Jump to content

Recommended Posts

If you are talking about accidental pregnancy then one solution is to scare the bejesus out of them with the very real threat of AIDS. And make condoms freely available at all clinics, hospitals and GP surgeries. In a basket out front don?t make the poor buggers have to go and ask for them.


A while ago I was speaking to my brother about this. He is 16 years older than me but went to the same school in the same small, not very affluent town, and in his final 2 years of school at least 6 girls in his year left because they were pregnant. In mine there was only 1 and there were a lot more people at the school when I went there. I put it down to the fact that In South Africa in the 90s we were given free condoms and were shit scared of AIDS.

KalamityKel Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> one would also need to b careful not to b blinded

> on the scale of said debate.


Does this imply that you think Britain havin gthe highest level of teenage pregnancy in Europe is actually not much of a problem?

"the choice to have unprotected sex"


..and we're pretty much back to the question first raised as to why this is happening.


The science of economics assumes a perfectly eduacted and perfectly rational populace, neither of which, we all know, exist.

Hence why economists are basically glorified guessers.


I'm not getting drawn closer to the flame again, but I'll leave it at few, if any of us qualify to be studied by economists.

So why on earth do you think mixed up, often genuinely ignorant teenagers are making rational choices?

King's Fund did some reasearch into effectiveness of big scare tactics campaigns on health i.e. smoking campaigns, AIDS awareness, anti drug and found that these campaigns were limited in their effectiveness. Mainly because often people rationalise that this won't happen to them - look for example at smoking. It should be a perfectly rational decision not to smoke - the long-term impact on your health is clear and is spelt out on every cigarette package. But how many people continue to smoke knowing the risks involved?? We all like to think that it is someone else who will get lung cancer, not us!!


Young people in particular have a sense of invulnerablity - and often feel like they won't be the unlucky ones to get AIDS, AIDS is still seen as a disease other people get not me. However, what workers who work directly with teenage boys think is quite effective is to show them medical photos of penises that have been effected by an STI!! This often has the desired effect as the boy goes - yuck, I don't want that to happen to me and my bits!!

Well on that note Scruffy, what do you think of America's approach with the screaming crying lifelike babies they give to teenagers to try and deter them from having babies young? has the teenager pregnancy ratio dropped in America or did they have any impact at all? was just wondering.
Well, I was talking to an outreach worker who has used some of these dolls in London schools and he said the jury was still out on their effectivenss or not. We had some of them around the office and they are very lifelike and cute (when not screaming). He felt that the problem is when they aren't screaming they are very cute and the girls like cuddling them so he thought it might actually have the opposite effect!

Lol! Trust the Americans to overdo it!


And that is just sooo like them, (sorry just called to mind the many sketches and exchanges between the American Guy played by Kevin Kline and John Cleese and Michael Palin in "A fish called Wanda" :)


Sorry completely off topic!

In contrast to even 20 years ago, there is almost no moral dissaproval - probably a good thing but not without its consequences on behaviour

Plus some rational economic reasons for doing it among those groups (who despite what someone said earlier) that are much more likely to be teenage mums (the poor and uneducated).

Plus children give a great deal of meaning to your life whatever class, creed, race etc you are so if you have little aspirations or can't see opportunities to fullfill them, a child can help your sense of worth.

Plus in some areas it's almost 'normal' behaviour so peer pressure

???? Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------


> Plus children give a great deal of meaning to your

> life whatever class, creed, race etc you are so if

> you have little aspirations or can't see

> opportunities to fullfill them, a child can help

> your sense of worth.


This is spot on.

The other (less generous) of the same point is that it gives those people who can't be bovvered the perfect excuse not to be bovvered on a more long term basis.

"Yeah I did have all these big plans, but I'm going to be a Mum now so I guess I just won't have the chance to see if I could make them work."

So, does the system encourage/discourage teen pregnancies? I would have to say ......it does both. On one hand it provides a safety net for teens who have genuinely found themselves in a difficult position, with no extended family to help them, and helps them get back on their feet. On the other, it allows teens to leave home, get a flat, become mothers, reap the benefits of the system without a stigma attached. What is best for the baby? Did I summarise this accurately? I am not trying to be harsh, but I think teens need to have both sides of the picture clearly explained to them before they make a decsion. As parents, do we do that?

