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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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Saturday 27 June
By veronica
im 18 and glad to say im not pregnant nor have i ever been so. i think that from gods piont of its between him and the person its nones place but his to judge so be careful of wut you say about such things and i agree sex should only be expirenced by couples but since wen is it only merrige that its ok to have sex i waited till i was 18 and i graduated the only vrigin girl in my high school and if i did the wrong thing then its for god to decide wut happens and any one who judges me will just push me to do the oposite direction my mother was 16 wen she had me we grew up together and she even went to collage but in my eyes not all teen pregnacie is bad ive known girls who did drugs partyied and worse and some of them have babies now and i can swere to god himself it was the best thing that could have happend because it turned there lives around sometimes girls get pregnant but wut if thats gods plan for them its not for us to decide how they live there lives its between them and god .
Friday 26 June
By Tina Angel
Wow I think it sounds like a great program wish it was around when I chose to go to school. I dont think teen mothers are a product of being poor; but for some reason I will state that it seems more black and hispanic teens tend to keep their babies more often then anglo saxins ie whites :) Eric from Southpark said it well in an episode "the whites teach you that to kill a baby its a sin but what they really want to do is keep you down; when their kids have a baby they ABORT! or give it up but it allows them to go on to college and have a life. Abortion is the finest form of cheating." im grossly paraphrasing but it made since to me.
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Saturday 27 June
By John
I think we should call this "Chastitution" and refer to these girls as "Chastitutes." You can dress up what is going on in high-sounding rhetoric, you can talk about "saving people" (from themselves?) but in the end what is really happening is that money is being used to 'buy' a desired behavior from a young woman.
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Friday 26 June
By Phil Bittle
FINALLY ... ! A PROGRAM THAT MAKES SENSE IN A CAPITALIST COUNTRY.
PAY PEOPLE TO DO WHAT YOU WANT ... !
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Friday 26 June
By Jean
If social programs for healthy, able persons are tremendously reduced (therefore no longer either enabling or rewarding bad behavior), it will quickly encourage more responsible actions. [Hunger and homelessness are huge motivators to work, while not having ten kids - once you have to be responsible for them yourself.] I can't imagine that $1/day will have any effect, however, why should we need to pay persons to do the right thing in the first place? Consequences - both good and bad - provide powerful lessons. We need to stop cushioning our young from the pain of bad decisions. Lessons learned young may hurt - but much less than those experienced during adulthood.
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Friday 26 June
By celes314
Hmmmm...okay, why is it that only girls are participating in this program? Yeah, biology does state that the girl carries the baby, but we have to look at the other side of the equation. Unless girls are asexually reproducing, something very critical is missing (again!) from this issue. Shouldn't there be a similar program in place for teenage boys not to get anyone pregnant? Will the boys get a dollar a day to *ahem* refrain from you-know-what? Both sides have to be considered, otherwise, what good is it going to do?
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Friday 26 June
By Hayden
I just have to say this: IT IS NOT THE STATE'S RESPONSIBILITY TO PREVENT PROCREATION. It is the parents'. It's their kids for crying out loud! I don't want to have to pay for someone else's not teaching their kids well! ONce parents learn they can't realy on the government to do their dirty work, they will do their part and be fair (not saying that it's every parents fault). I personally think it should be illegal to have sex under the age of 16. If they are that age or younger, there is a good chance they will need an abortion, and that should be illegal. Mother's should have to go through a some pain if it means not taking away about 100 years of life. And just because you think the fetus is not alive, doesn't mean getting rid of it is not taking away it's future life.. Back on topic... I think parents should sign their kids up and just make them pay a dollar a day from when they are twelve to eighteen if they have sex. Even if they have it at say seventeen, they should have to pay from since they were twelve... It's just common sense here.
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Saturday 27 June
By Lusciouslusher77
Common sense? That made no sense at all. Do you have any kids? I'm guessing no. Look, teenagers have a bad rap for a reason: they are notorious for not thinking about the future or planning ahead. And if they are like you, if they get pregnant, they won't have an abortion. Therefore they would be stuck with the responsibility of raising a child, when they are basically still a child themselves. That's scary in itself. No teen truly KNOWS, realizes, or comprehends, just how serious the responsibility is being a parent, until they ARE a parent, and then it's too late. Even teenagers who have younger siblings and have seen up close what's involved in raising one; even teens who are babysitters cannot fully understand. If the program works, regardless of the implications, use it! What's the alternative? To continue on as we have, doing little, if anything, to prevent teen pregnancy. Everyone is a critic. People are so narrow minded. Let's progress to the future as a society, let's evolve, let's adapt to the changes taking place with each generation. Unless those changes harm others, and this one doesn't, what's the big deal? If it works, do it.
