Clearing house (Menasha, Wis.)最新文献

{"title":"A future at risk: children having children.","authors":"L D Dorrell","doi":"10.1080/00098655.1994.9956072","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00098655.1994.9956072","url":null,"abstract":"Every day in the US, over 3000 teenagers become pregnant. The US adolescent pregnancy rate is higher than that in most other developed countries and is increasing. About half of the teenage pregnancies result in a live birth, and most of these mothers are unmarried and will not finish high school. The root cause of this problem is that the young women have a sense of worthlessness and hopelessness about their future that makes them establish the relationships that leave them with babies they are ill-equipped to rear. This is creating an ever-growing underclass condemned to poverty, to a dependency on welfare, and to continue the cycle. All of this results in an ever increasing burden on taxpayers. In Missouri, a bill was enacted in 1990 to address a number of school-related issues that are impacted by premature parenthood. Based on research, the bill makes schools responsible for the continued enrollment of pregnant teens. Alternative programs for pregnant and teen parents receive state aid through guidelines established by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education which allow local school districts to design their own programs. Nationwide research indicated that the greatest need of the teenage parents is obtaining appropriate child care. Parenting education is also of vital importance as is appropriate prenatal care. These strategies, in addition to intervening in the lives of middle grade students to help them avoid premature parenthood, form the basis of a 5-step program developed by the Committee for Economic Development to address the problem of teen parenthood. In Missouri, emphasis has also been placed on involving teen mothers in the education of their children so that the children are ready for kindergarten. Despite the proven cost-effective nature of these programs for teen parents (which help avoid additional pregnancies), very few states have encouraged such programs, apparently because of the up-front costs. Until Americans decide to devote sufficient resources to this problem, it will continue to place the future of all of society at risk.","PeriodicalId":84459,"journal":{"name":"Clearing house (Menasha, Wis.)","volume":"67 4","pages":"224-7"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1994-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/00098655.1994.9956072","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"22015655","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"\"Condom distribution in high school\" -- a rebuttal.","authors":"R N Rowe","doi":"10.1080/00098655.1994.9956059","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00098655.1994.9956059","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>To challenge the distribution of condoms on school campuses with accusations of immorality and \"lack of good character\" appears shallow at best. Considering the home situation of many young people and their immediate environment, the act of securing a condom could be totally consistent with \"good character.\" Certainly, abstinence up to a certain stage in a youth's life is prudent, but who is to determine the age to which, and the environment in which, abstinence must be observed universally? The litany of virtues to which Gow refers (kindness, courtesy, the Golden Rule, and so forth) all could be attributed to the youth who obtains a condom at school and uses it in an effort to protect himself and his partner. Use of a condom even by a teenager is not an unvirtuous act. Gow refers to two \"misguided assumptions.\" The first is that \"it is the legitimate function of the schools to dispense contraceptives.\" He maintains that parents and physicians, not schools, constitute the proper source of medical information and medication. Granted, they are the most logical and desirable sources, but what if a student has incompetent or perhaps no parental guidance and has little if any access to a physician? Schools have acted in loco parentis ever since public education first evolved. Why should it stop now during a devastating health crisis? The second \"misguided assumption\"--that \"teen sex and pregnancies result from ignorance\"--happens to be true. Ignorance is a major cause of pregnancies and AIDS. Distribution of condoms on campuses will help to counteract ignorance because it leads to explanations and discussion, two essential components of education. I find no quarrel with Gow's call for reevaluation of values and methods of communication. His belief that institutions such as churches, families, social organizations, and so forth must assume a larger role in clarification of values is logical. But until that occurs, what institution other than a public school has a better chance to reach the greatest number of young people?</p>","PeriodicalId":84459,"journal":{"name":"Clearing house (Menasha, Wis.)","volume":"67 4","pages":"184"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1994-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/00098655.1994.9956059","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"22015653","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}