Paying Girls Not To Get Pregnant...
From the Washington Post:http://voices.washingtonpost.com/checkup/2009/06/paying_girls_not_to_get_pregna.html With the recent rise in teen pregnancy, it's clear that efforts to get young people to either abstain from sex or use birth control are falling short. Any ideas as to how to fix the problem are welcome, so it's not surprising that a program that aims to get girls through high school without getting pregnant is getting a lot of media attention. In short, the young women in the College Bound Sisters program at the University of North Carolina Greensboro are offered a simple bargain: They're paid a dollar for every day they don't get pregnant. The program, funded through a state grant and private donations, is open only to girls ages 12-18 who have an older sister who had a baby as a teen. Participants have to express interest in attending college, can never have been pregnant themselves and are required to attend an hour-and-a-half-long weekly meeting at the university (so they have to live nearby). And they don't get to spend the money right away; it's socked away and disbursed upon the girls' enrolling in a college. Seems fine to me -- even though nobody ever paid ME not to get pregnant. But some folks have raised objections, saying offering incentives for behaving well isn't appropriate; one source likened it to offering kids cash for not smoking pot. (I remember being jealous of friends who got paid for good grades; my parents told me they expected me to get good grades without being bribed.) One odd thing about this story: The program is not new -- it's been around at least since 2002 and probably before -- and I can't figure out why it's suddenly in the news. I tried to contact the folks who run the program but hadn't heard from anyone yet. I want to know, for instance, how successful the program's been over the years and how many participants in fact go on to college, among other things. I'll post an update when I get return call. What do you think? Is this dollar-a-day idea a good one that perhaps deserves to be implemented more broadly, or is it just a bribe? By Jennifer LaRue Huget | June 29, 2009; 7:00 AM ET | View or post comments | Category: Family Health , Teens , Women's Health
Previous: Is That Right? A Full Serving of Vegetables in Chef Boyardee | Next: A Simple Vinaigrette, Two Ways
| 
