Teen pregnancy and the causes: A view by Chris Fox

Teen pregnancy in the United States is on the rise. Heather Hajek, an author for the website, www.healthnews.com states,” Of the 4.3 million births reported in 2006, around 435,000 of the births were to mothers from 15 to 19 years old, an increase of approximately 21,000 more teens having babies than in 2005” (Hajek). This rise in teenage pregnancies comes after a fourteen year decline. What has changed to have this sudden increase of pregnancies among our youth?
Could it be the increase in single parent homes, religious influence, businesses relying on sexual pictures and sex oriented language to sell their products, the obvious lack of education about sex and its consequences to include the proper use of contraceptives and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases or is it the lack of parental guidance?
According to the US Census Bureau under the section labeled, Families and Living Arrangements: 2006, “there were 12.9 million one-parent families in 2006 — 10.4 million single-mother families and 2.5 million single-father families”( US Census Bureau). It is hard to raise children with two parents. A single parent can find the daily routine of raising the children, providing financial stability and maintaining the household a little overwhelming leaving the discipline and guidance of the children “on the back burner.” Thus, the children grow up with food in their belly, a roof over their head and clothes on their backs, but were never accurately educated on the “birds and the bees”.
Religion is a double edged sword in regards to teen pregnancy. It can either play a vital role in preventing it by laying out guidelines for sexual interactions or it can hinder it by not allowing a child to confront her parent(s) about sex. If a person follows the religious teachings they will pick abstinence until they marry, otherwise if a person chooses to have premarital sex they might be reluctant to make it known, leaving them unprotected and uneducated.
Businesses use sex to sell their products. How many times have you been in the checkout lane in your local supermarket and you are visually assaulted by half naked people on the front cover of magazines, or turned on the television and ran into a commercial with a lady in a two piece dancing around promoting face cream or how many times have you been surfing the web and come across sex related sites? Well guess what, your teens are seeing the same magazines, commercials and running into the same sites online that you are. The difference is they are impressionable.
I believe the major culprit is lack of education and openness about sex. With the proper education about the human body, how it reproduces, contraceptives (what they are and how to use them), sexually transmitted diseases (curable and incurable) teenagers will be able to make an informed, educated decision regarding sex. I believe all too often the view is if we ignore it, it will go away.
There needs to be an open discussion between parent(s) and their teenagers about sex and its consequences. Parents need to be open to educating and providing contraceptives. If parents continue ignoring the obvious, that if they want to have sex they will, then the percent of teenage pregnancies will continue to rise. Leaving a nation of children raising children. Leaving behind a mess for society to clean up.
This trend is problematic because it sets up teenagers for a life of hardship and poverty. According to Rebecca Maynard, Ph.D. is a Trustee Professor of Education at the University of Pennsylvania,” Teenage parents consume a large share of all welfare dollars. Teenage child bearing is estimated to cost over $34 billion a year for the major income social support programs alone (Advocates for Youth, 1994). Indeed, nearly half of all welfare recipients are current or former teenage parents (Maynard Para 10). It is also unlikely that teenage moms will finish or continue their educated also stated by Maynard, “Early childbearing lessens the likelihood that young women will complete their schooling, thereby weakening employment prospects. Just over half of all teenage mothers complete their high school education. Those who do finish high school have especially low basic skills (Maryland Para 7).
If it is one or a combination of the before mentioned situations, the end result is pretty clear. Teenage pregnancy is not beneficial to the teenagers, the parents, the baby or society as a whole.








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Works Cited



Hajek, Heather. "Teen Pregnancy Rate Is On The Rise." HealthNews 09Jan2009: n. pag. Web. . Web Article:

Maynard, Rebecca Ph.D. "Teenage Childbearing and Welfare Reform: Lessons from a Decade of Demonstration and Evaluation Research." WisconsinFamily Impact Seminars. 18. Print.

United States Census Bureau. Families and Living Arrangements. , 2009. Web. .

