Quandry

That
about sums it up for
me this week.



This morning on the
way to the office I
am listening to a
local talk show and
the issue de ‘jure
concerns a school
district in this
country that wants
to provide high
school mothers with
four weeks of
‘excused absences’
when they have a
baby and are still
in high school.



One of our local
residents called in
and proudly added
her two cents worth
by explaining that
her fifteen year old
daughter had a baby
back in October. The
local school
district then gave
her six weeks worth
of excused absences
along with tutors
who came to her home
and made certain she
was able to keep up
with her class work
assignments.



Now, it gets even
better than this.
After the six week
period is over, then
the school sends a
bus by her house
each morning and
picks up the student
and her baby, drives
to another location
and drops off the
baby in daycare and
then takes the
student to the high
school. At the end
of the day the
student is picked up
by the bus, taken to
the day care, picks
up the baby and then
is returned to her
home, safe and
sound.



All of this is free
of course, paid in
full with taxpayer
dollars. Yours and
mine dollars, is
this something new?



I don’t have kids in
high school so I
can’t verify that
this is the case, so
I called a couple of
teachers that are
friends of ours and
lo and behold, guess
what? They said that
it was and had been
the policy for a
number of years. In
fact they advised me
some of these kids
have a couple of
children already
before they hit high
school.



What is going on
here? I realize that
the schools are
handing out condoms
and such without
parents’ permission,
but how have we
gotten to this level
where we are
basically rewarding
bad behavior? I did
a down and dirty
check of the cost of
day care in our area
and it ranges from a
low of $750 to a
high of $1,000 per
month. Where is the
problem?



Are the parents not
paying enough
attention to their
children or the
children not giving
any thoughts about
what will happen to
them when they have
babies? Babies cost
money, lots of
money. I know, I
raised and paid for
four boys to be
brought up and
educated. It isn’t
cheap. These things
don’t just go away,
someone has to feed
them, care for them
and hopefully
educate them or they
perpetuate the
cycle.



On the other hand,
should we deny
someone an education
who wants one,
because they have a
child? If we do,
then we doom that
person to a life of
struggle and
hardship by
remaining
uneducated. My
mother was 18 when I
was born, that means
she became pregnant
at 17. She had to
have been in high
school. Should we
tell any mother that
having a child will
cause them to lose
whatever chance they
have at pulling
themselves out of
their situation and
hope that education
makes them a more
responsible and
productive citizen?



How do we extricate
ourselves from this
predicament? How can
we instill values in
our young folks that
will keep situations
such as this from
happening? I know we
live in a different
time than when I
went to high school,
but do the students
of today just rush
pell-mell into sex
and children without
a moments thought
about their future
or chances for
success?



I’m certain there
are rational options
for both schools of
thought. But for the
life of me, I can’t
see any possible
solution that
achieves both
objectives without
sacrificing
something.



How do we convince
our students not to
engage in activities
that might bring
babies into the
world and on the
other hand extend a
helping hand to the
students who make
mistakes? How do we
accomplish both in a
rational manner?



It’s a quandary,
isn’t it?