Spot on Gerry, totally agree with you, while there has to be a safety net to help out those in genuine need and those who are more vulnerable in our society, there are way more people taking advantage of it. Just to slightly come off subject but the same sort of thing, it is the same with immigration. There are those who are genuinely vulnerable and who are real genuine asylum seekers who need as much help and assistance as they can get, but there are also an awful lot of illegal immigrants and fake asylum seekers who take advantage of that same system and who come here more as economic migrants as they see it as being a better way of life here.


(heads for the hills, ducks down with shield in place over head for barrage of abuse about to fly for mentioning the "I" word!)

I'm not even going to comment on the money drain on everyone at every level in every country of the world, that all heads up towards the bastards at the top, where they all sit on their fat greedy arses, getting richer and richer while laughing their tits off and watching the plebs tear each other appart over the remaining dwindling resources.

???? said "Plus children give a great deal of meaning to your life whatever class, creed, race etc you are so if you have little aspirations or can't see opportunities to fullfill them, a child can help your sense of worth."


???? you have summed it up concisely. I was going to use the simple word "love" to explain teenage pregnancy. When I look into the eyes of my two little boys and am filled with joy, I can understand the urge for anyone to have a child.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Latest Discussions

    • I never said I thought it was targeted or deliberate. There also has never been a “stand off” or confrontation, we’ve spoken to them in a friendly manner about it. Our experience is they don’t seem to care. That’s the frustrating thing for us, if someone politely raises a concern at least take a second to reflect. Treat others how you would want to be treated.  I don’t want them to lose their job, far from it. But considering it could cost me a days work to fix any damage, I’m within my right to try prevent it.   
    • The SE22 Evri delivery family are lovely, and always say hello wherever we spot them in the area. We gave them a box of chocolates during Covid as they were working their socks off at Christmas
    • What was he doing on the stage at Glastonbury? Or on the stage at the other concert in Finsbury Park? Grinning like a Cheshire cat whilst pissed and stoned 20 somethings on the promise of free internet sung-- Oh Jeremy Corbyn---  What were his policies for Northern mining towns with no jobs or infrastructure? Free Internet and university places for youngsters. What were his other manifesto pledges? Why all the ambiguity over Brexit?  I didn't like Thatcher, Blair or May or Tony but I respected them as politicians because they stood by what they believed in. I respect all politicians across the board that stick to their principles. Corbyn didn't and its why he got  annihilated at the polls. A socialist, anti imperialist and anti capitalist that said he voted for an imperialist and pro capitalist cabal. He refused to say how he'd vote over and over again until the last knockings. He did so to appease the Islington elite and middle class students he was courting. The same people that were screaming that Brexit was racist. At the same time the EU were holding black and Asian immigrants in refugee camps overseas but not a word on that! Corbyn created and courted a student union protest movement that screamed at and shouted down anyone not on the left . They claimed Starmer and the centre right of labour were tories. He didn't get elected  because he, his movement and policies were unelectable, twice. He turned out not to have the convictions of his politics and died on his own sword.    Reform won't win an election. All the idiots that voted for them to keep out Labour actually enabled Labour. They'll be back voting tory next time.    Farage wouldn't be able to make his millions if he was in power. He's a very devious shyster but I very much doubt he'd actually want the responsibility that governance requires.
    • The purge of hard left members that were part of Corbyn's, Mcdonnel's and Lansmans momentum that purged the party of right wing and centrist members. That's politics. It's what Blair did to win, its what Starmer had to do to win. This country doesn't vote in extreme left or right governments. That's partly why Corbyn lost  We're pretty much a centrist bunch.  It doesn't make it false either. It's an opinion based on the voting patterns, demography and statistics. Can you explain then why former mining constituencies that despise the tories voted for them or abstained rather than vote for Corbyns Labour?  What is the truth then? But he never got elected!!! Why? He should have been binned off there and then. Why he was allowed to hang about is an outrage. I hold him party responsible for the shit show that we've had to endure since. 
Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

Search
×
    Search In
×
×
  • Create New...