Save Our Planet? Only If It Yields Profit

The fragile balance between corporate profits and making a change in our culture is a very fine line to walk. American business is all about profit. They have taken this movement and twisted it into a marketing technique to sell more products, but in order to make a big impact on consumer waste you must use the corporate giants. The corporations are on board with making eco-friendly products as long as in the end it equals profits.
Author Leslie Kaufman of the New York Times, states these same ideas in her article, At 40, Earth Day Is Now Big Business.She states,” Forty years later, the day has turned into a premier marketing platform for selling a variety of goods and services, like office products, Greek yogurt and eco-dentistry” (Kaufman Para 2) and here she quotes Denis Hayes, who was national coordinator of the first Earth Day and is returning to organize this year’s activities in Washington.“This ridiculous perverted marketing has cheapened the concept of what is really green,” “It is tragic” (Kaufman Para 6)
Overtime, the focus on doing what’s right for the planet has been modified to include profit making. It is a shame that we can’t do right by the planet that has done right by us. This makes me fear for my daughter’s future. Our carbon footprint is getting bigger and deeper and there is no true sign that this trend will slow.
Like everything else in America Earth Day has now been altered from its humble beginnings to support the needs of greedy corporations (ex. Christmas, Halloween, Easter, and Valentine’s Day).


Web Article:
New York Times
Author: Leslie Kaufman
At 40, Earth Day Is Now Big Business, Published April 21 2010

Teens and Sex GoTogether Like PB&J (ROUGH DRAFT

Teen pregnancy is on the rise in the United States. “Of the 4.3 million births reported in 2006, around 435,000 of the births were to mothers from 15 to 19 years old, an increase of approximately 21,000 more teens having babies than in 2005” (Hajek).
The cause of the current rise is uncertain, but I feel the reasons for the rise are very clear. Many factors play into this trend such as single parent homes, religious influence in the home, businesses relying on sexual pictures or thoughts to sell products, lack of education to the youth about contraceptives and sexual transmitted diseases, the parents not providing birth control and condoms to teens, and the parent(s) of the teen not being open to discussing sex and the consequences.
Single parent homes in the United States “According to Families and Living Arrangements: 2006, there were 12.9 million one-parent families in 2006 — 10.4 million single-mother families and 2.5 million single-father families”( US Census Bureau). I am a product of a single parent upbringing and all too often my house was full of chaos and kid-parent disconnect. My mother was preoccupied with financial stability and therefore certain parental duties were put on hold. I never received the “ birds and the bees” conversation nor did she keep “tabs” on where I was during the day and or night.
Religion is a double edged sword it can play a vital role in preventing teen pregnancy and it can also add to it. Religion has base rules that promote good morals and ethics. One of these rules is no sex before marriage. Another one of these rules is no contraceptives. These rules can add to teen pregnancy. If the teen comes from a religious family and wants to engage in premarital sex they will be afraid to approach their parent(s). Thus, leaving the teen to have sex and to have it without contraceptives.
Businesses in America thrive on the image of sex to promote and sell products. How many times have you been in the checkout lane at your local supermarket and are visually assaulted with half naked images on magazines? Turn on your television and see a commercial promoting body soap or hair products with the underlined message of sex? Open up the internet and take a quick look around, it is estimated that blank percent of the internet is porn/sex related sites.
I also believe there is a lack of sex education to teens in this country. The education of the human body and how it reproduces will help prevent teen pregnancies. It would show the teens how to properly use contraceptives. It will also show them the negative consequences of their actions, such as sexually transmitted diseases, the stress it will have on their education and future and of course the chance of an unwanted pregnancy.
Parents are not talking to their teens about sex. They do not want to recognize that their teen might be or want to be engaged in sexual activity. They are not taking the appropriate steps to safeguarding their teens from sexually transmitted diseases or pregnancy. This is due to the parents religious stance, unwilliness to approve of premarital sex or just plain clueless to the fact that little Johnny or Suzzy is going to have sex regardless and should take precautions.
In the end, if your teenager wants to engage in sexual activity there is little you can do but educate and protect them. If you choose not to address this with your teens you are playing a dangerous game with your kids future.


