Monday, September 05, 2005

13% of HS girls in Canton, Ohio pregnant: Mother says, "We need condoms."

At the Timken Senior High School in Canton, Ohio, 13% of the female students are pregnant."Just give them condoms," says one mother of a pregnant student. So far, the Bush Administration has given $32 million to Ohio schools for abstinence programs. I don't mean to be gross but I have just joined "Sam's Club" in Butler, PA, and I bet the Bush Administration could buy an incredible number of condoms wholesale from Sam's Club for much less than $32 million. US census says there are 645,000 high school students in Ohio (21% of all Ohio students).That is approximately $50 spent per high school student on abstinence programs. How many condoms can you buy at Sam's Club for $50? (online you can buy about 72 condoms for $50, so I bet Sams Club would make a deal for 100 condoms for $50, and that is for each HS student in Ohio!) I think abstinence programs for students under 18 yrs old are good - all sorts of studies have shown that students who wait longer to have sex score better on all sorts of socio-economic indicators (higher % go to college, gpa higher, etc). But that is not enough: people have sex, its why our species has continued for millions of years. Spend equal amounts of money on abstinence programs, and condoms. How to avoid poverty? Three things: 1) Don't become a single parent; 2) if you do, get married so at least one parent can be working and earning an income; 3) finish high school. If abstinence doesn't work (and I dont think our bodies are made for that) then use the alternative!

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