Friday 26 June
By ravenshield
just dont be a slut its that simple....my sister didnt fuck around when she was those ages....i cant believe people are paying others not to have sex. Have we become a country of prudes...christ have mercy on us this country is going to end as we know it if shit like this keeps up.
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Saturday 27 June
By Dwight Anthony from financiallyeliteblog.com
Talk about population control. I think this is a move that others should follow as well. So many young girls have to sacrifice so much once they get pregnant.
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Friday 26 June
By Checking Facts
I don't know which states do this, but where I went to college, single mothers recieved grants to pay for their books, tuition, etc., and even had money left over. So they made money doing this? Hmm.. I can pretty much guarentee that the teenagers aren't going to look at this the same way all of the adults are. Most girls will look at how they can recieve the most money for college, or better yet, the instant gratification aspect. Have a baby now, and still go to college and get grant money, or no sex and be looked down upon in high school, and get less money. Yes it down right sucks but thats the way it is. If the max cap of the group is 24 girls, maybe they should up the anty..
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Friday 26 June
By Mary
I think it's silly that it's only for girls who have sisters who have had babies before 18. My sister had a baby right out of high school, and it's because of her that my boyfriend and I are abstinent. So, I think that the girls you should be worried about are the ones that DON'T have sisters to tell them "Hey, this ruined my life, so don't make my mistakes."
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Saturday 27 June
By TinLizzie
Too bad the good doctor Rob with all of his education cannot spell outrageously, inappropriate ad infinitum. Not only is his thinking erred, but his grammar and spelling. No wonder Kids go to H, if he is a mentor.
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Saturday 27 June
By me me me
this is sheer lunacy for one thing most girls know they can get that welfare check and all the other freebies at taxpayers expense, what about those who have been on welfare for generations? i know a woman who is 29 and she is a two time grandmother she had her daughters at ages 13 and 15, her daughters of course followed in her footsteps, the mother of the woman was the same she told me she had her first at the tender age of 12, and she had another baby year after year until she stopped having kids when her husband died the total was 19 kids not all were single pregnancies she has several sets of twins and one set of triplets and she has been on welfare since she had her first kid come on now a lousy dollar a day why should they settle for that paultry amount when the state pays much more including free rent, wic, food stamps, medical etc etc etc
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Tuesday 28 July
By momof5
I absolutely agree! People are sitting here saying "Oh we gotta try whatever will work" well hell paying teenaged girls to not have sex when we have a welfare system that encourages the opposite is ridiculous. My husband pays enough taxes for two(2) middleclass salaries but we can't get shit for free. And we don't want it, we just want everybody to get off their ass and work for theirs too! And if you are a teenager so sorry for you, you gotta work. Both of you. And that's bull that you aren't mature enough to take care of a kid at 16. My mom was a married woman and took care of 4kids before she was24. I was married and 24 when I had my first. I was in college 2yrs ago paying cash outta pocket and every young lady I came in contact w/talked about the grants that they received to go to school and their kids but no husbands. Some recieved free cars and free cell phones, home phone services and "creditcards" ( foodstamps in plastic form so as not to humiliate the user) section8 and on and on. I on the otherhand had to work a whole month to afford the books. Another girl said that there was a book borrow program and thats where they get their books. So not only did they get to go to college for free they also were informed of programs to allow them not to spend their "grant "$on books. It seems to me that if you get free tuition you should have to pay full price for books but just like our medical situation those who pay have to pay for everything and those who don't pay for nothing. Our government rewards the wrong things. If you work and pay taxes YOU should get something back. My husband says all the working people should quit their jobs and let Obama and our govt. and all those who have been getting a free ride take care of us for a change. How can you be getting govt' handouts and rockin' named brand clothes, $800.00 purses, $250.00 tennis shoes and going to the hair& nail salon every week yet don't work. This country is screwed up. Be responsible for your choices in life and reward those who are responsible!!! If you have to have an incentive program pay those who do the right thing not for the money but for their sense of dignity and self repect. P.S If I were president I'd take away anything but bread,water, and walks around the inside gates for exercise, that would certainly reduce the deficite>
Saturday 27 June
By megan
this is a great idea i wish my schools did it in RI. i would of made a boat load for the program. i am 19 and still a virgin going strong
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Saturday 27 June
By Dave