Web Article:
Heather Hajek
Published: Friday, January 9 2009
http://www.healthnews.com/family-health/pregnancy-childbirth-parenting/teen-pregnancy-rate-is-on-rise-2409.html

Web Article:
US Census Bureau
Page Last Modified: January 15, 2010
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hh-fam.html

Santa Claus Is Fake, but STD’S are Real

5 hours earlier I had just gotten off the plane from a 22 hour flight from Kuwait back to the USA. I had spent the last year celibate in the middle of the desert in a daily sausage fest. You guessed it; I was deployed in Operation Iraqi Freedom and was finally a free man.
A couple buddies and I decided to go out on the town to celebrate our new found freedom. We ended up in a dance club pounding back the drinks (drink of choice: Grey Goose and Cranberry). I had finally reached the liquid courage stage of my alcoholic binge and found myself hitting on the shot girl who seemed to be around whenever my cup was empty. She amazingly mirrored my affections and after a short conversation, I found myself engaged in an intense battle of tongue war right in the middle of the club.
She finally comes up for air and leaves my side to continue making her rounds. Leaving me intrigued.
At last call she grabs my hand and leads me to a stock closet where we continued our high school make out session. Finally, the bar cleared out and the doors were locked for the night.
This particular bar had 4 different floors of music. The first floor was country, the second was popular, the third was disco and the top floor was rap. She was responsible for cleaning up the top floor that evening.
We headed to the top floor running up the 4 sets of winding stairs like two kids in a candy store. We reach the top floor and the music is still going. She precedes then to give me a private showing, which I was much obliged. The showing was then followed by rated XXX material not suitable for all audiences.
After the bleeped out portion of this story I thanked her and showed myself out. The next morning I awoke to a situation in my boxers I did not appreciate. It seemed that the prior nights activities had consequences, which I did not consider.
I feared to urinate for it was already in such pain. I called a local doctors office and made it crystal clear this was an urgent matter which could not wait.
I arrive at the doctor’s office and was seen right away.
The doctor asks what the problem is and how he could help. I inform him of the situation and I believe that I have a STD. He then begins to pull out this long Q-tip looking tool and says he will need to insert this to test for STD’S, but first he would need to ” just take a look”.
I release my death grip from my pants and give him permission to begin the exam.
My anxiety has reached its capacity and my fear of the Q-tip insertion is making me sweat. I begin to run through questions in my head. What disease did I catch? Is it curable? Did she know? How bad is all this going to hurt?
During my internal breakdown the doctor has caught my eye. I see him reach for a pair of tweezers and I ask him what he is going to do. He reassures me and tells me he thinks he found something. He reaches down and I feel a slight pinch as he pulls out a thin piece of red string. It seems that a piece of string from my boxers had somehow gotten stuck and caused this incredible irritation and swelling.
I used to believe STD’s were right up there with Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. I used to believe that they did not exist.
That day I learned firsthand that they do exist and not to take them so lightly. Take this story for what it’s worth, it is just an eye opener that all actions have consequences and some consequences can last a life time.

Thoughts on Cause and Effect:

More American children are growing up in single parent homes.

Marriages in America have a 40-50% failure rate.

American society has become more tolerant of divorce than other cultures.

American marriages are easy to walk away from when times get tough.

Both partners are tempted to engage in affairs, because there is a lack of commitment to the marriage.

Sex plays a big role in American society.

In America, peoples’ success is measured on their wealth and income, this pushes people to put their careers first and their family second.

Americans are more likely to pick their partners solely based on attraction disregarding the attributes that would create a healthy stable marriage.

Financial problems is the main reason for people getting a divorce.

Americans often live together first, as a trial period and these relationships do not last.

American families lack religion practices that would hold a family together.

One person from the marriage is in prison.

One person from the marriage is deployed in the military.

Married couples have less sexual contact after they get married vs when they were dating

Married couples tend to try to change the other person

Find statistics on divorce in America, people in jail, people deployed, marriages vs divorces, Americans practicing religion, how big of a role does sex play in America, poll on how people pick their mate, how easy it is to get a divorce, how many Americans live together before they marry, how often married couples have sex.

Schools Robbing Our Kids

Sir Ken Rolanson ideas of inner-mingling creativity and academics is amazingly accurate.
We are all too often steered toward things that will create a stable financial future for our families leaving our true interests behind.
I have ADHD and I find myself moving around and my mind often wanders and I find it hard to focus for long perids of time. Many believed I would not be able to master control of myself and be productive.
I am not on medication and I feel not being on it frees my mind for creative thoughts. I know I work harder at my school subjects than most and my homework does take me twice as long, but in the end it is worth it for me to have a free mind rather than be drugged up and dulling my creativity.
I am an "A" student in all my classes and I find I have a different view on alot of subjects that people usually have trouble with. This view aids me in success.
With my ADHD I have entered the military and had a successful 8 yrs there and now I am in college and I am succeeding.
My creativity served me well when I was over serving in the War. Without it, there were situations that could of turned out very differently causing the end of my life or the life of one of my soldiers.
In closing, I believe that creativity and academics can co-exsist and the outcome will be talented, educated kids who will look at things differently and lets face it, the world needs a new outlook.

