"Safe" risky behavior? What's maddening is that I'm among the enablers. So are you.
More thoughts on the “Teen Family Planning” poster found pinned to the bulletin board in the Gilford, NH Post Office. That would be the one enticing teens to seek various “services” that cater to continued sexual carelessness and promiscuity:
For those that missed my point, let me just say that while I feel that there are alternatives that caring adults should employ to dissuade kids from engaging in such behavior, in the end, I would not dare to step into a family’s private, personal business, other than to put forth my opinion as to what I believe to be right. If some misguided parent or grandparent wishes to encourage their own flesh and blood to participate in risky activities, so be it. It is NOT their right, however, to encourage others to do so. It may be their belief that society must enable the “safe” practice of bad behavior, but I disagree.
While certain individuals would, given their way, seek to deny myself and others the chance to speak our minds, I have no plans of stopping. The busybodies and purveyors of “services” for wayward teens do so in the name of “society.” Guess what? I’m a member of society too, and have a different point of view. Last time I checked, this is America and that is something to which I am entitled, should I choose.
Just because a segment of today’s youth might come from broken homes or other severe familial situations, it does not mean that society cannot try to steer them onto the right path in life. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that the cycle of abuse, poverty, and other types of “normal” life-destroying actions is extremely difficult to break away from. When a child (in many instances of yet another child) grows up knowing little to nothing else other than what he or she has been witnessing, the chances are good that they will seek to emulate what to them is “normal.” It is precisely because of that type of situation that society must not waver in promoting what is good in an open and never ending fashion. Such children must get positive messages and influences from someplace, if not from the home. And yes, they must understand that, rather than getting a pass for making bad choices, there are instead consequences.
“Oh but Doug, that’s so mean! The scarlet letter went away a long time ago!”
Please don’t misunderstand-- I’m not lacking in compassion, but I think that we have a growing problem precisely because of what we are doing as a society. Look at what’s happening in Gloucester, MA. There are a large number of that town’s high school students that have become pregnant.
When I first heard the news reporting on this particular subject, it was under the banner of how that high school would have to expand its day care nursery for the new babies when born. Hello? How about if those with child stay home and raise those babies? Isn’t school for learning? Maybe if their peers were able to see actual and REAL consequences, they might make better choices, lest they end up in the same boat.
Remember, up until the Sixties generation grew up and took over, such problems were dealt with by the family—whether immediate, or extended. It is since the growth of the “helping hand” of government along with the attendant “social services industrial complex” that we have witnessed the rise and expansion of teenage troubles. When you study the record, a direct correlation can be drawn between the breakdown of the family and the rise of “services” provided by the all-knowing “experts.” Who can convince me that we are not subsidizing bad behavior? When all consequences of risk are removed, why wouldn’t that be the result?
The bottom line is this: I do not feel that I am obligated to pay for “services” provided to children that which I vehemently disagree. Yes, I am pro-life. Yes, I believe that the unborn are innocent and that their termination is murder, no matter what the circumstances of the conception. When a minor child seeks “services” from some quasi-governmental agency, all the while looking to hide that fact from their parents or guardians, who pays? Whenever someone in my family needs some type of medical or pharmaceutical treatment, we must either pay, or show proof of insurance or other financial responsibility. When the minor child needs birth control, whether pre or post sexual activity, who pays? When a minor child receives an abortion without the consent of the parent, who pays? I truly don’t know the answer to that question, but I do know one thing-- it shouldn’t be me, but I’m afraid that somehow, some way, it is... Please God, forgive me!