Frankly, this is a HORRIBLE IDEA. I've read through quite a few comments and am shocked to hear how many people are in support of this travesty. The only comment that seemed to make sense spoke about parental responsibility. That's EXACTLY what this is all about. If today's children were raised better then there wouldn't be the need to bribe them to "do right." Maybe there should be an incentive plan for parents to raise intelligent, responsible children that would include weekly classes to teach these common sense abilities. Unless it's a medically proven mental imbalance within the child, all children's actions can be traced back to home. That's where they are taught how to act when they leave that home. The poor (mostly) just don't care about their kids. They're out for themselves whether it's the next "fix" or the next welfare check. So what do you expect? Their kids don't care either and just go have a good time. The rich (mostly) are no better. They too are out for themselves by chasing their next big paycheck while taking no responsibility for their children's values. Even over zealous religious families (mostly) pound values so strongly into their children's minds that the kids reach their breaking point and in an act of personal independence/defiance they "break the rules." So yeah, let's just keep ignoring the elephant in the room and continue to not take proper responsibility for what our kids are doing. Let's just throw money at that problem just like every other problem we choose to not take proper responsibility to fix. Unbelievable.
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Saturday 27 June
By teacher
The article does not say that the money goes to the girls directly, it says:
"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." I imagine that if a girl does get pregnant or drops out of the program, the money they "earned" goes back into the pot.
it is also ok to put conditions on joining a group. we do it all the time. for example, some colleges won't accept a person if their grades or test scores are not high enough for college admittance.
the program is EDUCATING those girls about what life is like when a teenage girl gets pregnant. it is important to understand the "whys" of teen pregnancy and how educating and offering support is so important in preventing teen pregnancies.
the program also teaches the girls that instant gratification is not a good thing, and to save up for what they want, remember that the money goes into a fund, not directly to the girls. will some girls drop out or get pregnant? you bet. will there be a long waiting list of girls who want to get into the program? you bet. kudos to dr. brown for finding a very positive way to help try to prevent a truly worrisome problem. it's too bad that the group can only take 24 girls.
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Saturday 27 June
By Sheri
God bless them for this program. I had a baby at 15 and believe me, it's much worse than those posters that you see about being grounded for 18 years if you have a baby as a teen. I married my son's father but we were divorced 4 years later. I struggled to graduate from high school & then go to college. I worked multiple jobs as my ex husband went on to his next wife in another state. When I finally got child support, it was $7 a week (1960). Each and every day I worried about how to pay the rent & provide food, etc. It was my son who really suffered in this situation because I was a child raising a child. He has problems today from my lack of experience in raising a child, his father's neglect, and from me working multiple jobs. A few years ago, he told me that he felt that he was raised without parents. He has emotional issues from his childhood that have not been resolved, even with therapy. I participated in a program at Santa Monica High School to help girls stay in school. It was similar in some respects to the described program--meet once a week, lunch , little gift items & women, guest speakers that had made it out of that teen mother situation into a successful career. Trust me when I tell you that there is a big price to pay to have a baby as a teen and then become a successful working person--not only for the teen mother but for the child. It's easy to talk about all the moral issues but every teen mother and her child, saved from this fate makes a program like this worthwhile.
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Sunday 26 July
By Diana
I love that your speaking at schools about the hardship you have endured and most especially the negative impact upon your son in multiple ways due to you not being able to really be a mom, since you were too busy having to work multiple jobs just to put food on the table --- but do you really think this program would have helped you stay abstinent or take the pill, make your boyfriend put on a condom, etc., if you were not willing to then? I really don't think so, since I am sure you heard about the risks from schools, friends, religious people and your parents, plus subconsciously you knew right from wrong as well as what possible consequence could have been even before engaging in a pre-marital relation, paricularly as a teen and not a self-sufficient single adult. Yet, you choose to engage in such action and did, indeed, suffer quite a consequence. I am sure you adore, love and feel blessed by your child now, but during all the time you were struggling resentment must have often been a constant foe as well as the guilt and anger from your son about not being able to have a parent. As you state, he feels he raised himself....I see many clients (where I volunteer) who complain about this and honestly have very damaged relationships with their parent(s), if any relation at all since they were never able to bond to a missing caregiver.