Girls and women are never going to stop exercising their rights to freedom of choice. If abortion is such an acceptable practice, why then can't our governments make it mandatory for all girls between certain ages to have regular injections of depo-provera? Sure, it's dictatorship, but wouldn't it be more effective and morally ethical than abortion?
I think your proposal is a bit extreme. How about aggressive education on the topic of planned parenting? How about better access to and programs that help make contraception affordable for those who want it? I don't know what it's like in Canada but, here in the US, the big push as far as education goes is abstinence. And that is fine, but it is naive to teach abstinence and not also teach about contraception.
I have been on Depo for six years and it has worked great for me. But, a lot of people experience bad side effects, and it is not the birth control of choice for everyone.
"What one believes to be real, will be real in it's concequences"
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world"
Yes, my proposal is a bit extreme, but in my opinion, so is abortion.
I don't know how it is in the U.S, but aggressive sex education and abstinence counseling has been going on since I was in the 6th grade. It hasn't made one bit of difference in the teen pregnancy rate. In Canada, contraception of all kinds, is available to people of all ages. My high school had baskets overflowing with free condoms in the hallways. The same can be said for Canada's Family Planning clinics. They educate kids and adults on all aspects of contraception, safer sex and abstinence. They hand out an unlimited supply of birth control pills to those who agree to take them. Because of our National Health Care system, every visit to a Doctor's office, hospital or laboratory is covered and there is no fee to pay. There is no lack of sex education in Canada, but sadly, the yearly abortion rate continues to climb.
I understand that Depo-provera is not the birth control of choice for many people, but the idea of an injectable method of birth control, is something worth considering for teenage girls whose minds are not fully capable of making a planned parenthood decision.
Yes, depo-provera has some bad side effects, but how does a botched abortion or infection affect a person's chances of future conception?
I agree with you that is is naive to educate people about abstinence and not about contraception. Either way, all the education in the world doesn't matter to a drunk 15 year old with raging hormones and lack of judgment. All of which has led far too many people to abortion clinics.
Well, that is sad that with Canada's national health care plan and a sensible approach to teaching family planning, that the abortion rate continues to rise. In the US, there is no national health care plan and afford-ability of birth control options is definitely a factor as is access to contraception. Also, as I mentioned, our educational plan on the topic is terribly naive.
I don't know what did it for me. I always felt that it was important to wait until I was at least out of high school, before I had sex...but, it was probably because I had teenage parents and I saw first-hand the hardships that can lead to.
Do you know what percentage of abortions in Canada can be attributed to teenage pregnancy? Is the teenage pregnancy rate also rising?
"What one believes to be real, will be real in it's concequences"
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world"
what a strange coincidence that teenage-pregnancy is rising, and so is the tolerance that teens should be able to "explore their sexuality"
parents: tell your children-- DON'T HAVE SEX
Remind your children everyday of the burden of carrying a child for 9 months, then changing diapers and getting up in the middle of the night to feed an infant, then answering incessent bratty questions of toddlers
then remind them that their sexual irresponsibility will, a little over decade down the road, when they want to be free and having a good time, they will have an angry, rebellious teenager to deal with.
Then tell them to look in the mirror.
Their sex drive will decrease dramatically. Trust me.
Dekka00 said this in post #5 :
what a strange coincidence that teenage-pregnancy is rising, and so is the tolerance that teens should be able to "explore their sexuality"
Very well said!! I agree with you completely!! There is too much tolerance for teenage sexual exploration!
parents: tell your children-- DON'T HAVE SEX
Have you ever rebelled against authority? Did you always obey everything your parents told you to do or not to do?
If there are parents in this world still willing to instill traditional family and moral values in their children, then that is highly commendable!
If there are children willing to accept traditional family and moral values in the 21st century, then they are the people I want to see as our future world leaders!
But what about those whose biggest moral influence is society?
Our world is morally rapidly declining. The proof of that is all around us.
No apology required for your angry right-winged rant. A total left-wing radical is in complete agreement with you.
