After an eventful year, which included Jamie Lynn Spears' pregnancy and the Glouchester High pregnancy "pact," Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin's candidacy has put a spotlight on teen pregnancy once again. Palin's seventeen-year-old daughter Bristol is five months pregnant and has decided to keep her baby. Naturally, this fact has inspired a heated debate about sex education, teen pregnancy, and the government's role in addressing these issues. Below are a few examples of different perspectives on the topic, including the National Campaign's own blog, Pregnant Pause:
Marisa Treviño wrote about the issue—and about the Latino Initiative—on Latina Lista in "Turning Bristol Palin's teenage pregnancy into a learning experience — en Español" (http://www.latinalista.net/mediacasts/)
Seventeen magazine's Ann Shoket wrote for the Huffington Post: "What Was Bristol's Plan A?" (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ann-shoket/what-was-bristols-plan-a_b_123490.html)
Our own Senior Manager, Ruthie Flores, gave an interview on Noticiero Telemundo which was followed by the article "Adolescentes embarazadas: un problema social en aumento" (http://tv.telemundo.yahoo.com/noticierotelemundo/articulo/02092008/71/noticiero-adolescentes-embarazadas-problema-social-aumento.html)
The National Campaign's Pregnant Pause has a number of posts on the topic: (http://blog.thenationalcampaign.org/cgi-bin/mt/mt-search.cgi?tag=Bristol%20Palin&blog_id=1&IncludeBlogs=1)
And on courant.com, Helen Ubiñas wrote "A Family Values Exception For Pregnant Palin Daughter" (http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-ctubinas0907sep07-col,0,188813.column)
What do you think about the media's coverage of Bristol Palin's pregnancy?
Do you think any of these articles (or something else you've read or heard) is especially interesting or relevant? Why?
What do you think about abstinence-only versus comprehensive sex education? Does learning about contraception encourage teens to have sex? Does abstinence-only ed. fail to protect teens from STDs and pregnancy?
Do you think there is a difference in how teen mothers are viewed and treated by society depending on their ethnicity or their economic status? If so, do you think Bristol Palin's pregnancy could help draw attention to that difference?
What role can parents play in helping their teens avoid early pregnancy?
Please share your thoughts on these questions or anything else related to this topic. Don't be shy, we want to hear from you!