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A dollar a day is the going rate for not getting pregnant at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where teen girls between the ages of 12 and 18 can enroll in the College Bound Sisters program. The program's mission is to keep young girls in school rather than Babies "R" Us by paying them $365 a year.
As part of the baby-free program, girls attend weekly meetings where they learn about abstinence and contraceptives. At the end of each week, $7 is put into a fund that's off-limits until they go to college.
To participate, girls must have never been pregnant, currently attend school, have a desire to go to college, and have a sister that gave birth before age 18. The program is currently at its max capacity of 24 girls.
Click here for more about the controversial program, after the jump.
Not surprisingly, some skeptics aren't entirely comfortable with the idea. "It makes me a bit uneasy," says Bill Albert, chief program officer at the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. "It's hard to pay people to do something we think they should be doing regardless. It would be like if you didn't want young people to experiment with marijuana, you'd pay them not to do it."
Still, Albert admits with costs of teen pregnancies reaching $9 billion annually, paying teens $365 to stay baby-free seems like a "modest investment -- especially if the program works."
And Dr. Hazel Brown, co-director of College Bound Sisters, says it is. Some grads of the program have saved upwards of $3,000 for college. "We want to give them something to work toward," Brown says. "If someone believes in you, there's no end to what a lot of people can accomplish."
What do you think? Is paying girls to stay baby-free a creative approach to helping their futures? Or is it bribery, plain and simple?
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Comments:
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Friday 26 June
By Concerned Parent
I have 1 daughter who had a baby at the tender age of 16 and ANYTHING I can do (within reason) to keep her sister from following in her footsteps I would be willing to try. No one is asking them to give up their right to have children just to wait until they have had a chance to experience life a little. In the long run the ones that wait will be better parents.
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Friday 26 June
By Dr. Rob
This is the most outragiously stupid and poorly thought out thing the North Carolina school system had done to date. Note I did not call it an educational state. While this is a huge problem giving any kid a dollar a day with their age appropiate metality doesn't make a good blemish and and elephants butt.
Now if you are really really serious allow these young people both males and females to sign annual contracts with the state if that is to be the governing authority not to inpregnate or get pregnant. For this fulfilled contract they would receive 750 dollars between 12 and 15 and 1000 dollars between 16 and 18 years of age and would be guaranteed entrance into any state university or techinical school. If they violate this contract they would owe the people of the state 20 hours of community service for every $100 put in a Contract Trust. My own daughter described it quite well I think when she suggest God may have made a mistake by not attaching the male sex organ to their foreheads because that all the younger ones seem to be preoccupied with. Having worked in the child abuse arena for several years as a volenteer being young should be about learning about life not have to care for a baby that came along after a few pleasurable moments. There are no easy answers but honestly a dollar a year .......................... that's a joke in fact outright insulting to the intelligence of these young people.
Saturday 27 June
By lusciouslusher77
I also think this is a great idea. It's like with my new health insurance program: they offer a $50 gift card at your choice of stores if you complete the tobacco cessation program, and the same thing for completing an online health assessment. I would've never bothered taking the online test, but it was an easy way to get some free money. I wanted to quit smoking, but didn't really bother trying until I had that little extra incentive. In high school, an overweight classmate's mother paid her for each pound she lost on her diet. That girl got thin and looked so good. There's nothing wrong with offering an incentive - it works, whether it's something they "should be doing anyway" or not. It produces positive results.
Saturday 27 June
By Yinka
Paying kids to stay away from pregnancy is a way of admitting our failure as parents.That we are not able to train our children to be responsible and to do what is right at the right time.It is also a failure of the society we now live in. We should be asking ourselves if this was happening in the times of our parents. Where have we misplaced our values?Someone already commented that we should pay more to get the kids to stay off pregnancy.But i say we should do more of PARENTING!
Saturday 27 June
By Polistotle
Tell her that if she gets pregnant that she wil: 1) Get the worst spanking of her life, and 2) Will have to carry the baby to term, go through labor and delivery, and then will have the baby taken away from her and put up for adoption (i.e., no infantacide/abortion; no bringing the baby up herself). Now that would send a powerful message to teen girls.
Then follow through with this. If this became the normative response to teen pregnancy, as it was in the first half of the 20th century, there would be very few teenage pregnancies. There would also be a lower dropout rate, fewer welfare Moms, lower social services costs, and no extra money being spent on special school expenses for pregnant teens.
