Do you really think cutting back on sexual education in schools is a good idea and what else should we do?

The lack of comprehensive sex ed in public and many private schools is so harmful. I wish every school had a program like this.

I think every male should be sterilised at birth. If they want children later in life, they can have it restored after they turn 18.
(a society that has no problem with circumcision should have no problem with that either).

Ouch, that’s a little harsh. Plus the restoration success drops over time. I thought china was rough.

@Adirondackwannabe
Then they can extract the swimmers directly from the testes and do an artificial insemination.

When they back up over time they damage the cells that make the swimmers.

I think the biggest part of the problem is “public education” itself. The fact that kids can spend all that time in high school and still display the ignorance that they do daily should be shocking, except the people who should be shocked aren’t even surprised.

@CWOTUS I agree!
So parents jobs really, but obviously not working.

New ideas? I got none? Except what was that movie where they made a “pornographic” sex ed tape? I dunno it was a good movie though.

Who says it’s a good idea to cut back on sex ed in schools in the first place?

I’d say the opposite would be a better idea. My pregnant 17-year-old sister-in-law is living proof of that.

No, I firmly believe that most kids benefit from viable sex education courses. I detest the way many use underfunding to justify cutting these classes, particularly here in Texas. ‘Course that way it does lead to more Republican voters so there is an upside for them.

Clearly what we are doing today is not working. Let’s try something different.
Hold onto your hats…

I’d remove the safety net every teen knows will catch them. It is time for everyone to pay for their own mistakes.
In NY, the age of consent is 17. If you are younger than 17 and are pregnant, you and your boyfriend (identified by mandatory DNA analysis if you request free medical treatment) have broken the law and will be prosecuted. If you are unable to support this child, defined as having a combined income of 50% of poverty level at the time the child was conceived, you will be offered one of thre options:
1) A state funded abortion
2) You may have the child as long as one of the two participants agrees to state funded vasectomy or tubal ligation.
3) Or, incarceration for the offense per NYS law (typically Rape 3rd is 1.5 -3 years.)

Harsh as this sounds I predict there would likely be very few abortions. The Assistant District Attorney would only have to prosecute one case and every kid in the school would immediately get the message via text, tweet, FB, and word of mouth. That would change behavior and make a difference. Maury “who da baby daddy?” Povich would be off the air in 5 years. No longer would we be hearing that Jamaal fathered 14 babies with 13 girls. Or seeing Shen’equa for the 10th time trying to ID the father of little Tyquando.

That is how I’d end the problem of kids having kids having kids. (And I consider myself a liberal!)

I got pregnant at 15 and had a kid at 16 (and live in NY… boy do I wish they even would have arrested the guy).

I was a straight A student with aspirations to go to Harvard medical school (I could have done it). I knew that the boy part went in the girl part and you could get pregnant if you didn’t use a condom. I didn’t know that a strong boy could hold a girl’s legs over her face and just pull her pants down a little and have sex with her. With her pants mostly on (I literally had no idea you could have sex with your pants on). I didn’t know how to be more assertive.

I think in addition to free contraception and training, teens need training in being assertive, setting life goals and train the guys to not take advantage or be pushy.

@Cupcake I am sorry to hear that. Here are some of the NYS penal laws.

Your situation brings up questions: (You do not need to answer these publicly – nor should you.)
Why was he not arrested? Why was he not punished? Why did you not tell authorities? Why did you elect to have the child? Is he contributing to the welfare of you and the child?
Are you self supporting or are you being supported by taxpayers? How many other girls has he impregnated? If he had been arrested would that have reduced the number of teen pregnancies in your school? .
Do you think the intervention I mentioned above would have helped you get into Harvard?

@LuckyGuy I have read the laws many times. DA’s don’t care to prosecute, so your laws wouldn’t matter. I won’t publicly answer most of your questions. Feel free to PM me if you wish.

