High school Daycare Centers

Roverroad--

I disagree. I deplore the necessity for high school day care centers, but since a high school diploma means a brighter future for both parent and child (as well as the taxpayer) I accept reality.

Children--including children who have children--are subject to peer support as well as peer pressure. Using high school facilities keeps the Child Parent with her friends. Her friends also have the opportunity to see that the Dear Little Baby is not an unalloyed bundle of joy.

That Day Care Center can be a powerful visual aid for birth control.

I look at it this way. . . the moms & dads that are in high school now have a place to put their kids and finish their education. That's got to be a good thing.

Teen age pregnancy is bad. It's disruptive, and it shatters what could have been. Does that mean, tho, that the parents or the child should suffer? No, they shouldn't. Anything that makes it easier for both to prosper is all well and good in my book.

I really could care less about the parent. Any parent who brings a kid into this world before they are ready is selfish and doesn't deserve my support. It's all this new support that makes the irresponsible parent think they could keep the baby and still offer it a good life. When the fact is before this option of tax payer supported daycare was introduced teen parent were probably more likely to choose to put the baby up for adoption where the kid would have an even better life. In some circuits teens think it's cool to have a baby. I know this for a fact because my kid teen sister is pregnant right now and I also know for a fact that in her high school the kids think of it as a great thing. Wait till she has the baby and experiences life in the real world for a change.

Funny quote from G.W. roverroad.

Anyway--I think it is a good thing to ahve a daycare for the kids' kids, because then they stay in school. Which keeps them from droping out and ruining the baby's life. It is plus. Yeah and I do think they should keep it on school grounds so people can see it isn't wonderful to have a baby at that age.

High school is the real world. The real world is not a barrier or something you enter.
Why are you so bitter? How does this affect you? No one ever said life was easy, but if we can help people along, why not do it? Life's going to be hard enough on young parents, why would you wish them more hell?
Thank god, they didn't ask for your support, the get enough nastiness from the likes of you.

I'm not bitter at all. I simply see what's really happening here. I've just seen first hand the attitude those teen mothers have. High school daycare centers don't make them see how hard it is to take care of a baby. It only makes them want one of their own.

How does this involve me? I pay taxes to run those centers don't I? Other peoples kids aren't my responsibility.

And trust me, high school is not the real world. In the real world people have bills to pay and a bos breathing down their neck. In the real world your food isn't paid for and you don't get a free car from mommy and daddy. Pier pressure stays with you all of your life. You just learn how to deal with it when you get older.

Kids need to experience a little bit of this life in the real world before we start making it easier to have babies.

On the other hand, I have no problem with preventative measures like free condoms and sex education. I'd even be for tax payer funded abortions.

I have to agree with Riverroad that the day care centers should be held off campus. In fact, there needs to be separate schools for teen mothers. I think that we need to balance helping these moms get a high school diploma, without giving the message to the other students that having babies out of wedlock, when the mother herself is a kid, is ok.

Good grief. I feel like a dinosaur. When I graduated high school, one of my friends was not allowed to walk in the graduation processional because she had gotten MARRIED the night before!

Children having children creates unfortunate situations.

All the same, one of the purposes of civilization is to take care of children until they are ready for adulthood--even when they are pregnant or parents.

In American sex is glorified by glamorous people. Very little time is spent linking sex and the real life possible consequences of sex. I suspect, Roverroad, that your sister was far more influenced by Hollywood and MTV than by her friends.

She didn't want to be a mother--she wanted to hop in the hay like a glamorous adult.

You are a man of many roles and you are choosing to be Outraged Taxpayer rather than Sympathetic Brother or Protective Uncle. You are entitled to your choices.

I am not opposed to aiding anyone to educate themselves. I am opposed to day care within a high school. Although this may be a great thing for some teens, it overly simplifies the massive responsibility of having a child by example to other young minds who do not have children.

Our duty to the young is to prepare them for the adult world. I realize that there are a few employers that offer on premises day care, but most don't. I even got in trouble at work over too many personal phone calls from my kids. I have yet to find an employer that will watch my kids while I work. That is reality. These girls chose a very adult thing and should be expected the responsibility of this decision. You can't bring your kids to work and shouldn't be able to bring your kids to school either.

The most significant objection I have is creating a norm for other young people that will see having children as so much easier that what it really is. I don't object to tax paid day care for the teen mother to have day care so she can attend school. I do object to having it viewed by every student attending.

When you have kids and a job, that means you have to get up a lot earlier in the morning. Feed your child, get ready for work, drop your child off at day care, and be on time for work. Day care should be offered off premise, not in view of other students. Teen mothers should be expected to do this if they wish to bring a child into this world, responsibility and inconvenience to themselves.

There is also the problem of parental bonding. Newborns and very young children should be cared for by the parent. These teens are old enough to get a GED and stay home with their child and care for that life they are responsible for. There are tons of GED programs. We all know that a high school diploma doesn't do a whole lot to enable you to earn enough money to support yourself and a child. It takes further education and specialized training.

I think these teen moms should spend this time at home studying for a GED. They can do this while caring for their child. As the child gets a bit older, they should further their education with vocational training or even college. You don't need a classroom to learn high school basics at all. This can be done at home. There are plenty of home schooling opportunities for teens. Parents should spend the time they have doing this, at home, not in a minor environment as high school.

There are alternatives that benefit the mother and child more than day care at high school.

Why do it at home when they can go to school. Just because you didn't have it when you were in school doesn't mean that they shouldn't have it when they go to school.

You are assuming that kids will think it is easier to have kids. I don't think if you ask around that you can find more than 20% who think it is easy to have kids and raise them.