Anomaly77 said this in post #4 : Well, that is sad that with Canada's national health care plan and a sensible approach to teaching family planning, that the abortion rate continues to rise. In the US, there is no national health care plan and afford-ability of birth control options is definitely a factor as is access to contraception. Also, as I mentioned, our educational plan on the topic is terribly naive.
I don't know what did it for me. I always felt that it was important to wait until I was at least out of high school, before I had sex...but, it was probably because I had teenage parents and I saw first-hand the hardships that can lead to.
Do you know what percentage of abortions in Canada can be attributed to teenage pregnancy? Is the teenage pregnancy rate also rising?
These are the most current statistics available. Stats Canada usually updates the abortion statistics every few years. The next update will probably be done this year. As you can see, most of the Provincial rates keep rising.
I don't know how to attach the statistics to this message, so here are the links instead.
I wonder how the the stats in Canada compare with the US. I'm going to try and find them. I would expect that a National Health Care plan would have Canada's stats lower than the US but, I guess we'll see. It would be a shame if that were not true.
It is interesting the different rates for the different providences. Do you know if different abortion regulations exist in the various providences, that could be effecting these stasts?
I still would like to see stats on teenage pregnancy for Canada...to see if it too, has been increasing. I tried searching at that site but, couldn't find anything.
"What one believes to be real, will be real in it's concequences"
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world"
The unfortunate truth is that socio-economics plays a huge role in the Provincial abortion rates. Although Canada has an excellent health care system, there are many under-educated people whose main source of income is welfare. The abortion rates are higher in Provinces that have a higher population of high school drop outs and welfare recipients. If only the Canadian government would put as much funding toward higher education as they do toward abortion, people, like the people of The First Nations, may have a better chance to climb the social ladder, which may, in turn, reduce the abortion rate.
I'll keep looking for the teen pregnancy statistics.
They have classes here where teens are given those dolls that are fake babies and they have to keep them with them for a week or two. The dolls are just like real babies, they need food, sleep, love, attention, they cry, they do everything normal babies, but it's fake. To stop them crying you have to hold a key in their back until they stop, sometimes they stop straight away, sometimes they don't. The dolls have sensors in them to tell the teacher if they were dropped or thrown around or anything like that.
Some info:
quote:
"Baby" Helps Teens Think It Over!
A computerized doll, programmed to mirror the needs of a real baby, shows teens what parenting is really like.
Baby weighs about 6-1/2 pounds and is 21 inches long. Wearing a diaper and an adorable T-shirt, she cries at random intervals, just like an infant.
But despite her resemblance to a human infant, baby is a doll. And she's not just any doll. Far more purposeful than playful, she and her male counterpart are designed to make young people experience what being a parent is like. Baby Think It Over™ is the trade name for the doll produced by Baby Think It Over,™ Inc.
Each year in the United States, 20 percent of teenage girls who are sexually active become pregnant. The United States leads the developed nations in teen pregnancy, with twice the teen pregnancies of Canada and nine times the number of Japan. The makers of Baby Think It Over want to help reverse those trends.
HOW BABY WAS BORN
Baby Think It Over is the brainchild of Mary Jurmain, now company president, and her husband, Rick Jurmain, vice president, who oversees new product development. They invented the doll in 1994 and now employ 28 people at their headquarters in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
Actually part of a total parenting simulation program, Baby Think It Over is extremely realistic, life-sized, and computerized -- designed to simulate an actual baby's need for attention and care from its temporary teen parent.
The dolls come in either gender, and with Caucasian, Hispanic, Asian, African-American, Light-Skinned African-American, and Native American appearances. They cost about $250 each. Program extension products to make the parenting experience more realistic include a stroller, diaper bag, infant car seat and carrier, birth certificates, and T-shirts.
TEACHERS' STORIES
Baby Think It Over is the centerpiece of many pregnancy prevention programs in high schools, middle schools, churches, and community centers. More than 40,000 Baby Think It Over dolls have now found homes across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. A number of teachers find the experience of parenting the dolls effective in changing students' attitudes toward parenthood.