The Circle Effect

It is 6:15 am. I had been up for 17 hours the day prior. I am in between sleep and reality; when a voice enters my dreams. The voice is rather vulgar and ear piercing. I start to come to and try to focus on the voice. I listen, trying to arrange the sounds into words when it comes all too clear what I am hearing.I have been abruptly awoken and am now being forced to listen to another session of my neighbor’s uncontrollable rants. I sigh. This has become my own personal Jerry Springer Show. If my neighbor is having any issues in life; she believes the neighborhood should know about it.Today, it seems as if her 2 kids have pushed the right combination of buttons to send her into a mental breakdown. Yesterday, it was a confrontation with her live-in boyfriend about his ability or lack thereof to remain faithful.With her almost daily display of yelling, slamming, throwing or stomping I know way too much about my neighbor and a lot I wish I could erase.I have “overheard” child neglect, boyfriend issues, money troubles and yes even sexual encounters. It seems as if my neighbor is unaware she lives in a residential neighborhood and not in a remote location off some unpaved road in a trailer.
I started to examine what would make an individual act in this manner. I have concluded it is not entirely her fault, she is but a product of poor upbringing and a lack of civilized social interaction. She obviously comes from a family who believes it is okay to express their emotions in outlandish verbal and physical behavior. She has also surrounded herself with peers who have no class and no self respect.She will continue to act in this manner creating an environment for her kids much like the one she grew up in. This is the circle effect. Her parents created this Jerry Springer freak show, which was passed onto her and will inevitably be passed onto her kids.Her kids are already showing signs of this barbaric behavior. They don’t know how to ask for anything. They throw things, scream and stomp their feet until she either screams at them or gives them what they want.This cycle will continue until 2 things are resolved. One, someone along the line realizes there is a better way to express what you are feeling than to act in such an unflattering manner. Second, come to the realization that most personal matters are just that.I remember something my grandfather told me. Trash breeds trash. I hope for society’s sake this is not true.This may be awful, but I will not let my daughter play with her kids. I am afraid she will be influenced by them, and I have worked really hard on teaching her manners and appropriate behavior.

Is America the Solution to the World’s Crisis?

Is America the solution to the world’s crisis? Here are my thoughts:
I thought about this blog for quite some time. I was thinking I would go religious and wish for the second coming of Jesus Christ, then I thought maybe I would wish for world peace like one of those bubble headed pageant girls, or maybe I would wish for everyone to just get along and obey the golden rule.
None of these wishes seemed realistic to me. The religious one only makes sense if you believe in God. The world peace wish just seems to be too widely used and the golden rule, though I believe this rule could change the world, it just seemed too obvious of a wish.
I finally decided that I wanted my wishes to be real and ones that could truly be implemented.
A country is only as good as its people, so I am focusing my 3 wishes on changing the lives of the people and in return they will change the country and then the country will help change the world. I am also going to direct my 3 wishes solely to the American people, because I believe if given the proper tools we can start this chain and see it through.
Americans have good hearts. You saw it after 9-11 when everyone banded together to help. You saw it after Hurricane Katrina. You see it now in Haiti. Given the opportunity, Americans will do the right thing. What would stop Americans from doing the right thing? I believe it is their own personal financial situation which limits them to the good they can do.
Take the average American household, it is plagued with debt. Medical bills, college bills, car payments, mortgage etc. All this debt keeps Americans down. Keeps Americans from being the great people I know they could be. I say let’s cut the debt, give Americans relief and give them an opportunity to change the world.
My first wish would be free college to those who wish to attend. By giving free college, you are not only investing in the individual’s future, you are investing in America’s future, creating a stronger more educated nation.
My second wish would be free healthcare to those who are sick. Give free healthcare to those in need. This just makes sense to me. People have the burden of medical bills weighing them down, forcing them to file bankruptcy, forcing them to foreclose on their house and forcing them to lose all they have because someone in their family is sick and needs healthcare.
My third wish would be that Americans can only live within their financial means. Having Americans spend only the money they earn, creates a stable foundation and will almost end bankruptcy, foreclosures and the homeless.
If these 3 wishes were granted, Americans would be highly educated, financially stable and be in a better situation to help the world as a nation. You can’t help someone else if you have not helped yourself first. We need to get in a better place before we can help the world get in a better place.
In summary, give Americans a helping hand and they in return will extend that helping hand to others.

