Loudon Co. facing 3rd highest teen pregnancy rate in Tennessee

[Interested]

When expectations and attitudes of parents change, then maybe the kids will change. So many parents act like it is no big deal to have casual sex with a different boyfriend or girlfriend every week or month, so why should their teenage kids think any different?

[nanna 1958]

give them something else to do. show them the right thing to do .they will follow what you do ---------have many of you had sex as a teenager and did't get caught boy you were so lucky

[Upset Mom]

nanna 1958 wrote:

give them something else to do. show them the right thing to do .they will follow what you do ---------have many of you had sex as a teenager and did't get caught boy you were so lucky

Sex for teens is different now. Many times it is just a game to them. They wear colored plastic bracelets which designate "how far" they've gone by collecting and proudly wearing them for all to see. Anything less than "all the way" isn't really sex in their book and that leaves a lot of other stuff (enuff said).

It's a different mindset than when we were kids. We need a cultural shift back to modesty and the thought that sex is something special to be shared amongst loving, consenting adults, along with the fact that it is going to happen, so educate them to protect themselves. But it is not a game (unless you group it with the likes of russian roulette)!

[SaltShaker]

Tennessee wrote:

Why don't these childern use protection or better than that, get a job? They have too much time on their hands. That is why they are out having sex.
Now we the taxpayers will have to pay to support these children that these irresponsible kids have brought into this world. If this country would take away the "free assistance" then people would quit having babies.

true..if these little teen girls had to actually RAISE THEIR OWN KIDS they might think twice about slutting around! But the way it is, they pass their kids off to their mom and dad and get massive welfare! Even though it should not be, irresponsibile behavior is rewarded too much today!!

[nanna 1958]

hey everybody stop and think 25 to 30 years ago when you took a girl out were did you go dinner movie or skating and so on? what are the kids doing now they have never been on a real date their is no place in this town to go so they go to each other house and then what happen talk to the kid not just the kids with money the kids that don't have alot of money and ask then what a normal date is. look a the prom what was it like 25 to 30 years ago now it out of town no dancing just standing around listen to some music take picture and leave were do they go then? we us to have dance for kids to go to a drive-in theater the A&W a place to hang out now the kids cannot even be in small group just standing the police will tell to go somewhere else they are just buying drugs. go out and talk to them and get to know the kids you see on the street and get to know then then you know what this town needs

[CountryGal]

Tasha wrote:

I'm 16 years old and I'm a Junior at Loudon High School. I see pregnant girls all over our school and most of them aren't the ones I would have originally expected. We have absolutely NOTHING to do in this small town. Most of the kids at my school come from low income families and Lenoir City is our closest location of civilization. WE DON'T EVEN HAVE A MOVIE THEATRE. Until we hit Knoxville. This entire town is filled with drug addicts. Sex is anywhere you go but more so here. People almost literally have sex in the hallways. New definition of PDA. Loudon County needs a wake up call. BUT WE'RE TOO DAMN CHEAP!!!! The school puts more money in the front lawn than in helping kids stay off the streets and out of the sheets. I hope to organize a progam to help prevent this because SOMETHING must be done. Honestly, I had sex ed. for an hour in 8th grade going to Loudon Co. schools and that's all! So, the school isn't making an effort. That's my opinion!

I'm sure it doesn't help either that LHS is the only school in the county w/ a daycare built in & been there for over 20 years & taxpayer funded. I think having the daycare there is having the opposite effect...it encourages teens to get pregnant because the teen already knows she can bring the baby to school instead of saying it's (the daycare) there to help if you do.

[SaltShaker]

Earl Keese wrote:

so does this mean that barrack "call me if you need me" obama is heading to loudon co. to lurk around for local chics ???
his bulldog of a wife is not gonna get off to that one bit !!!
(but then again.....)

Nope--the bubbleheaded Sarah Palin and her slutty daughter will be there too! LOL!

[Earl Keese]

SaltShaker wrote:

<quoted text> Nope--the bubbleheaded Sarah Palin and her slutty daughter will be there too! LOL!

try keeping up with the conversation as it's happening.

i know that a slow wit like yourself has trouble with staying current.
as we seeing by the way you're living in the talking points of the huffington post waaaaaay back in the campaign era.

