Public policy update. Welfare reform and teen parents: are we missing the point?
Wacker, B.L.; Gambrell, A.E.
Siecus Report 22(5): 18-19
1994
ISSN/ISBN: 0091-3995 PMID: 12345600 Document Number: 237705
The aim of teenage pregnancy prevention initiatives should be to provide sexuality education that is age-appropriate, medically accurate, and available at each grade level with a positive view of sexuality and information and skills that contribute to sexual health and the ability to make decisions. Abstinence should be included as long as it is not fear-based and is part of the promotion of responsible sexuality. Contraceptive information must be available to those already sexually active. Subsidized day care for children of poor adolescent mothers must be at the top of the agenda of services integrated with job programs and school-to-work initiatives. Quality child care can provide a solid foundation in personal health, negotiation, self-esteem, and individual rights and responsibilities. Quick-fix and punitive measures are out of place in programs that rely on growth in individual responsibility. An innovative approach to social welfare programming would include comprehensive sexuality education, reproductive health services, child care, health insurance, and job training. The Clinton welfare reform drafts combine elements of teen pregnancy prevention with punitive action. What is needed is greater investment in programs enhancing sexuality education, acceptance and understanding of sexuality, and access to affordable reproductive health services. The Clinton plan focuses primarily on the National Mobilization for Youth Opportunity and Responsibility, which is a national media campaign to educate youth about responsibility and the benefits of staying in school and delaying childbearing. About 1000 middle and high schools in high-poverty areas would be targeted. Opportunities would be offered to go to college or have access to job training. Controls would be placed on adolescents by requiring minor parents to live with a responsible adult, minor mothers to stay in school, and to limit disbursements for additional children while on Aid to Families with Dependent Children. Child support would be required of fathers. These key measures do not address the root causes of teen pregnancy. Teen pregnancy would decline if teenagers understood information on alternative to intercourse and sources and methods of contraception. Teenagers must be able to talk with partners about sexual limits and how to say "no" or avoid risky situations. Access to condoms or contraception must be available in the community at low or no cost.