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A Mysterious Epidemic of Parasitic Infections
"After an outbreak of pregnancies among middle school girls," A.P. reports, "education officials in this city [Portland, Maine] have decided to allow a school health center to make birth control pills available to girls as young as 11." This action seems precipitous to me. First the school officials should ask disease specialists from the CDC to investigate this outbreak and determine its cause.
Here is my May 2007 reason article on the "tendency to call every perceived problem affecting more than two people an 'epidemic.'"
[Thanks to Michael Stack for the tip.]
|10.18.07 @ 1:18PM|#
Anything that can reduce the number of teen pregnancies and abortions is a good idea.
|10.18.07 @ 1:22PM|#
Stupid kids. They should know to do it standing up and then douche with Coca-Cola afterwards.
|10.18.07 @ 1:26PM|#
I imagine the pregnant 11-year-olds haven't worried about sex because they still think babies come from storks.
|10.18.07 @ 1:27PM|#
Stupid AP. A smart reporter would have written whther they were getting abstinence-only sex ed or not.
|10.18.07 @ 1:28PM|#
That's what happens when you try to stimulate population growth. Everyone wants in.
Episiarch|10.18.07 @ 1:29PM|#
See, the first thing I think of when I hear about these is
"damn, those dudes getting play at 12 are some early
operators".
Is that wrong?
|10.18.07 @ 1:34PM|#
How about forced sterilization? Would that be a good
idea?
Yes Russ R, thats exactly what I was going for. Except not.
You know damn well what I meant.
|10.18.07 @ 1:39PM|#
Um, I was unable to find the word "epidemic" in the linked article. So, perhaps the complaint should be against the use of "outbreak"?
|10.18.07 @ 1:39PM|#
And you should know that anything you write here will be read
literally, interpreted unfavourable, and mocked mercilessly.
Get used to it.
|10.18.07 @ 1:40PM|#
Prediction:
The right will blame it on sex education and declining social
standards.
The left will blame it on lack of sex education and declining
social services.
Any takers on the bet?
|10.18.07 @ 1:40PM|#
And you should know that anything you write here will be
read literally, interpreted unfavourable, and mocked
mercilessly.
Only if you're Dan T.
If someone said anything that promotes free markets is a good idea,
I wouldn't respond with WELL DO YOU THINK PINOCHET WAS GOOD?
HUH?
|10.18.07 @ 1:41PM|#
Anything that can reduce the number of teen pregnancies and
abortions is a good idea.
I can't agree. If anything we should be aborting more
teenagers. A high school student without at least a summer job, is
just a parasite and should be exterminated.
|10.18.07 @ 1:42PM|#
Birth control isn't aspirin. Many girls/women have bad reactions to the hormones. I find it surprising, too, considering that much more innocent drugs (like aspirin!) are banned from being carried by students!
|10.18.07 @ 1:42PM|#
Birth control isn't aspirin. Many girls/women have bad
reactions to the hormones. I find it surprising, too, considering
that much more innocent drugs (like aspirin!) are banned from being
carried by students!
Now, thats a good point! Getting suspended from bringing Tylenol
and Aspirin to school is just dumb.
Paul|10.18.07 @ 1:47PM|#
This AP news story is surely incorrect. Let me fix it:
"After an outbreak of pregnancies among middle school girls," A.P.
reports, "education officials in this city [Portland,
Maine] [Burien, Wa] have decided to allow a school health
center to make birth control pills available to girls as young as
11."
MattXIV|10.18.07 @ 1:49PM|#
I don't think it'd necessarily make things worse, but BC pills are probably the least effective contraception to hand out in this way. They need to be taken consistently to be effective and there is a lead time between when you need to start taking them and when they'll suppress ovulation. I doubt this will have any significant benefits beyond what they'd get out of making condoms available and to if students start subsitituting it for condoms, it may actually increase problems.
|10.18.07 @ 1:51PM|#
I don't think it'd necessarily make things worse, but BC
pills are probably the least effective contraception to hand out in
this way. They need to be taken consistently to be effective and
there is a lead time between when you need to start taking them and
when they'll suppress ovulation. I doubt this will have any
significant benefits beyond what they'd get out of making condoms
available and to if students start subsitituting it for condoms, it
may actually increase problems.