The only “benefit” I received was free daycare while I finished high school. It may have even continued for part of college. This benefit is essential, as education is the only way for young parents to better themselves and have any semblance of good parenting.

I will PM you. Thanks for your openness.

Aside from @LuckyGuy‘s unfortunate choice of ethnic names (white kids, by percentage, are far more likely to become pregnant at the ages being discussed, although the infamous ‘serial baby daddies’ may not be), I agree with him completely. I was surprised to learn this particular fact quite a number of years ago, so I can’t provide a source at this time (and it was pre-internet, so I couldn’t even tell you what publication informed me).

I once made a comment to the effect that I would support “optional state-funded abortion” if the mother would consent to semi-permanent infertility treatment. I wasn’t as liberal-minded then as I am now. I would insist that both participants in the act receive state-mandated infertility treatment (however that can be arranged), and further, that they both be registered as “sex offenders” because of the public health aspect that would arise from a boy and a girl who could now “advertise” that they were “safe”. The incidence of venereal disease would skyrocket.

@CWOTUS You know me well enough to know I wouldn’t throw out an inflammatory comment like that without being able to substantiate it. After I had my surgery I was bedridden (couch ridden?) and often flipped thought the TV channels to pass the time. In every single who-da-baby-daddy-show the participants had names like Tyshaun and Sheneequa. There was not one Brittney or Amber or J. Cuthbert III.
I have not watched the show in ages. I’m not even sure if it is still on. But f it is, we can make a friendly wager. I’ll bet you a coffee that the participants in the show today have names similar to names to the ones I mentioned. You can pay up the next time I am passing through your state.
We can make it more interesting by also betting on the outcome. Drum roll….. “In the case of baby Jaquanda… , Tyshaun, you are NOT the father!” And he be all like “Bitch I tole you.” “And she be cryin’ and runnin’ off the stage.’’
Do we have bet?

By the way, I’d be up for having them listed as sex offenders if that is the law in their state.

Too late to update the above post.
Data from National Kids Count Program 2011

Children in single parent families by race:
United States
Non-Hispanic White 25%
Black or African American 67%
American Indian 53%
Asian and Pacific Islander 17%
Hispanic or Latino 42%
Total 35%

So Black or African American is 2.7 times more likely than Non-Hispanic White.
(I have not looked to get the age breakdown.)

Wow. Apparently things really have changed since I saw the datum that I did (it has to have been about 20 years or so since I learned that).

Want to go double or nothing if any participants are involved more than 5 times? That is: he be the baby daddy to 5 or more different women or she be havin’ Tyrell tested ‘cuz she say he look like little Jaquanda and she be on the show more than 5 times already accusing 5 different guys and none were the daddy.
Nah, too easy. Let’s make it 7 or more. Deal?

I saw one POS who had impregnated 12 different girls, supporting none, when I was recovering from my prostate surgery. How ironic.

I’ve always appreciated Robert A. Heinlein’s advice (to investors) that “the game is rigged, but it’s the only game in town”.

I think that I’ll find another game, thanks.

Thank you for your vote of confidence. Sadly, you know I’m not making this stuff up.

I figure almost anything is ok if you are responsible for your own actions and pay for it yourself. For most of these cases we know taxpayers are supporting these individuals. ’“Cuz I can’t gets a job with 5 keeds.” (or 7 kids)

Can you imagine someone publicly endorsing such a program? They’d be crucified.
I wish others would chime in with other workable suggestions. I don’t want to be the only bad guy.

Well, we could collect all those little bastard babies and kill them all.

Kids need more sexual education, not less. We need fewer unwanted pregnancies, not more.

@ragingloli According to Jonathan Swift they’re delicious – and nutritious! Think veal.
That would certainly help end the cycle of kids having kids having…

Depends on how effective sex education is.

I would daresay that the sex education kids receive via their music counter-balances whatever they may be learning in school.

(I won’t even mention the number of teenage and out-of-wedlock pregnancies.)