I don't win. You're the one that suggested the fathers take part in it, too.:p And that's only fair. I don't understand why girls are always the ones to pay for stupid, hormone-driven mistakes that boys make.

I totally agree. If you think you are responsible enough to engage in sex, you better be responsible enough to raise a child! That's the risk you take.

and what do you do if one of those staffer got pregnant on site.....?

as they say..it takes 2...

I have heard of on-site daycare centers at high schools-- one of the schools in Evansville has one. It was the home-ec classes that helped to staff it- you could take an early childhood education class and get to work there.

However I heard that they had to stop allowing the Moms (and Dads I guess) access to the daycare during the school day because it was becoming "cool" for someone to leave class to go check on their kids. So now they can only go during study hall or lunch.

I do like the waiver idea, though.

To speak about the part for Maternity Leave...
My school district had schools that they would send pregnant girls to, if they wanted to go. My friend went to one, but it had 5 flights of stairs and no elevators so she whould have been better off at our school. She was allowed time after she had her son. I am not sure how much, but she had to do all of the work assigned to her.

My dad worked at an alternative High School for a while in B'more. I think the daycare staff there was licensed by the state, as well as CC students who were getting there certificate in child care operations or what have you.

I find it ironic that the mothers are forced to struggle, but the fathers get off scott free. :confused: And I bet Colorado has one of those abistinence-only sex ed programs. :rolleyes: That's working out well, don't you think?

Four weeks seems like too much, but returning the day after being discharged from the hospital is way too soon.

There should be no school leave for bonding purposes, IMO. Sick days to physically recover, sure, and you moms on GC know better than I how long it would take. A girl who wants to stay exactly on track with her class needs to miss as few days as possible.

Students can make up credits in summer school or night school every place, right? Or worst case, repeat the grade without cost to them?

So basically, there's no real penalty other than lose of academic credit if you withdraw. So any girl who wanted too could take a semester or a year's worth of leave to bond; she just couldn't expect to advance at school as if she were present and mastering material.

I'm also looking at it from the teacher's perspective. Unless she was extremely academically motivated (which isn't a trait I associate with teen pregnancy in most cases), she's not going to be able to get caught up and learn the new material when she gets back. The grading period is probably a wash anyway.

IMO, the best position is to waive any truancy laws or policies and just let them come back the next quarter or semester or whatever. Or arrange credit by examination for the girls who have their kids at the end of one semester. If you can pass the final, you get credit.

Do you really think that teenagers get pregnant because they don't know how babies are made or don't know they can buy condoms at the store?

It's not that I think we only need abstinence only programs: I just think it's wrong to assume that sex ed format contributes to pregnancy.

I think we could count on one hand the number of teenagers who got pregnant this year who didn't know where they could get condoms. I think they just didn't bother because they didn't want to stop what they were doing right then.

It's a breakdown someplace for sure, but I'm not sure it's at the curriculum level.

AF is my hero.

Not only that, but many kids that age think they are invincible and "it won't happen to me".

I said that because this adminstration seems hell bent on keeping ALL the information about contraception from kids. It could be both reasons, for all I know ("you can't get pregnant the first time you have sex, etc. type of reasonings).

I do think that there should be some other format to keep teen PARENTS in school (not just mom, but dad too).

I was up and about two days after giving birth (with an uncomplicated vaginal birth). I was able to resume normal daily actvities about 2 weeks later. Four weeks is a bit much I think for a regular birth, but it depends on the mom's and baby's condition, post partum.

AF: *applause*
lol..

What does the federal administration really have to do with what sex ed program a district or state uses? The most they could do is not offer additional federal funding for other programs which isn't the same as prohibiting them. The vast majority of education funding in at the state level. I think a lot of people don't really understand it's kind of a supplementary kind of think funding through welfare, as near as I can tell. School districts can still do whatever, unless STATE law prohibits it.

Do you really think we'd have had fewer teen pregnancies if Kerry had won? Really?? So who in the present field of candidates can be depended on to get the kids to wrap it up?

Wouldn't delivering a baby fall under the school's "major medical incident" policy or something like that? How do they treat a student who had their appendix removed? Or some other type of surgery? Seems like that could apply in the pregnancy situation as well (regarding healing medically...bonding with the baby, well...not even all adults get the luxury of taking 4 weeks off from work I'm sure. Some might have to go back to work a lot sooner than that). Seems like doing it that way would even the playing field for all students (how fair would it be for pregnant mothers to have 4 weeks of excused absences when no one else has that opportunity?)


PsychTau

Medically, if there are no gross complications, then the young woman can resume normal activities upon discharge. For the psyche of the mother and child health, a month is roughly the correct amount of time to build the natural and instinctual cues for human babies--i.e. breast feeding vs. bottle. A child doesn't wean until ~3-4 months for bottle feedings.

Young mothers for the result of youthfulness have children that are at high risk for starvation, illnesses, decreased birth weights, developmental and learning disabilities because this critical connection period is missed.

The reality, if one does not clean up this problem for at least a month and the day-care mandatory service (love that idea), your next problem will be increased risk of sexually transmitted infections with the transmission to mother and infant.

4 weeks is such a simple fix, I would be willing to pilot it for 4 years. Then, I LOVE the mandatory day-care in-service with parenting classes, etc.--Alphafrog for President!!!