accidents cause people
I recently heard on the news that teen pregnancy is on the rise again for the first time in decades. I just don’t get it! Birth control is no longer some deep dark secret that no-one talks about. Or is it? I educated my own children about sexuality and their responsibilities because truth be told, it is the kids that are educated about it that have the lowest rates of unplanned pregnancies and STDs. I didn’t take it for granted that they’d learn what they needed to know at school. Was it uncomfortable to talk them at times? Sure. But was it worth it? Hell, yes, because my kids don’t have any sexually related medical issues that could have been avoided or any “accidents” that they are raising. Or that I am raising for them.
I truly believe that our children’s schools need to provide adequate sex education because we obviously can’t rely on all parents to do so. Why should it fall to the schools? Where else are you going to be able to gather tweens and teens in large enough numbers for any length of time? But what about your tax dollars being spent on it! Would you rather your tax dollars be spent on welfare for teen moms? On child tax benefits? On financial supplements for welfare lower income parents? On health care for AIDS or hepatitis? An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure so every dollar spent on educating kids are hundreds of tax dollars saved in the long run. And it’s that many less unwanted children being brought into the world by children.
Many people believe that sex education only reinforces that it’s okay for teen to have sex. But let’s face it, you aren’t going to be able to prevent kids from having sex by turning a blind eye to it. Providing information and contraception doesn’t imply that you are condoning teen sex. It means that you acknowledge that your kids are human beings with human urges and that while you hope they will make good decisions, you are helping them protect themselves against unwanted pregnancy and/or STDs.
In today’s day and age, there really is no excuse for teens being uninformed about sex, STDs and unplanned pregnancies. It’s high time for the government to catch up to the new millennium and start putting money into prevention, instead of into bandaid solutions when it’s already too late, IMO.
turn signals
Unless I am sadly mistaken, there are laws about using turn signals when driving. At least, here in Ontario there are. So, WTF is with drivers who don’t use them? Are the rest of us on the road supposed to psychically know that you want to turn somewhere or change lanes? There’s so much talk these days about accidents being caused by drunk driving and the use of cell phones while driving but so many more are caused by drivers failing to obey simple, basic traffic rules and laws. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen accidents narrowly averted when a driver has decided to change lanes without signaling while not realizing there was another vehicle in his/her blind-spot. A turn signal would have at least notified other drivers of the intent to change lanes before almost being hit during said lane change!
I’d really like to see cops get tougher with these unsafe drivers and fines become heftier for these types of traffic violations because it seems that people are more concerned with being hit in the wallet than they are about public safety. I honestly think it’s the only way to make these crappy drivers more accountable. What are your thoughts on the matter?
is ADD over-diagnosed?
I totally realize that conditions such as ADD (attention deficit disorder) and ADHD (attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder) really do exist but is seems to me that in recent years, almost every child who misbehaves more than what is considered the norm is diagnosed with one or the other. How much of it really is ADD and how much of it is crappy parenting? I realize that in today’s two-income households, parenting is hard but there are so many people out there who are totally missing the boat. I was able to attend virtually all of my kids’ school functions and school trips, was active in the PTA, hot lunch programs and more. Then, after graduating from university, I worked at the “Y” in children’s programs for a few years. Because of all that, I was able to spend a lot of time with a lot of children and parents. While this doesn’t make me an expert by any means, one thing was very apparent to me: a whole lot of parents seem to expect kids to raise themselves and then look for a diagnosis to place the blame on when their kids don’t behave well or conform. These kids are then medicated, numbed into expected behaviour. WTF is wrong with that picture? First, it takes away resources from children who truly suffer from the condition but also from those who don’t. Every minute a teacher has to spend dealing with a troublesome child is a minute he or she is spending away from the other students. I really think that it is high time that society stops looking for biological and genetic causes for bad behaviour and starts expecting people to take responsibility for their actions and their child-rearing practices. Then, maybe, well start seeing better-mannered, productive, responsible people going out into the world. What are your thoughts?
