Edumacation

Same-day returns to sports games after a young'un gets a concussion aren't a good thing apparently. Who knew?

This Connecticut School District is getting rid of their math textbooks. But wait, it's a good thing.

George Tiller was recently killed over abortions. This story looks at the sad side of being an anti-abortion protester. Really? I don't feel bad for them one bit.

One of my loans got sold to the government. Is this win?

Finally - The Prevention First Act

With the inauguration of President-elect Obama quickly approaching, it is time to turn our attention to the many problems that need to be fixed both in our country and our world.

For eight long years, abstinence-only education has been the norm and the only federally funded sexual education program. As a result, unexpected/teen pregnancy and STI rates have greatly increased. However, with the change in leadership here, Congress is already planning to back comprehensive sex ed in order to educate the masses about birth control and more. The link embedded in the title of this post goes directly to the NARAL site's explanation of the Prevention First Act. Here are, without much explanation on my part, the goals for the act:

• Help Women Obtain Family-Planning Services.
• End Insurance Discrimination against Women.
• Provide Compassionate Assistance for Rape Victims.
• Improve Awareness about Emergency Contraception.
• Reduce Teen Pregnancy.
• Fund Honest, Realistic Sex-Education Programs.

While these all help everyone in the long-run, they're most important for people stuck in poverty. Women in the middle and higher classes have a better chance of having enough money (as odd as I know that might sound to some) in order to visit the doctor, obtain proper health care, or have access to family planning materials. Planned Parenthood is very popular because of the anonymity and low cost of services. Hopefully, with this act, they'll get more funding and be able to function much better.

Don't Get Stationed At Ft. Bragg

There's a female soldier missing from the North Carolina military base. Authorities found her home burned, with the fire out, but no trace of Second Lieutenant Holley Wilmunc. She was assigned to the base hospital in the mother and baby ward. The only real lead that police have is that a neighbor saw a man running from the area Wednesday night before the fire started. Well, that and she's going through a divorce from her husband, whom she's filed domestic abuse charges against, stationed at Camp Lejeune. One of my uncles was stationed at Fort Bragg once upon a time. He's a crazy a**hole - coincidence?

Fritzl's daughter/dungeon lover is being questioned about her 24 years in their basement. She and the kids are all doing quite well, especially in therapy.

Teen pregnancies have gone up for the first time since 1991. Again, I need to emphasize the need for comprehensive sexual education. Sure, almost everybody knows about condoms, but many teen boys will refuse to wear them, which cause problems for those girls. They don't really know about other contraceptives or birth control methods other than the pill. If they knew about female condoms or other products/techniques, I'm sure that the rates wouldn't be going up quite as bad. Then again, I'm no longer a teenager. I did stupid things for past boyfriends, things that I knew could possibly hurt me - and did - but any girls will do anything to feel loved, especially with low self-esteem.

And in creepy news, McCain is in Wisconsin today, holding a women-only public forum. I wonder why he's there then...

Why Do Teachers Sleep With Their Students?

Seriously, I don't get it. But even more unbelievable sometimes is how these students are attracted to their teachers. Some of these women are so unattractive or old that it doesn't make sense to me. The only thing I can think is that maybe the kids were pressured into it. We all know what it's like to be a teenager and stuck in precarious positions.

The latest case of teacher-student sexual relationships come from Brevard County, Florida, also home of one of the cutest baseball mascots.This sixty year old woman (yes, that's 60) who worked at the juvenile detention center as a teacher began this relationship with a seventeen year old student after he left the center. Adrienne Laflamme is charged with fifteen counts of "sex violations with a minor," including an instance where a fourteen year old boy joined the lovers. She told the students involved not to say anything. She also lent the 17 year old her car and then reported it stolen, for which she faces a charge of filing a false police report.

Hopefully by the time this crazy lady gets out of jail, if she doesn't die in there of old age, she won't have any interest in the student, unlike Mary Kay Fualaau (formerly Letourneau).

Like, Let's Totally All Get Preggers Together!

First things first, I just heard that the great George Carlin just died at 71 from heart failure yesterday. I think it would be interesting to find out his last words, though I doubt they were the terrible seven that you're not allowed to say n television. He was going to receive the Mark Twain award for American humor this November at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. For more on his life, click here.

So seventeen girls at a high school in Mass. have allegedly taken part in a pact to get pregnant together and help each other out all along the way. Sadly, had this been during later years in their lives, it might have been endearing, though obviously not on this large of a scale.

CNN has reported that the two main girls involved in the pact may have bullied others into joining. I'm sorry, but how can you be bullied into getting pregnant? "If you don't have sex without a condom and get pregnant by the end of the school year, we're kicking your ass?" If so, they severely underestimate the amount of time that it takes some women to get preggers. And really, what's worse - getting your ass kicked by your "friends" for not getting pregnant or getting kicked out of your house by your parents for the alternative?

Then there's another story that it happened after the fact, that only the two girls were involved, and maybe that it inspired others to get close like that with their bff. Awww, how sweet.

I went to a poor high school. There were plenty of girls who were pregnant during the four years I spent there. One girl was pregnant around eight or so times (the actual number is unknown really) since sixth grade. She decided to keep the one that she got pregnant with in our junior or senior year. Sure some of her friends got pregnant around the same time, but I'm sure that it was due to drugs, drinking, and not thinking as opposed to a pact.

Regardless of whether or not they're ready mentally for kids (which I highly doubt), they're not anywhere near ready physically for them. Your body isn't really done growing until you're around twenty-three, and therefore really isn't ready to support a fetus until that point. Look at how many teen births have been premature. And even more than that, I'm sure these kids also are into a party scene. Does anyone really think that they're not going to drink, smoke, do drugs? Do they care that those actions could do serious damage to their babies? Who knows, but somehow I doubt that they care about anything more than themselves, as is clearly shown by their actions.

And what about the kids? How are they gonna feel when they grow up and find out that they were the result of a pact between stupid teenage girls that don't even talk to each other anymore? I'm sure that they're not going to stick together forever like they claim. I don't even talk to my best friends from high school anymore. Sure, there's the occasional poke or wall post on facebook and, hell, maybe even a message or comment on myspace, but really we don't talk.

I don't support abortions in all cases. I do think that people need to understand the ramifications of their actions and deal with the consequences. However, I do believe that some people who are not ready for kids should have the right to not make those children suffer because of a stupid choice they made. There are other situations and circumstances where I also support abortions, but that's not relevant here.

Is this all a consequence of out abstinence-only education? If they really knew the consequences of getting pregnant so early, would that have stopped them? I volunteered for Planned Parenthood in high school and put in a lot of hours. While I did not work in the clinics, I did call people around our very liberal city of Eugene to get a feel for what people thought of the administration's stance on both sex ed and abortion. It was amazing to see how many people in the area were actually against the liberal views shared by most of the town. Yet, most of us had great talks about how many kids do not understand the ramifications of their actions and therefore get themselves into stupid situations.

Hopefully in the future, sex ed is better and more comprehensive. It won't protect against all teen pregnancies, but it will help lower them and give everyone concerned a chance at a better life.