Excellent point.
|10.18.07 @ 1:52PM|#
Aresen,
I won't take that bet. The debate has already been raging in the
comments section of the Portland paper for the past three
days.
Middle school adds birth control options
Let school step in when parents don't
Prescribe 'the pill' at Middle school?
Is it Maine week at Hit & Run? First naked lunch, then Susan
Collins and MoveOn, a quote from a Maine rep on the regional
development bill, and now this birth control stuff.
Episiarch|10.18.07 @ 1:53PM|#
You know, I get the feeling that many of you are bitter that
some dudes are getting laid at an age where the closest you got to
pussy was when you petted the housecat.
Why do you hate the teenage scorers?
|10.18.07 @ 2:04PM|#
Let us know when you turn 20.
That would have been six years ago. I still don't like
teenagers.
|10.18.07 @ 2:08PM|#
Has anyone found out if there is a 17 year old who has been held back five times? He may know something about this "outbreak."
|10.18.07 @ 2:09PM|#
I sometimes work with teenagers. I find their love affairs and general confusion to be entertaining, especially when you know what they're thinking when they think they're totally stealth. It's like watching kittens who think you can't see them hiding in the grass when you're walking toward them. It's totally ridiculous.
Abdul|10.18.07 @ 2:09PM|#
The "outbreak" of pregnancies consisted of 17 over the last 4
years.
One thing about the school's policy is that the health clinic has
to keep all the kid's information confidential. Getting preggo
before 13 means there's some chance the dad is a child molester.
Whatever happened to schools & medical personnel being
mandatory reporters of child abuse?
Russ 2000|10.18.07 @ 2:10PM|#
I think the schools should promote safe sex. Staff a couple of young, clean whores so the kids who want to fuck don't have to get it on the streets.
|10.18.07 @ 2:12PM|#
"Anything that can reduce the number of teen pregnancies and
abortions [without resctricting individual's freedoms
or imposing costs on taxpayers] is a good
idea"
Better?
How about reducing payments to welfare moms, cutting
state-subsidized day-care, and eliminating refundable tax-credits
for popping out kids?
I'd be in favour of any of the above, which would reduce the
incentive to procreate before being financially capable of
supporting children.
LarryA|10.18.07 @ 2:17PM|#
Five of the 134 students who visited King's health center
during the 2006-07 school year
1. Three or four percent of the few students who visit the health
clinic are sexually active. Six to eight percent of girls,
depending on the patient ratio.
2. They have a school health clinic for less than one patient per
school day?
"damn, those dudes getting play at 12 are some early
operators"
You're presuming that the fathers are early teens. Ain't
necessarily so.
|10.18.07 @ 2:18PM|#
Russ R,
If you really want people to think you're a sophisticated
Euro-type, pronounce v's like they were w's.
Oh, and wear an ascot.
|10.18.07 @ 2:20PM|#
Russ R,
Oops! I think you were outing yourself on your usage and not your
spelling. If you are a sophisticated Euro-type (or even a
Canadian), please disregard my previous comment.
|10.18.07 @ 2:36PM|#
Reinmoose: I sometimes work with teenagers
Hey, I thought we told you about staying away from those teenagers.
Now we know the true cause of this outbreak...
Paul|10.18.07 @ 2:37PM|#
The "outbreak" of pregnancies consisted of 17 over the last
4 years.
Oh, my bad, this wasn't Burien, WA. I think Burien had about 17
last month...
|10.18.07 @ 2:39PM|#
The birth control pill is a PILL for God's sake - it requires a
prescription, and they will be passing them out free to kids
without parental permission?? And yet the 11 year old who
inadvertantly brings a bottle of Advil to school will, no doubt, be
suspended for three days under "zero tolerance." And the 11 year
old boy who swats a girl on the butt will be charged with sexual
harrassment - birth control is fine, sex is fine, but don't touch
anyone while at school. No mixed signals there.
And if you did a Ven diagram of A) people who think giving middle
schoolers birth control pills is fine and dandy and socially
englightened, and B) people who cry about the "kids" in the
military while protesting BusHitler's war, you'd have very close to
just one big circle, right?
This really pisses me off. My daughter is 6, and attends a
parochial school - in Texas - so chances that this foolish shit
would happen down here are nil, but goddamn. Giving medication to
peoples' minor children without their permission? Why not just turn
your kids over to the state bodily and get it over with?