Monday 06 July
By Hal Kirven
This is not a government program to be funded by taxpayers. Tell your daughter you will pay her not to get pregnant if you wish, but the government is not your daughter's personal nanny nor is it personally responsible for doing your job as her mother.
Friday 10 July
By BluLynn
Having a child is experiencing life. Your concern is unfounded. Young women who have children in their Teens go to college, more often then you think. They marry, more often then you think. They have fruitful and accomplished careers more often then you think.
This countries ridiculous belief that you can blame societies ills on the approximate 9% of teenaged women who may become pregnant is absolutely unfounded and ridiculous.
Get to know your daughters, love your daughters, support your daughters, and THEY WILL SUCCEED.
Saturday 11 July
By carlwillownu
You're a fucking idiot. No wonder your daughter got pregnant so young. Start off by being a good parent instead of sitting online blogging.
Saturday 18 July
By outspoken16
It does have something to do with the age of the mother as such, being able to get a job easier at 18 then 16, but to me, it's not so much the age, but the mother herself. A bad parent is going to be a bad parent nonetheless if they are 16 or 30, it's just in their personality to be a bad parent. Money takes care of kids true, but that is not all that matters. You could have a millionaire that is a parent that does not make her a good mother, so it would be really nice for people to stop judging young people having babies. I believe that if that young person takes care of their child, that's all that matters. I'm 16, i don't have any children, but I really think it is wrong to judge teens on having children if they're being good parents...but anyways, that is very stupid to pay them for something like that. Some kids have better opportunities then others which may make them less at risk of becoming pregnant or having sex period. But I'd like to know how many people that are 30 waited until they were grown until they had sex....not many....so why should they get paid for something like that? If that's the case, I deserve some money too and the rest of the girls who are not pregnant.....wack!
Monday 20 July
By jess
wow your a GREAT mother
Tuesday 28 July
By momof5
The problem w/all these programs like pay to go to school, pay you not to get pregnant, etc, etc, is taking away our personal responsibility. Teaching a child moral values and self respect is the parents job. If a parent wants to have an incentive program , okay, just like the government doesn't pay them to do chores at home nor should they pay them for what a parent should be instilling themselves.Should a single person or a good responsible parent whose children aren't breaking the rules, have their tax dollars spent this way? No way! I was the only girl growing up and girls all around me were getting pregnant but I respected myself, my God and my mom. I didn't want to be a statistic. Likewise I didn't turn my back on my friends who found themselves in that situation but would I want to give them a part of my check? No because the rewards should go to those who are acting responsibly. I talk to my teenaged son practicall everyday about sex and his relationship. We have that kind of relationship. He knows if he made a mistake he has to MAN UP! And young women should have to bust there asses for their mistakes too! My grandma raised both her kids w/NO handouts,welfare, or whining! And she went to school. Her kids father /husband was abusive and died a few years later. He never helped w/one penny. To this day I respect my grandmother immensely. And hard work did not kill her,she is still alive and kicking!
Friday 26 June
By Kelsey
Where was this when I was 12? I wish I could have done this, I never want kids.
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Friday 26 June
By Barbara Enlow
I think it is a great idea..However, if they fail..give the money back!!!
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Friday 26 June
By Bri
I think it's great that they are doing that. I'm sure that girls are more motivated to not have children in high school if they have more of a chance of going to college.
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Friday 26 June
By Grey
I think that would save us a lot of money. One baby worth thousands of dollars, comparing to $365. Very cheap, though.
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Friday 26 June
By Lisa
How about they explain to these girls that if they do get pregnant it will cost them more than a dollar a day to take care of that baby and that it will be for 18 years...and that they can't just leave anytime they want to go and have fun...and that abortion isn't the answer...prevention is the solution.
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Saturday 27 June
By Lady Pamela
Lisa, I did this with my four daughters. And I meant every word of it. Three of them waited, but one did not. Each child is different. I love them all.
Friday 26 June
By Kayla
What about teenage boys? It takes 2 people to make a baby!
Reply
Saturday 27 June
By Patty
Exactly! If boys had to marry the girls they got pregant, (no more fun, all work), they would be less likely to have sex in the first place! You can't just blame the girls. It takes TWO people to make a baby!
Saturday 27 June
By brandy
It's true, but it's harder to track if the guy's doing anything and they end up running half of the time anyway, so it's not like they really need the support most of the time. It's the poor single mom who ends up getting the short end of the stick becaus the guy doesn't want to take responsibility.