its the responsibility of the parents period. If we would go back an stop rewarding these teen pregency moms with welfare and food stamps section 8 housing . most of these would stop. If we would put the financial responsibility on their parents it would be a better world.

Abortion wasn't really the issue here, since all those girls in MA and Bristol Palin actually had their babies, but since you brought it up, making abortions illegal wouldn't help the situation. If abortions are not able to be performed by a licensed physician in a sterile environment, they're still going to be performed in a back alley with a rusty hanger. The sad fact is that if someone wants their pregnancy to end, they will find a way. If, on the other hand parents taught kids about safe sex, and if contraceptives were readily available and accessible, then the rate of unplanned pregnancies would decrease, thus decreasing the need for abortions. You don't solve a problem by taking away a solution, you solve it by getting ride of the cause. Abortion isn't the reason teens are becoming pregnant carelessly, lack of knowledge of prevention is.

Kat, you're statements are the best anyone could possibly write in here, and it's a shame all readers won't see them. If the blogs were numbered like some "comment" pages are, you'd have so many replies a separate column would be needed! It's hard to be optimistic that a solution to this problem is possible. As things are right now, getting pregnant has no stigma or penalty attached to it, and even otherwise responsble girls seem to ignore the realities of motherhood. Their fun is done forever, and if they have any regard for their moms or grandmoms, it should hurt to think how a baby is going to burden them--because it surely will. If there were more white couples willing to adopt back babies that would be fine, but thats not the case. In the short run abortion seems the best answer, but major changes in how good people view it are necessary first. To go on with this discussion would accomplish nothing, since Kat will surely have said it better than I can!

What a mean spirited and short sighted person you are.

While the notion of parents teaching the kids about sex is mostly novel in today's society, I'm going to guess that 95% of the time kids and or parents fall into a couple of categories.
A. Kids are normally not comfortable or open when being taught about sex by a parent and therefore rarely get the full spectrum of unbiased answers.
B. Parents are often ill equipped to handle the wide range of information, OR they fall into the "just don't do it" mode.
I think a more balanced approach would be to have the parents, teachers and kids go through the same courses at their schools and homes. There is an awful lot to learn when it comes to relationships and sex.
Considering the divorce rate I'm thinking more balance is needed for the kids sake.

You make me sick. You are the prime example of an 'adult' today that is completely indignant and out of touch with teens, or children at all.
While in the midst of your crap you said there are some key points. Parents should be more involved. Teen Parents (not just the mothers) should be taught the severity of their actions.
But going as far as to say to have "common sense" to keep their legs shut is plain insulting. I am a 19 yr. old female who never had any sort of home life that would 'teach' your brand of 'common sense' so what then? And for your information, abortion is not an easy way out. You have NO idea the trama and scarring it incurs; for everyone. And every peer that I have know to become pregnant has kept their child and never once considered your easy route out.
Before you throw out your assumptions, you should look around. What is the environment? Is there any reason these kids would believe it to be wrong? Or is their society glorifying it? I am 19, married and proud to say that I have only ever been with my husband; with a mother who gave it away at 12. You have no right and make me sick.

Bush started this abstainance only policy, for schools to get funding they were not allowed to discuss any other options. This seems criminal to me. It is not just getting pregnant that they have to worry about. There is Aids, herpees etc. You can die if you don't use protection and they never even discussed it! They just said don't have sex. Meanwhile every movie, song, tv commertial tells kids how great sex is. We are a country of hippocrits. News flash....kids don't always listen to parental advice and even rich white kids have sex.

And these pregnant teens kids will be killing,settin on fire and other acts of madness because a kid who didn't have to common sense to close her legs and not act like a dime store hooker clearly doesnt have the morals or brains to raise a kid

Emerald, with all due respect to the very kind way you posted (as opposed to the angry screamers who seem to saturate every blog comment page), if you're saying that safe sex isn't always possible and doesn't always work (and certainly unsafe sex doesn't), then why is it a good idea to teach it in place of abstinence in the schools?

This doesn't apply to you personally, but: I'm reading a lot of people saying that we shouldn't even bother telling our kids that waiting is a good option. It's the only option that is 100%, and people are getting upset because we think we should tell kids about it? That makes no sense at all.

I think it's time for parents to do the job of teaching their kids so well about this subject that schools don't feel like they have to, AND, I think it's time our schools stopped being breeding grounds for experimental social and political ideas and became what they were supposed to be, academic learning centers and absolutely nothing more. If we start thinking that government-run institutions should be responsible for every area of our lives, then we are in seriously big trouble.....oh, wait.......

Tina, no one is disputing abstinence education, we are disputing the abstinence ONLY part. It's true that abstinence is the only 100% safe method when it comes to preventing pregnancy or disease, but it's not the only method, and kids do need to know that. It's like saying that water is the only method of putting out a fire--it's not, and on certain fires it will make things worse. And yes, parents should talk to their kids about safe sex, but it's obvious they don't. If there are parents out there that are willing to take a banana and a condom and show their teenager how to properly apply a condom, then bravo! But I doubt most parents are willing to do that. Not to mention that most kids need to be told things two and three times before they do them. Safe Sex needs to be talked about early and often in order for it to be effective, not just a one time talk about the birds and the bees. Also, friends have more influence on most teens than their families. If your teen's friends are having sex that is safe, the odds are your teen, when and if he/she chooses to have sex, will too.

And Elizabeth, also with all due respect, that is not true. There ARE people who are saying we should stop teaching abstinence; they say it's outdated and unrealistic and that it simply doesn't work. I can't imagine what the motivation would be for trying to stop kids from learning the fact that they actually can say no, but yes, it really is happening.