Paul|10.18.07 @ 2:41PM|#
Getting preggo before 13 means there's some chance the dad
is a child molester. Whatever happened to schools & medical
personnel being mandatory reporters of child abuse?
Abdul... statistically *some chance* is a long way from an
automatic report of child abuse.
When the thirteen year old comes in looking like a Bratz(tm) doll
with one of those short jackets and a fur-lined hood texting on her
cell phone with her 16 year old baggy-pantsed boyfriend in tow, I'm
not really looking at the dad.
Paul|10.18.07 @ 2:50PM|#
Giving medication to peoples' minor children without their
permission? Why not just turn your kids over to the state bodily
and get it over with?
It takes a village, stubby...
Ok, that was trollish. I apologize.
Abdul|10.18.07 @ 2:50PM|#
Paul,
There's a lot to criticize with mandatory reporting laws and strict
liability for statutory rape, but with those laws on the books any
sexually active child under the age of consent is a crime victim
who has to be reported to authorities.
Paul|10.18.07 @ 3:03PM|#
those laws on the books any sexually active child under the
age of consent is a crime victim who has to be reported to
authorities.
I agree... tentatively. But what you're now referring to isn't
child abuse [by parent], but, as you say, statutory rape.
The problem with this is, what does a school do (Burien *cough*)
that has a rate of teen pregnancy so high (Burien *cough*) that
they have a "First
Steps" coordinator with a permanent office in the school?
|10.18.07 @ 3:07PM|#
Yeah, it's probably not daddy dearest in this case. They usually
have the decency to pay for an abortion.
(I don't believe in Hell, but now I may go anyway with that
comment.)
Episiarch|10.18.07 @ 3:11PM|#
The problem with this is, what does a school do (Burien
*cough*) that has a rate of teen pregnancy so high (Burien *cough*)
that they have a "First Steps" coordinator with a permanent office
in the school?
Why is this place's preg rate so high? Any theories?
robc|10.18.07 @ 3:17PM|#
Paul,
When the thirteen year old comes in looking like a
Bratz(tm) doll with one of those short jackets and a
fur-lined hood texting on her cell phone with her 16 year old
baggy-pantsed boyfriend in tow prostitot,
I'm not really looking at the dad.
Shorter to type.
|10.18.07 @ 3:19PM|#
The pregnancy rate is so high because they don't think they have a future. When people see babies as obstacles to their future happiness, they work to prevent pregnancy. When people see babies as something fun, a way out, a meal ticket, a way to keep the boyfriend around, a status symbol, or what have you, they won't try as hard, or may actively seek it. Within many communities, teen pregnancy isn't even seen as bad!
|10.18.07 @ 3:30PM|#
It seems to be a lower-income school and they typically have
higher rates of pregnancy - poor girls get pregnant out of wedlock
more frequently than middle class and wealthy girls and we could
have a days-long discussion on the welfare culture, fatherless
families, minority teens, etc etc etc - like we've done on
countless threads - but so what. It's beside the point. Why they
are getting pregnant does not matter. Can the state, through the
school system, give body system-altering prescription medication to
minor children absent parental permission? Apparently it can. And
apparently some people think it should.
If any of these kids are being sexually abused, that's a law
enforcement matter. If any of these kids are living without any
parental involvement, or in extreme neglect, that's a social
services matter (do liberatarians approve of social services? I'm
ideologically impure so I don't know).
If a child of Christian Scientist parents gets a baterial
infection, the school may forbid her from attending classes until
the she's well, but the school can't give her antibiotics without
her parents' consent. How she got the infection is beside the
point. But because pregnancy is sexually induced, and because
everyone seems to have decided that 12 year olds are going to have
sex so you might as well help them protect themselves, it's okay to
give them birth control pills? Understand that I have no religious
objections to birth control - I'm Baptist/Catholic/Episcopal and,
as I said, ideologically impure in religious as well as political
matters. Condoms I won't argue with. But not birth control
pills.
And if we're going to treat 11 year olds like adults in sexual and
criminal matters, then hell. Give them the vote, let them drink,
let them get drivers licenses, make them get jobs and contribute to
the family income.
I would go on about how our society seems to have decided that sex
is the single most important biological function of humans, and
that repressing, delaying, diverting or declining to discuss our
sexual impulses seems to be the single worst thing we as modern
humans can do, but I already sound like my mother.
|10.18.07 @ 3:39PM|#
Russ R-
So you want children to starve in the streets?