People Are Misusing Your Money, Do You Care?

If you gave money to a church and instead of using it for missionary work the preacher has a new Lexus sitting outside on Sunday morning, his family is dressed in designer clothes, he is out eating at the Freight House 3-4 days out of the week and he has the best home entertainment system money can buy, would you be upset? Would you then question if you are going to keep giving your money to this church?
This scenario about the church and the priest is a parallel example to America’s Welfare System. You, the tax payer give money out of your check every payday to help people get back on their feet and people find ways to abuse the system to qualify for benefits that they do not deserve.
They remain unmarried, so it looks as if they are supporting the family on only “1” income. This tips the income/dependant ratio in their favor. They also have several babies to increase the dependants living off that “1” income, further tipping the income/dependant ratio in their favor. They do off the books jobs such as babysitting, mechanic work or handyman work to receive money “under the table”, which never gets reported as income, so it looks as if their income is actually lower than it really is, which in return tips the ration more in their favor.
They do whatever they can to remain eligible for benefits. The benefits are pretty good for not working. Monthly allowance for food, which comes on a card similar to a debit card (so not to embarrass those who use it). They also receive free milk, cheese, eggs, peanut-butter and cereal through the WIC program. They also receive free or discounted healthcare when many working Americans do not even have healthcare.
They get pregnant over and over again on your dime. Because they are unmarried and only have “1” income they do not have to pay for any of the expenses of having a baby, but because married couples have 2 incomes they have to pay for all the expenses of having a baby. If you ever have had a baby, it is not inexpensive and it can put you into a financial hole.
I am rather fed up with seeing people who do not even work living a better quality of life than I am. They are driving the new “pimped” out rides, wearing the latest fashions, having the best cable package available and dining out on the regular, all while receiving welfare benefits (AKA your money).
I do not believe our tax money should go to support people who abuse the system. Just because they do not know how to use contraceptives or are too lazy to do an honest day’s work, does not mean I need to pay for their living expenses.
I do believe welfare has a purpose. It is to help stabilize people’s lives who are trying to better their situation. Welfare is a helping hand to help you reach financial stability. It is a stepping stone not a way of life.
I am a full time student and a part time employee. If I am not working to support my family, I am attending class to better my quality of life. What is my motivation? Why shouldn’t I just quit my job and school and collect welfare?
I am sure I will have supporters and critics about this blog, I welcome both sides to comment.

