Survival in a techological, liberal democratic society requires a greater amount of education and equal amounts for both genders; motherhood interrupts that. Up until the last century, no one would have batted an eyelid at a 14-year-old girl being a mother. Society changed, but biology stayed the same.
Benefits for teenage mothers are required to address this conflict, and will continue to be required until we either restructure society to allow for younger marriages and delayed education, or our bodies evolve to delay sexual development.
Fortunately for these young moms, such benefits exist in the UK; however, what’s really the core to raising a child is a strong family, including the father and both grandparents. That’s also why girls tend to be attracted to older boys and men rather than their less-developed, less-capable peers…quite unlike this girl’s choice of a 13-year-old boy toy.
Right wing British tabloid tries to gin up another round of media hysteria about how poor young girls will have lots of kids, are amoral little shits, and will take all of your money for welfare benefits and pink cadillacs based on an anecdote.
Rimbo falls for it.
The England and Wales teen pregnancy rate (28 per 1000) is half that of the United States (54 per 1000). Link to page here,
pdf containing data here.
If we had a society in which young girls’ families took an active role in husband selection, to say nothing of raising the kids, and a means to continue or defer her education through college without being ostracized, then we can consider revamping – but not eliminating – statutory rape laws.
The truth is, neither option I propose is likely to occur. The current path we’re going on is that of giving more and more power to the state. So instead of adjusting society by giving teen moms more family support and educational options to continue functioning as a democratic, liberal and technological society, we are adjusting by getting less democratic, less liberal and less technological. We get less democratic and liberal as we grant more power to the state to do what the family is no longer doing; we get less technological and democratic as those who succumb to biology end up failing to get the education our society requires. And those who do get the education they require will get outnumbered by the morons, because they’ll produce fewer kids than those who do.
Should I take this to mean that statutory rape is ok so long as the family picks out the man, and he (or the family? I’m not sure.) pays for it in cash?
Because I honestly don’t know how else to read this.
Well, that’s not a sufficient objection to erase my point completely. You still need statutory rape laws, and you still need to help teen moms continue to get their education without being ostracized.
I don’t remember much from high school, but one thing I will never, ever forget was having to attend an assembly where we were all encouraged to abstain until we were married, and given all of the benefits of doing so and the dire consequences of not by a well-intentioned couple.
After the show, I saw one of the (very visibly) pregnant girls in the school in tears. A good friend of hers was with her, trying to console her, but it wasn’t working. And at that very moment, I knew that something horribly, horribly wrong had just happened.
I’ll never forget her face at that moment.
If you want to know what motivates me to talk about the issue of teen pregnancy, that’s it, right there. It’s all the “we have to address this problem” bullshit from the Left and all the “we have to purge ourselves of sin” bullshit from the Right that benefits exactly two people: Jack and Shit.
Teens fuck because they are horny. Teens will fuck without condoms because teens are stupid. Teens are going to get pregnant and have babies. They do not deserve to have their lives ruined because of this. End of rant.
What you describe is something that existed, Once Upon a Time. What I propose is necessary to eliminate statutory rape laws is something which has never, ever existed ever, in the history of the world, and is something that no society is heading towards.
It’s like saying, “We can repeal all the murder laws if people would stop killing people who didn’t deserve it!” The scenario is entirely unrealistic.
As has been pointed out, teenagers are horny and frequently to irresponsible to use a condom, much less correctly. Which leads us to a potential interesting future dilemma…
Now, it’s probably a really bad idea to be dosing girls with hormonal birth control while they are still in puberty, not to mention that methods such as the pill require diligent timing on the consumption. However, in the next ten years we are likely to see effective male contraception that doesn’t require monkeying with hormones, is reversible, and once made routine, would probably be quite cheap.
Why not make it mandatory for men under 18 or 21?
As a further wrinkle on the STD front, there has been a hell of a lot of cash pouring into biosciences, in part due to the war on terrah in the realms of better/cheaper/easier detection and classification of viral or bacterial naughty stuff. Granted, a lot of that money is going right down a big pork drain, but still, is it absurd to think that by 2015-2020, there might be the equivalent of a Listerine Pocket Pack that you could have a potential sex parter dab themselves with that would ascertain their sexual health?
Oh, I understand, because it will be SO MUCH MONEY out of your tight little pockets to ensure that a handful of girls’ lives aren’t utterly destroyed despite our current efforts to educate them how everything their body says it ought to do is wrong.
You do it because you aren’t a fucking prig, that’s why.
The ‘I don’t want to pay for it’ problem is a basic one in society.
Many people believe that while it is a good idea in theory for people who are in need to be supported, such as these teenage girls who get pregnant, they do not wish to be burdened financially with supporting other peoples’ mistakes.
Many other people believe that it is a fundamental part of society to support others through their mistakes, regardless of the fact that you didn’t make those mistakes yourselves.
Interestingly, the solution historically (in recent history, at least) has been to lobby one way or another and work through the political system to increase or reduce the amount of tax money going to people who make such mistakes.
It’s called Democracy, and it is an amusing thing.
As far as the OT goes…
Teens will have sex, but hell, when I was a teen (all of a half a year ago?) I used a condom. So did any and all of my friends, when they became sexually active. It’s not that big a deal to use a condom, and it can save a hell of a lot of trouble later in life.
So I have zero sympathy for teens too fucking stupid to use a condom / birth control.