How does it feel being taken literally?
|10.18.07 @ 3:40PM|#
Cesar:
Then those kids need to be taken into care. Does the state allow
its foster kids to have access to prescription medication without
oversight? Doubt it. Meanwhile, the involved, active parents at the
school - because there surely are some, even if they aren't in the
majority - stand by and watch the state usurp yet more of their
rights.
Paul|10.18.07 @ 3:41PM|#
Why is this place's preg rate so high? Any
theories?
Episiarch:
One word: poverty.
|10.18.07 @ 3:42PM|#
I agree. But as long as its possible for teens to get pregnant
without parental consent--a decision that directly impacts the
lives on their parents since they often end up being the ones who
really raise and support them--I don't see why they can't get birth
control without their consent. Really, which is more of a burden on
the parent?
Now about it being state funded, of course thats bullshit. We
shouldn't have public schools at all, welfare, blah blah blah.
Standard libertarian rant here.
Paul|10.18.07 @ 3:48PM|#
I'm Canadian...
... commence mocking.
No need, you mocked yourself the moment you uttered "Canadian".
Episiarch|10.18.07 @ 3:50PM|#
I'm Canadian...commence mocking.
Why? You're Canadian, that's bad enough. No need to make you feel
worse.
Episiarch, for a better description: read econ2econ's
post.
I see. I had thought maybe it was something more interesting, like
jr. high orgy parties, etc. Does every town have those stories, or
was mine special?
Jennifer|10.18.07 @ 3:51PM|#
Cesar, don't get upset over the opinions of one misguided enough to think that bacon should be round.
|10.18.07 @ 3:56PM|#
I see. I had thought maybe it was something more
interesting, like jr. high orgy parties, etc. Does every town have
those stories, or was mine special?
We have the oft-rumored 'lipstick' parties. Perhaps a typical
Catholic community rumor (oral, apparently, not condemning one to
hell like actual, you know).
|10.18.07 @ 3:57PM|#
That should read, 'we have many rumors of lipstick parties...' I don;t actually know if they happen.
|10.18.07 @ 4:00PM|#
How many people here would be mad if their daughter turned out to be sexually active, but was taking birth control so she wouldn't get pregnant and making the guy use condoms so she won't get a disease? I'd be freaking relieved.
|10.18.07 @ 4:01PM|#
I understand your point, but I think you're conflating two
separate issues. The state recognizes - or at least used to - a
parent's right to make decisions, including medical decisions, for
their minor children. A child who contracts a serious illness and
doesn't receive the proper medication can be a burden on his
parents. But the school would not medicate that child without
parental permission. It is not the state's place, or the school
district's, to protect parents from the economic consequences of
their minor childrens' actions. Where would you stop? Does the
school give psychological counseling to troubled students without
parents' permission? So if an 8th grader burns down the school, his
parents won't be sued for it? Of course not. Plus the DA will try
to try the kid as an adult.
And let's not forget that states do not recognize a minor's ability
to consent to sex in the first place! How many 17 year old boys
have been registered as sex offenders cause they had sex with their
16 year old girlfriends??
No offense intended, but I think you approve of the outcome - girls
get birth control pills so they don't get pregnant, thereby
lessening at least somewhat the chances of their being mired in
poverty forever - a positive outcome -and so you are trying to
justify the means. I don't think that works.
|10.18.07 @ 4:03PM|#
No offense intended, but I think you approve of the outcome
- girls get birth control pills so they don't get pregnant, thereby
lessening at least somewhat the chances of their being mired in
poverty forever - a positive outcome -and so you are trying to
justify the means. I don't think that works.
I agree with you it shouldn't be tax-payer funded. But I think
minor should be able to get condoms and birth control, unless you
want to make it possible for parents to force abortions on their
daughters since they didn't make they didn't consent to their
pregnancy.
|10.18.07 @ 4:04PM|#
Stubby lets pretend its a 100% private school that was doing this. Would you object?
|10.18.07 @ 4:11PM|#
Yes, I would. It's not the taxpayer funded part that offends me
- it's the medicating children without parental permission.