Jim Britton, a health and physical education teacher at Chippewa Falls Middle School in Wisconsin, says his school has had a dramatic reduction in teen pregnancy as a result of using the Baby Think It Over program. Parents have supported the program because it opens up lines of communication between them and their children about pregnancy and parenting. Local media have also covered the program, creating more support for it.
Another teacher also says that the program works well: "Everyone wants to take 'em [the babies] home, but nobody wants to keep 'em" because the simulated infants are too demanding and require too much time.
When the doll cries, teachers observe, it sounds very much like a real baby. "This is a reality check," says Elizabeth Hamilton, of the Drop In Learning Center in New London, Connecticut.
According to David Ruetsch of Marcellus (N.Y.) Central High School, students who experience "parenting" the dolls say, "I do not want a child at my age."
THE EXPERIENCE OF ONE CLASS
Beth Jennings' family and consumer science class at Hancock County High School in Kentucky uses the Baby Think It Over Program, with each student keeping a doll for three days and three nights. What does Jennings want her students (both girls and boys) to learn from the simulated parenting experience. "I hope they gain an awareness of the need to be responsible in their present life-style and what's needed to care for children," she told the Hancock (Ky.) Clarion.
Every time a doll cries, whether it's 2 in the afternoon or 2 a.m., the student places a plastic key in the doll's monitor to quiet it. The student holds the key for as long as it would take to feed, bathe, or diaper an infant. Students also keep a journal of their experience.
The doll has three options of crying levels that the instructor can set: Sometimes she sets the doll so that it is "colicky" and cries every two hours. Removing the doll battery pack to quiet the doll doesn't work; if a student does that, the doll will shut down and register being abused.
After just one weekend of taking care of a doll, Sara Evans, a sophomore at the high school, decided to finish her education before having a baby. "Your social life and time to yourself just drops, and that was just for three days," she said. "You have to put your life on hold and just take care of another life."
I think that programs like that would be good rather than mass contraception. A lot of people have bad reactions to the contraceptives (Depo possibly made all my hair fall out) and it really should be about education and letting young people figure it out for themselves.
Thanks Smigg!
Now I have those stats for US vs Canada. I'm not surprised at all that the US leads all developed nations...our health care is rated LAST among developed nations (last time I checked).
But in addition to better healthcare and better access to and education regarding pregnancy and parenting...I think this program is awesome. People always nag me about having kids and I hear such lame-brain things like, "But babies are SO cute!"...um yes, and they are even cuter when they don't wake me up in the middle of the night crying and when they don't cost me money. I don't think that some people, especially young people, really realize what is involved.
"What one believes to be real, will be real in it's concequences"
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world"
It's a very interesting concept. Even more interesting if it helps people make a more informed decision!
I'm very sorry you've had such trouble with depo-provera!! I guess, like anything, there is still a considerable amount of research that needs to be done on the newer methods of birth control.
Have you tried any of the other ones?
I remember when Canada experimented with making teens take care of a 10 lb bag of sugar. The objective was very much like the baby doll experiment you mentioned. They scrapped that idea when they discovered that the teens responsible for caring for the bags of sugar would spend their "parenting" time smoking weed and using the sugar for a "home economics" project when they got the "munchies"!!
The doll sounds like a much more reliable experiment!
It's a very interesting concept. Even more interesting if it helps people make a more informed decision!
I have seen youngs girls on the train with them, and from the looks on their faces when their "baby" starts crying, those girls won't be having kids any time soon!
quote:
I'm very sorry you've had such trouble with depo-provera!! Have you tried any of the other ones?
I am in the process of trying to find something that works for me. Thanks for your concern
I think it's great that you are the proud owner of your decision!! You know where you stand on the subject, and you've taken every precaution necessary to not fall into the sad statistic category of unplanned/unwanted pregnancies!! It's very admirable!!
09-25-2004 07:04 AM
