnancies, the GOP has announced that the 17 year old daughter of Sarah Palin is pregnant. For those of you who may have been alseep for the last week or so, Sarah Palin is the woman John McCain has selected as his Vice President if he wins the election for President of the United States of America.
Sarah Palin says that although her teen daughter now has to go through experiences that will cause to to grow up rapidly, she is thrilled that her daughter will become a mom and she is thrilled that she will be a grandmother...uh-huh.
So.... how's that deeply held republican/conservative mantra that sex education which consists solely of teaching your kids abstinence until marriage workin' for ya? It appears to NOT BE WORKING!!
Sarah Palin is staunchly Pro-Life so it goes without saying that her daughter will have the baby. And honestly, if that's her choice... good for her. However, let's get one thing straight, a pregnant unwed teenager is not a good thing...i.e. Jamie Lynne Spears and the Gloucester 17.
Now, I think we all agree that we want to reduce teen pregnancy. And if we reduce teen pregnancy then we reduce the number of abortions. And apparently abstinence masquarading as sex education is not working as we can see from the daughter of the GOP pick for Vice President.
Can we try something new? How about....and I know it sounds radical...real sex education. Let's give teens the information they need. When teens make up their minds to have sex, they are going to do it...they should at least know how to keep themselves safe. Abstinence is nice, and some kids choose abstinence, but that's not going to be the choice for a lot of other kids. And anyone who thinks that solely teaches kids abstinence will keep them from having sex is only fooling themselves. Instead of wishful thinking, they should get the facts!
I'm going to share a story with you. Back in the late 60's my mom was working as a housekeeper in the home of a very wealthy family. The oldest daughter, who is now a doctor, was packing up to go away to college. Her mother took her aside and gave her all the birth control she could ever need. She was a very forward thinking woman...she was an artist after all.
My mother was appauled. How could this woman go and give her child permission to have sex and be promiscuous?!
Let's jump in the time machine and fast forward to August of 1990. Another young girl was going away to college...it was me.
My mom had my bags all packed and ready to go. I saw a white CVS bag tucked inside my duffle bag. I saw an orange box. Awwww....my mom bought me hanes knee highs...she wanted me to look nice on campus. I tore the box open and pulled out some knee highs...I needed to make sure they were nude and not taupe. I hate taupe. What I pulled out was a strip of Trojan Condoms!!! And there was a year's supply of birth control pills in the bag too! I was FLOORED!! Little did I know my mom was standing behind me...
"When you go to college, I don't want you to come back with any more people!"
Over the years my mom came to understand a few things. If I was going to make the most of my future, I needed to protect myself from things like drugs, pregnacy and AIDS. Two of those things would seriously derail my future, the last one would end it all together.
My mom could gave me the tools to protect myself from pregnancy and AIDS. And she was honest with me about how drugs could ruin your life. She was honest with me, she was honest with herself. She gave me ALL the information.
Maybe parents, including Sarah Palin, should give their kids ALL the information, not just some of it. One day my daughter will be making that trip to college. And before she leaves, she will have ALL the information. And when she gets to her dorm room and unpacks, she will find a CVS bag and you better believe it will be filled to the top with condoms and birth control pills. She will know that her mother cares about her future enough to protect her. And she will know not to come home from college with any more people!