And remember - the birth control pill is not side effect free and
it is not appropriate for all girls or women. It interrupts the
body's normal operations and pumps in lots of hormones and if a
woman (or girl) has certain other physical conditions - high blood
pressure, migraine headaches, obesity - it could be dangerous. And
not every woman can take every type of pill - the pills differ in
dosage, strength, hormonal ingredients. There is no such thing as
"the" pill - there are many pills, which is why they are prescribed
by doctors and not sold over the counter. It's incredibly
irresponsible. And as mentioned above, if the pill is not taken
with great regularity it will be ineffective.
Will the health center be staffed by OB/GYNs or nurse practitioners
who will take detailed medical histories of the girls before
prescribing?
|10.18.07 @ 4:12PM|#
Will the health center be staffed by OB/GYNs or nurse
practitioners who will take detailed medical histories of the girls
before prescribing?
If its not, thats neglect. I wouldn't approve if they're handing
them out like M&Ms, no. Do you object to condoms?
|10.18.07 @ 4:15PM|#
Of course if all schools were private, this would be a moot point. Parents wouldn't send their kids to a school like that if they objected.
|10.18.07 @ 4:17PM|#
One more thing - as to the economic burden on the parent if the
kid gets pregnant. Yes, that's bad. But being a parent is a risky
proposition from the get go, and you are incurring expenses and
burdens as a result of your kids' decisions all the time. It's just
part of the deal. No, parents shouldn't be able to force their
children to get abortions - but parents have been kicking their
pregnant daughters out of the house for millenia. It's not nice,
it's not loving, but it's an option. And some parents - many
parents - willingly raise or help raise their unintended
grandchildren. Again - it is not the state's place to mitigate a
parent's economic risks.
And yes, I know that many of those kids' parents became parents
because they got knocked up as teenagers. Life is full of bad
things. The state can't protect us from all of them, nor should it.
The fact that this bad thing is initiated by sexual contact does
not remove it from a parent's sphere of responsiblity.
And why can't the boys use the damned condoms that are already
freely available?
|10.18.07 @ 4:18PM|#
Jennifer | October 18, 2007, 3:51pm | #
Cesar, don't get upset over the opinions of one misguided enough to think that bacon should be round.
You can have your 90% fat with hints of meat "bacon" and I'll have
a nice slab of meat with just enough fat to add taste. With a stack
of pancakes, real butter and maple syrup (not Aunt
Jemimah's colored and thickened sugar water.)
slaps puck, walks off
VM|10.18.07 @ 4:19PM|#
re: public and private funding. Currently we have to face the
fact that there's public money in everything, so the "I wouldn't
object if no public money were involved" is rather tricky.
but there shouldn't be anything wrong about handing out condoms and
making sure people understand sexuality and stay out of
ignorance.
|10.18.07 @ 4:19PM|#
Stubby, this just shows why public school in general is a
screwed up idea. A lot of public schools are turning into surrogate
parents.
And yeah, welfare payments play their part too.
The state here is basically trying to get more involved to fix
things that they screwed up by getting involved in the first
place.
|10.18.07 @ 4:19PM|#
Posts crossed. No, I don't object to free condoms. I do object
to schools throwing out free condoms with one hand while having
boys locked up for sexual assault-through-touching on the other,
but that's another matter.
Basically I think all public school administrators, and most public
school board trustees, are morons.
|10.18.07 @ 4:21PM|#
Yeah, I agree consenting sex between minors shouldn't be criminalized. Its a matter for parents to punish their kids if they catch them and object.
Paul|10.18.07 @ 4:22PM|#
How many people here would be mad if their daughter turned
out to be sexually active, but was taking birth control so she
wouldn't get pregnant and making the guy use condoms so she won't
get a disease? I'd be freaking relieved.
Cesar, this is always the million dollar question to test where a
parent really stands on the issue of birth control vs. teen
pregnancy vs. the reality of sexually active teens.
I would have extremely mixed feelings. I would be pissed that the
village school knows more about my daughter's sexual
habits than I do. I would question my abilities as a parent because
I might feel like I failed in some way. On the other hand I would
be quietly relieved that she's dealing with her sexual activity in
a "responsible" manner. As for other related emotional hot-points:
It also would depend on how old she was. It would super-double
depend on who and how old the (soon to be dead) boyfriend
was.
Ultimately, it would only be an opening round. I wouldn't walk away
saying "phew". It would basically raise more questions that it
answered. Birth control isn't a guarantee to remain pregnancy free.