Adults have day cares to take their kids too. If you want teenagers to stay home and watch their kids to study for a GED then all mothers shouldn't work. They should all stay home because they are making it look to easy to have kids when you are an adult. All you have to do is throw them in to some company that is paid to watch kids and then you don't have to do it. What if all adults start thinking like that?

I think we can all agree it is a lousy idea for a child to have a child. I think we all can agree that parents need to financially support as well as care for their children. I think we all can agree there is a good reason to not allow a minor the same rights and responsibility of an adult, because they are emotionally immature and not ready for this. The only thing I am trying to state is another option, home schooling that does educate teen mothers and allows them to care for their children with flexibility.

Teens think differently than adults. It takes all of us time to mature. Most people aren't ready for college right out of high school. They do grow up, usually after having their fun of youth and a lousy paying job that isn't getting them anywhere. Then, they are ready to further their education. Some never do pursue education, but a mother needs this to support her child.

I'm quite sure their teenage boyfriend daddy is of no financial help or very little physical help with a child. These boys are kids too and it isn't too shocking that they don't suddenly turn into men taking adult responsibility. They can and do back out, but a teen mother with a child cannot.

I am strongly in favor of government aiding everyone who wishes to further their education. College should not be for those who can afford it. We live in a very wealthy country and I can't think of a better way to help our people than by education. Jobs are paying less and demanding so much more of us today. Our young people need an education, especially one who is already a parent.

My problem is the manor in which this education is provided to teen mothers and infant or very young children who need a parent to care for them. I think that teen parents need a better way than sending them to high school where their needs completely differ from their peers. High school students spend about as much time away from home as a full time adult employee.

I think there is something better to offer mother and child, home schooling. I checked into this for my son. Every state has programs to choose from. Unfortunately, most do offer preparation for a GED, but not all. As long as they learn basic requirements for a high school diploma, they can get into any university or vocational school with a GED, if they don't opt for a program that offers a diploma. There are many home schooling programs out there to choose from. This choice should be made on need of the individual. They don't need a high school diploma to go to college, just a simple GED. Teen mothers can be educated at home and many are, parent or not.

Teens can learn rapidly, at their own pace. Mothers need flexibility. There is none in the public school system. There is with home schooling. I strongly feel home schooling is the best option for mothers of very young children, not high school and day care with infants and very young children.

They have taken on too much responsibility to pretend they have the same needs as a peer with no children. They do need to be educated. I see absolutely nothing wrong with these young people getting their education at home allowing them to spend much needed time caring for their child.

Mothers do care, even teens. We aren't talking about adult women. We are talking about kids raising kids. They do as told and trust people they shouldn't or they wouldn't have gotten themselves in this teen mom situation to begin with. They are far from mature women who emotionally mature enough to make adult decisions for themselves or their child.

Teens have no idea how to evaluate day care for their child as adult women will pick and choose after visiting about a zillion facilities. They are offered one singular option at school, where day care doesn't belong in the first place. Bad idea for all! There is little to be gained for the mother, child, or students who have no children putting a day care in a high school intended for the education of minors.

Lack of maturity, mothers or not, is why they are considered minors with few legal rights to make any decision for themselves. Parents have that responsibility for teens because we all know the truth about teens and lack of maturity. We cannot equate them with adults. They aren't. There is a better way. Allow them to care for their child and educate themselves through home schooling.

They can do it without necessity of spending so much time away from their child through working on their education at home. It is legal in all states to educate children of all ages at home.

Offer teen mothers both, the ability to care for their child and an education with flexibility of time a parent needs. I strongly feel home schooling offers teen mothers a much better way to get an education, which they definitely need.

High school daycare is the same as any othe day care its all about the money, the only difference is the highschoolers are not paying for childcare, the state pays the childcare center. Highschool doesnt last forever so the highschoolers will realize sooner or later.

I found/find this discussion kind of amusing, in a tiny way, as there were on-site daycares in my very suburban high school 30 years. It's nothing new. I thought everyone was used to them by now.

i understand that teenage pregnancies are nothing new; it has just become more visible. even as little as thirty years ago pregnant teenage girls were sent "to visit with their aunt" - i believe that's what it was called in canada. i agree that teenage pregnancies are best avoided; i wonder however if pre-teens and teenagers are being given good information to make intelligent decisions in this matter ? are they properly counselled on birthcontrol ? i'm sure some/many might not accept the advice offered , but it seems like an inexpensive and responsible way to reduce teenage pregnancies. i can see no good reason why the teenage mothers should be kept away from "public schooling" ; does anyone really believe that it will reduce the problem ? i don't think it is much different from being "sent to stay with auntie"; it becomes less visible, but the "fact" is still there. hbg

Saw a young girl today, sixteen at most pushing her baby daughter, Chastity. The irony was overwhelming.

I am not quite used to this idea and find it completely unacceptable. I would ship my kids to a different school before allowing them to see kids raising kids as some sort of norm. No way!!!!

wildflower : allowing teenage mothers to finish their highschool education in their familiar setting does not mean that we accept it as a "norm". the question is, is society served better by banishing these mothers from schools ? as i said earlier, are we pretending that they have been sent " to live with auntie for a while" ? is society served better by that ? just wondering. hbg

Well stated, hamburger.

There was one of these programs in my (humungous) high school, and if anything it reinforced that we (teenage girls) wanted to avoid that situation at any cost. It was not a norm, or something to aspire to. It removed the diaper-commercial cuteness factor, reinforced the stinky-diaper factor.

hi, soz : "reinforced the stinky-diaper factor" -- i think ebeth must have been VERY heavily influenced by that factor ! (and i suppose, i was at least partially influenced ! i see an ad on t.v. these days for a "two-week diaper pail" -no kidding-, could have used such a contraption a FEW years earlier ! smiling, but just !). hbg