[Taz's Master]

Originally Posted by foxpaws

All I am saying is that it is a 2 sided coin - everyone here seems to be only interested in one side.

It is very difficult to break the cycle of unmarried teenaged moms. They are very likely to have mothers who were also unmarried teenaged moms. They have grown up in poverty situations, and, probably haven't had very good opportunities for school or good role models. Cycles like this are very difficult to break.

However, mostly I was incensed by POPs and John70Ts rather inane comments on the subject and wished to draw attention to their lack of understanding when it comes to the plight of teenage pregnancy. Their broad brush painting of all women as evil 'out to get back at their man, and take him for all he is worth' needed to be addressed. That is usually hardly the case when it comes to teenaged pregnancies. They drug the OPs concern (absent fathers) into their problem with women, that the fathers were absent because the evil moms drove them away, taking all the father's money, and denying him access to the kids (this sounds more like suburban strife than poverty reality). However, in the case of teenaged pregnancy - that is often not the case, fathers are usually absent for the reasons I stated, that they are in jail, or are deadbeat dads. Teen pregnancy is mostly a poverty problem, yes, exacerbated by absent fathers, but, the reasons the fathers aren't around isn't because the mom is taking all their money, otherwise it wouldn't be a poverty problem.

EVERY male should look at the statistics in the OP. It is not just about poverty. If a man is going to have sex with a woman he needs to give thought to the consequences (and there are two sides to that coin as well). I cannot end poverty or unwed mothers, but I can decide not to give my offspring such a statistical disadvantage. Caring for and showing compassion to those who endure such a disadvantage is commendable, but pretending that their mothers and fathers are not responsible for what they do to those children is not.