Handing birth control to an underage teenager without counseling
and the other required accoutrements is problematic. If she was
under the age of consent, and he was 17 or 18, you can bet there'd
be fireworks.
Ultimately, it's not an easy answer or position to be in as a
parent. Especially if you're a parent who not only acts like a
parent, but really cares.
|10.18.07 @ 4:23PM|#
When the thirteen year old comes in looking like a Bratz(tm)
doll with one of those short jackets and a fur-lined hood texting
on her cell phone with her 16 year old baggy-pantsed boyfriend in
tow, I'm not really looking at the dad.
Well, in my experience, girls who are sexually compulsive were
sexually abused very young, so eyes should go back to the family
members, including dad.
|10.18.07 @ 4:23PM|#
Paul-
I think we can all agree it should be up to the parents more than
the state. And yeah, I'd be more upset if she was 13 than if she
was 16 or 17.
|10.18.07 @ 4:26PM|#
It's also important to remember that birth control pills and condoms do not prevent HPV transmission and that Herpes transmission is still a possibility, too.
ed|10.18.07 @ 4:28PM|#
Perhaps we could simply adopt the ways of Islam and arrange for
the girls to have clitorectomies? Or is everyone here a cultural
bigot?
Do I need to add sarcasm tags or something?
|10.18.07 @ 4:30PM|#
I agree with everything Paul says as well. And I'd be worried, cause my husband is a nice guy, and a great father, and not at all violent. But this is Texas and he's a gun collector.
MattXIV|10.18.07 @ 4:39PM|#
How many people here would be mad if their daughter turned out to be sexually active, but was taking birth control so she wouldn't get pregnant and making the guy use condoms so she won't get a disease? I'd be freaking relieved.
Uh, I'd say this is highly contingent on how said
hypothetical daughter is. If she were in her late teens, I'd be a
little concerned (especially if it weren't in the context of a
stable relationship) but I'd be glad that she was at least being
responsible about it. If she were in the middle school age range
(11-14), Mr. Foot would be plotting a course for some guy's
ass.
I think that making birth control available is a good thing
overall, since lack of access to it isn't a major deterent to
sexual activity, but granting a middle-school-aged child sexual
autonomy is as good of an idea as granting a 4-year-old dietary
autonomy. If your middle-school-aged child is sexually active an
you're not deeply concerned, you're a bad parent.
|10.18.07 @ 4:39PM|#
"I imagine the pregnant 11-year-olds haven't worried about sex
because they still think babies come from storks."
I worked with a 12-year-old girl (social work) who was pregnant.
Her boyfriend was 27. I think she had a pretty good understanding
of where babies come from before she became pregnant.
Lots of girls have sex while in middle school because they mistake
sex for love.
|10.18.07 @ 4:41PM|#
"So you want children to starve in the streets?"
No, I want children to be raised and supported by their parents,
and not by the government.
|10.18.07 @ 4:45PM|#
If your middle-school-aged child is sexually active an
you're not deeply concerned, you're a bad parent.
Most parents who have kids sexually active that young probably
aren't even aware of it. If the kid is 16-17 though, you know
(mostly) what you're doing by then and the potential consequences
thereof.
Let me re-phrase my statement--I'd be relieved if she was 16 or
over, and be relieved that she (sort of) acted responsibly if she
was under though it goes without saying there would be a lot of
concerns. And if the guy was over 18, I'd want him arrested for
child molestation. .
|10.18.07 @ 4:54PM|#
"How many 17 year old boys have been registered as sex offenders
cause they had sex with their 16 year old girlfriends?? "
Can you say "Georgia".
|10.18.07 @ 5:01PM|#
"if the pill is not taken with great regularity it will be
ineffective."
(kids in class all stand and recite in unison)
I pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America,
and the Republic for which it stands - One nation, under (take pill
here,) indivisible - with liberty and justice for all."
Paul|10.18.07 @ 5:07PM|#
I worked with a 12-year-old girl (social work) who was
pregnant. Her boyfriend was 27.
As a father of a five-year-old girl, I now declare it time to start
fondling the firearms.
Paul|10.18.07 @ 5:08PM|#
And I'd be worried, cause my husband is a nice guy, and a
great father, and not at all violent. But this is Texas and he's a
gun collector.
