•
I.
Six ways
teen pregnancy
By M..-i Wi skip school, or have weak read-
President, OaiJdma's Defense ing and writing skills are espe-
Fund dally likely to become parents
There i DO one magic answer before they are ready.
to the problem of teen pi'egnan- - Helpl II d J ,
cy - but there are several be� Ieara w -related' and
ful thiDgs can do as parents, . find out what it means 0 ork
teachers, neighbors, and role for a IiviDg. The same teens who
models to help our teens avoid do badly in school and often be­
falliDg into tho trap. We can COQle paren too soon also all
help bolster their motivation too often do no know what it
and capacity to' prevent too- takes to compete in the worling
early pregnancy by: world
- M set y a - Gift a to
goo ed catlo aDd tro ucceecl In seUi, like
b . Those of art �. More than any­
our young people who have fal- . thing, young people need to feel
len behind in school, frequently good about themselves and to
r.7-:-�=-:-:::-:-"""":"'---:---------:----�� have a sense of their own future
Potential Scoring a basket, star­
ring in the school play, or
mastering ne dance or musi­
.Cal iastrumeat tan help make a
. positive difference. \
. -Talki sen e to t e
sex. All teens hear about
and talk about sex and many are
sexually active. They need
sexuality and parenting educa­
tion to help them sort 0 truth
from fiction and begin making
responsible choices. We need to
open the lines of ooDlDlunication
in our schools, churches, and
living rooms.
, ACCORDING TO Donald
Regan' observations, h ver,
this type of relationship could
never 'WOrk. 0 one is suggesting
that a President should be in­
volved in every facet of policy
setting or decision-making. But
e should be responsible for es­
tablishing a set of policy goals to
move the nation forward If this
Executive passivity had been
revealed during the midple of
the severe recession whi oc­
cured in Reagan's first term,
there ould have been F in­
credible backlash of public
r. Now tha the unemploy­
ment data ow a decrease from
FOR EXAMPLE, in his �hat lofty level there is less
memoirs, Doo Regan writes: "in resentment
four years Secretary of the We must not forget however,
Treasury, I DCYer sa Rooald what a tremendo price our -
Reagan alone and never dis-" fio paid during that a·l• -
cussed economic philosophy or long term layoffs; record orne
, fiscal and mooetary policy with foreclosures; small bus ness
...... L�r him one-on . c. From first day bankruptcies; and family
to last, I was flying by the seat of breaku . The swelling a ds
my pants." 0 new homeless represent a sad
This statement' is in-, testimonytothisdevastatioo. 0
credulous! One of the precepts one] can put a price 09 the
of the Humphrey-Hawkins Full human agony these indi . uals
Employment nd Balanced suffered as tho Adminis .
Growth ct that in order to was stumbling throu
best � the economic af- recession with slogans ins
F. fairs of the nation we hould
H ' embrace a mutually rein orcing
• 1"M fllllll, MIlT B1UluS, is not relationship between th Pres­
in OUT stan, BIll in ourselves ... " dent, the Congress, and the
This quote, from Federal Reserve System.
Shakespeare's Julius Ceasar,
should send a signal to this ad­
ministration that we need moral
. leadership on the real world
problems facing our people.
Perhaps too much hoopla
was made by the media of
Donald T. Regan's memoir, For
the Record, about the First
Lady's reliaace on astro ogy to
plan the President's schedule.
Although this was an interestiug,
if not bizarre revelation, the real
bombsheU was not the White
House' attention to the zodiac,
but rather the passiYe manner in
which the President dealt with
domestic· DeS.
,
I
care. Teens are growing young
people with a range of heahh
needs. We must make sure
health services are available to
them in settings they can easily
get to and where they feel com­
fortable.
-Getting d
e unity lea to make
teen pregnancy prevention a
priority. Our number one
'responsibility as adults is to
,provide strong ro models to
t, young people. If we do not
s ow that we really care about
t n pregnancy prevention, why
should they? We should ask our
leaders dOW to unite behind the
foUowing goals: .
- Reducing the incidence of
first teen pregnancies;
- Reducing, the incidence of
repeat teen pregnancies;
- Reducing the number of
teen school dropouts as a result
of pregnancy and parenting;
- Reducing the number of
babies born to poor mothers
who have not had oomprehen­
sive prenatal care; and
- Increasing the number of
young peop with good basi c
skills and the chance to graduate
&om high school, go on to col­
lege or get a job, and form
families when they.are ready.
coherent policies. Remember
"Stay the' Course ... "?
There were other perp .
signals from the Administratio
during the jobless crjsi such as
the President scratching his,
head suggesting that the un­
employed should 100 at all the
listings in the want ads. Try tell­
ing a displaced autoworker with
a family to feed that must go
from a $25,000 annual salary to
slapping hamburgers 00 a bun at
MacDonalds for $6,900 a year.
AS TIlE QUOTE from Julius
Ceasar states, "the fault lies in
ourselves" to address these
prcss'ing problems. The educa­
tion of our children, adequate
shelter for the homele , the
decline of America's manufac­
turing sector, drug abuse and in­
fant mortality are real life issues.
We must cease using these
problems political footballs.
We m t provide leadership and
advocacy on every one of them.
Perhaps this _ ovember, when
'the nation pi cks their new QUef
executive, the stars will have a
different answer.
Mk:_aa Citizen
e y kiter. d
to: Mic . an Citizen, P.O.
Bo 3560, H· hi nd Park,
148203
•
