Obama said the other day that he "doesn't want his girls to be punished with a baby" while they are teenagers. He was speaking at a school in PA about the importance of sex ed courses in schools, a point which I agree with to a point. I think it needs to be taught in a graphic way to encourage abstinence. Make it a horror show and tell with AIDs patients and people who suffer from all manner of sexually transmitted disease, pregnancy and people who have had abortions. Don't hire some 70 year old nun to go into the school and bore these kids with statistics and admonitions, shock the crap out of them!

Anyway, I don't have a problem at all with that statement, the punishment part, but the "right wing" media is going nuts saying that "Babies aren't a punishment" and saying that it shows that liberals don't value life, and other nonsense comments like that. How is a baby not a punishment to a teen "couple"? It is a negative consequence for their actions, right? Aren't we supposed to be teaching these kids that they aren't supposed to have sex until they are older and responsible and Married? Kids shouldn't be raising kids, right? Isn't it a punishment to not get to be a kid yourself? Abstinence is a much better method than abortion, especially for the psyche.

I guess it a semantic argument, but I think punishment and consequences are virtually the same thing when it comes to teens and sex. STD's and pregnancy are huge consequences, and they are painful and tend to lead to the ostracization of these kids from their societies. I'm not a fan of "abortion on demand" or "abortion as birth control", but you have to admit that a baby is quite the consequence of sex. It's a huge consequence that has a socially negative implication for anyone under age 20. It impedes the growth of the teen who gets pregnant, and while it may bolster the reputation of the "father", let's face it, it turns him into an irresponsible deadbeat, and who needs more of those in society?

So, I would submit that Barry spoke quite rightly when he characterized teen pregnancy as a punishment. It's like being grounded for 18 years! I say this as a mother of 4 boys who have gotten all the sex ed they need from my Husband and myself. It's very simple. I told them "Do not stick your p***s near a girl." I will not let them jeopardize their future for 2 minutes of bliss. (2 minutes may be generous) And I refuse to raise any more babies.

I would submit that he spoke quite rightly, but his fix isn't quite what I would have recommended. I don't want the broad scope "how to use a condom" kind of sex ed. Condoms fail. The pill fails. All forms of birth control fail except abstinence. You can't get anything if you don't do anything.