Wow, I could be your husband... but I don't live in Texas.
|10.18.07 @ 5:11PM|#
"As a father of a five-year-old girl, I now declare it time to
start fondling the firearms."
No need to worry. She assured me that the father -- despite being
in jail on an unrealed matter -- was a really nice guy.
Kids say the darnedest things!
|10.18.07 @ 5:13PM|#
Paul - The Daddy insists that when Talks Too Much begins dating, he will always just so happen to be cleaning one of the guns when the guy comes to pick her up.
Paul|10.18.07 @ 5:19PM|#
Stubby: (and thank god you're a woman, you wouldn't want to be
advertising that name as a guy... just sayin')
When it became known that I was going to be the father of a girl, I
was given one very prescient piece of wisdom:
"Well, it's not a boy, so your dealings with the police will be
minimized. However, now you're going to have to find new and
creative places to hide all the bodies of her boyfriends."
I now find myself driving through the woods on weekends thinking,
"Hmm, this would be a good place..."
Paul|10.18.07 @ 5:20PM|#
She assured me that the father -- despite being in jail on
an unrealed matter -- was a really nice guy.
Teacher:
I think another one is: "It wasn't his fault, and all that is
behind him now, anyway."
Paul|10.18.07 @ 5:27PM|#
The Daddy insists that when Talks Too Much begins
dating,
I'm hoping that when my little Runs With Scissors gets old enough,
she'll have the good sense of her mother. No, wait, I didn't mean
that...
SIV|10.18.07 @ 7:07PM|#
If the State was giving my 11 y/o daughter birth control pills
without my knowledge or consent
things would get pretty Waco/Ruby Ridge real quick when I found out
about it.
Hey, why not ritalin and psych meds too?
Thomas Paine\'s Goiter|10.18.07 @ 8:17PM|#
I do not think they understand the word "outbreak" neither in scope nor usage.
The Wine Commonsewer|10.18.07 @ 8:31PM|#
PROM NIGHT DUMPSTER BABY
My buddy Paige was a Prom Night Baby. No dumpster though.
|10.18.07 @ 8:41PM|#
A friend of mine - a nurse - insists that many cases of infertility could be resolved if the hopeful parents would don taffeta and tuxedo and go at it in the back seat of a parent's car. Something about taffeta rubbing on upholstery. We haven't determined if it has to be leather, fabric, vinyl or what.
|10.18.07 @ 9:10PM|#
Hey SIV, what if your 14-year old was smoking bong hits without your consent? No state support here. But I know you like those Dutch cigarettes, so at what age would it be ok for your children to smoke one?
Mad Max|10.18.07 @ 9:11PM|#
"I worked with a 12-year-old girl (social work) who was
pregnant. Her boyfriend was 27."
I'm generally skeptical about the death penalty, but in this case,
I would say, when you feed this guy into the wood-chipper, make
sure you feed him in feet-first, so that his suffering doesn't just
end right away. Give him time to *savor* the experience.
Paul|10.19.07 @ 1:18AM|#
taffeta and tuxedo and go at it in the back seat of a
parent's car. Something about taffeta rubbing on upholstery. We
haven't determined if it has to be leather, fabric, vinyl or
what.
When my wife was trying to get pregnant, I suggested that I quit my
job, pick up a meth addiction, and she start wearing track-suits
and smoking, and she'd get pregnant instantly.
|10.19.07 @ 8:35AM|#
Lots of girls have sex while in middle school because they
mistake sex for love.
Hello, nail. Meet hammer.
As the mother of a 7-month old (and therefore just days away from
sexual predatorhood) son, I'm just as terrified. How will I get the
message through to him, through the storm of peer pressure with
which he'll be surrounded?
The message will NOT be, "just carry a condom son" and it will
certainly not be, "oh no worries, she's probably on the pill
anyway!"
I can't believe they can just hand out bc pills like that. stubby's
absolutely right about "the pill", too. They're not candy and
getting the right one for your physiology is no easy task.
Never mind the fact that an 11-year old girl has an immature
reproductive system. Yes, her system may be mature enough to be
fertilized but a child's hormone levels won't level out for
years... if ever (hot flashes at 30, anyone?). To screw with that
delicate hormonal balance before it's even mature is just asking
for trouble down the road. The long-term medical implications are
horrific to even think about.
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