Come Across in La Crosse

Have you ever witnessed dangerous or selfish driving? Have you ever said to yourself, “How did they get a license?” or “Where is a cop when you need one? “ Have you ever been so frustrated you feel like hitting the accelerator and smashing the car in front of you?
Well, I have and here are the things I have come across in La Crosse.
It seems if you are over the age of 60 and decide to drive on the highway it is a senior citizens right to go 40 miles an hour on the highway, or have their right directional on for over 3 miles. It also seems if you are under the age of 30, you have the ability to do one or more of the following in a moving vehicle. Texting or checking your email, eating, putting on make-up, balancing a checkbook, fumbling around looking for your IPOD, yelling and slapping your boyfriend/girlfriend, preparing your 2009 tax return, reading your favorite novel or engaging in public displays of affection that are rated way past PG.
People are also oblivious that there is a fast/passing lane. This is the farthest left lane on the highway. This lane is used to pass people or you are to be moving at a pace that exceeds the right lanes on the highway. They also seem to misunderstand how to merge onto a highway. Why is it so hard for people to accelerate and turn their head to “merge” into the flow of traffic?
If there is a wreck or a traffic stop people seem to be drawn to this as if it was the second coming of Christ, they slow down to 20 miles an hour on the highway to get a better view. Then on the other hand you have people you are in such a hurry to get a double expresso they are on the highway doing 70MPH, weaving through traffic on a dummy tire.
It has also been brought to my attention that La Crosse has a high population of height challenged people who can not see over their steering wheel and can barely push down the accelerator and then there are those who are sitting 2 inches from the windshield and still have to squint to see the sign for Wal-Mart.
I also find that people have a hard time performing the basics of driving such as riding their brake and there is no one in front of them for at least a half mile, taking more than 3 times to parallel park, refusing to turn right on red or scared to turn left from a one way street to another one way street, or are uncertain if their car takes unleaded or diesel.
Then you have the selfish driver who stops in the middle of the road blocking the traffic behind them to let out their passengers, or the ones who are parked in the middle of the road with their hazards on, so they can run into Jimmy John’s to satisfy a crave. How about when someone pulls out in front of you and then go’s under the speed limit. My favorite of all is when I am on Highway 16 and I see a car in front of me riding right next to another car, blocking traffic from getting around them.
These are the things that I have come across in La Crosse. These situations are aggravating and most of them can be avoided by implementing 2 things. The first is if people become aware of their surroundings on the road to better assess their driving habits and the second is if people realized that they are not the only one’s on the road and should act accordingly. Driving is already a headache; do we really need to add to the problem with an obvious disregard to other drivers on the road?

Children

I served overseas in 2003-2004, right when the war first jumped off. We would go out on patrols and convoy missions and we would inevitably run across villages. Most of the villages were poor and had limited resources. When I would look into the faces of the children there, I could see nothing but misery. These children were not going to grow up and be doctors or engineers. These kids were just hoping to make it. To live through the violence and poor conditions.
To witness this first hand changed me. It made me appreciate the things and opportunities I had at home.
I now have a child of my own and I am grateful that I was born in America. That my child does not have to worry about her next meal, or if her parents will be injured or killed from one day to the next. She does not have to worry about clean drinking water or the overbearing heat and wind. My child does not know violence exists and I will shield her from it as long as I possibly can.
America is not without flaw though. As I am sure you all are aware. We have our own issues here. We lack a true family unit. We have a very high divorce rate in this country, which equals out to a lot of single parents out there.
I did not have my father when I was growing up, he did not take interest in my life. I had a mother who worked 2 jobs and 3 sisters who I despised. The lack of a father figure will have effects that you may not see for years. In my case it came to my attention that I lacked the background that other kids had in my neighborhood.
Their fathers would teach them things, such as mowing the lawn, how to fix a chain on a bike, measuring out wood to cut, using hand tools or power tools, car parts, sports etc. the list goes on. The point is I was sociably behind my peers because I didn’t have someone to teach me how to do these things.
When I saw the video it made me think back to those kids in Iraq and of my own child. The kids in Iraq have nothing to look forward to, but more of the same. Violence and religious persecution. The kids in the video were living. They were exploring, experimenting, learning and most of all they were free from the burdens of the world. They were free to let their imaginations grow. To dream.
My childhood what it was and my experience overseas I have made sure that I took an interest in my child’s life. That I teach her and guide her along. That I will not fail her as my father did me. As Iraq has failed the kids there. I will see that she can dream.
This workshop is really a band-aid fix. These skills are suppose to come from your family unit. Your father, mother, grand-parents, aunts. uncles and close family friends. They are suppose to teach you not only to survive in life, but to excel. Your parents should help you succeed in life. To become self efficient. I believe that this is now pushed onto our school systems, church, workshops, boy scouts etc.
Instead of bringing up our children we expect society to do it for us. The workshop is a great idea and I believe kids and parents benefit from it. I also believe we should take back the teaching/mentoring of our own children. To teach them how to navigate through life’s many challenges. To set them up for success.

The Introduction:

My name is Chris Fox. Everyone calls me Fox. I originate from Cincinnati, Ohio. I lived in many different cities, states and countries due to the demanding mobility that the Army requires. I have been deployed twice to Iraq. I currently work at Fort McCoy as a civilian. I live in La Crescent, Mn. I am married and have a 2 yr old little girl. My wife's name is Sarah and my daughters name is Isabelle. I believe I have a unique outlook on life, and not everyone agrees with it. Even if you do not agree with my blog, I hope at least you enjoy reading it.