Teenage Pregnacy...What's the Plan?

Texas has the 3rd highest teenage pregnancy rate in the country, and is #1 among repeat mothers still in their teens. Our state has given Texas school districts the right to decide how we taught out teenagers about sexual education. According to the article, 94% of districts chose the abstinence only program. Apparently our school boards think that "what they don't know can't hurt them." So far, they've been wrong.

Recently the state has started to see that abstinence doesn't always work. School districts in the Houston area have started to change over to what they call an "abstinence-plus" curriculum. This program teaches about sexually transmitted diseases as well and contraceptives. The article argues that if a teenager knows more about their body, they can make better choices for themselves. Susan Tortolero, director of the UT Prevention Research Center makes the argument, "The more you know about your body, how to make better decisions and choices, the better decisions adolescents make." The article points out that parents believe educating the kids on different forms of contraception will only make teen pregnancy numbers rise. School districts have begun to change their thinking a bit. Many schools are changing their curriculum as soon as this spring to try to lower the state's reputation among the country to teenage pregnancy.

This unknown writer makes some good points. What kids know about their body can only help them make better choices. Instead of making sex "taboo", educating kids on smart choices will likely drop down the pregnancy rate among kids. I don't know a 13 year old that dream of being a mom next year. With better options made available to them, maybe the rates will drop lower. It would be nice to be at the bottom of that ranking among the states.

I found this article at: http://www.chron.com/opinion/editorials/article/Let-s-reconsider-abstinence-only-sex-ed-2184304.php

Oh yes I did it...Let's talk about the death penalty!

Some onlookers were surprised the other night at the GOP primary debate at the amount of attendees who were in favor of Governor Rick Perry's record for executions. A huge round of applause was given when Brian William's told the crowd about the 243 executions that Perry has overseen. The article goes into detail about the percentage of registered voters in Texas that support the death penalty. At 75% in support of the death penalty, these numbers are a good amount higher than the national numbers. Most people disagree with the stereotypes Texas carries, but with statistics like these, no one can deny some truth behind them. But the showing of support at the debate proves that it's not just Texas who thinks crime should pay. Surveys show that not only are the Republicans supporting Perry's record, a large portion of Democrats are in favor of the death penalty as well. I heard "fun fact" the other day that says a person is more likely to die under Perry's reign by the death penatly than to die in a plane crash. But apparently, people like those odds.
http://www.texastribune.org/texas-dept-criminal-justice/death-penalty/guest-column-behind-death-penalty-cheers/