[Hello]

Momma wrote:

I am an advocate of abstinence teaching, but these kids need something constructive to do rather than to have sex and procreate. I hope Loudon County will investigate recreational programs to provide healthy activities to keep teens busy. I know kids who say they engaged in sexual activity because they were board. Not very creative, but perhaps a reality.

Recreational activities are not going to solve anything. The kids who would participate in something like this are not out having sex anyway.
Kids / teens whatever who say they had sex because they were bored are lying. They have sex because they want to. Stop making excuses and accept some responsibility. A huge part of the fault lies with the adults who raise them. Kids are young as a few months old when put with another kid the same age of the opposite sex then adults start saying "oh it's his little girlfriend or her little boyfriend". When you push a kid to have a boyfriend / girlfriend before they are 2 years old - then yeah they will have sex by the time they are 10.

[Hello]

Interested wrote:

When expectations and attitudes of parents change, then maybe the kids will change. So many parents act like it is no big deal to have casual sex with a different boyfriend or girlfriend every week or month, so why should their teenage kids think any different?

Totally agree. The majority of kids parents are divorced so their mom and dad both have a girlfriend and boyfriend and YES THEY ARE HAVING SEX! Kids aren't stupid. And the kids are going to mimic what they see their parents do. And also when they see their parents marry and divorce multiple times they also will think it's not a big deal. Get married and if I decide I don't like that person, it's no biggie, I will just divorce them and get married again. What a screwed up world we are living in!

[Hello]

Upset Mom wrote:

<quoted text>
Sex for teens is different now. Many times it is just a game to them. They wear colored plastic bracelets which designate "how far" they've gone by collecting and proudly wearing them for all to see. Anything less than "all the way" isn't really sex in their book and that leaves a lot of other stuff (enuff said).
It's a different mindset than when we were kids. We need a cultural shift back to modesty and the thought that sex is something special to be shared amongst loving, consenting adults, along with the fact that it is going to happen, so educate them to protect themselves. But it is not a game (unless you group it with the likes of russian roulette)!

You are correct about the needing a cutural shift. Unfortunately it has already happened but going from the good to the bad. And I fear we have gone too far toward the bad to ever go back. And not just to say that sex should be between 2 adults that "love each other". Adults are no different than the teenages. They "love" a person this week and then "love" somebody different next week. Kids need to be taught that sex should be between 2 married people. And that means 2 people who are married to each other. Just those 2 and no one else. And when you get married it is for life.
Thus the phrase in the marriage vows - til death do us part. Not "til I get bored with you and want somebody else". Which seems to be the norm of today's society. People need to date til they KNOW the person they are with and be sure that they want to stay with them forever before they get married. The wedding vows don't mean anything anymore. It's just something to say.

[Hello]

SaltShaker wrote:

<quoted text> Nope--the bubbleheaded Sarah Palin and her slutty daughter will be there too! LOL!

It's funny you want to call Palin's daughter slutty but yet don't see anything wrong with pretty much every other teen in the country doing the same thing.

[Hello]

CountryGal wrote:

<quoted text>
I'm sure it doesn't help either that LHS is the only school in the county w/ a daycare built in & been there for over 20 years & taxpayer funded. I think having the daycare there is having the opposite effect...it encourages teens to get pregnant because the teen already knows she can bring the baby to school instead of saying it's (the daycare) there to help if you do.

Where did you get the idea that this high school is the ONLY one in the country with a built in day care? I know of several high schools in East TN that have the same thing. And FYI that does NOT encourage kids to have sex or get pregnant.
They are going to have sex regardless because that is what society tells them is okay to do.
Kids are NOT taught any morals or values anymore.
Their parents have no morals or values so the kids are not going to either. Doesn't matter what the parent says if they live something different. I do agree there shouldn't be a daycare there for teen mothers to have someone at the school take care of their kid but if they don't offer the service with kids as young as 13 having kids the will just drop out and that is just that many more I have to support. I realize chances are I will end up supporting them anyway but at least this gives a small chance they will actually get a HS diploma and try to get a job somewhere. Still goes back to the parents. If the parents are 2nd and 3rd generation welfare bums who pop out babies to get a bigger check then their kids are going to be the same way.

[CountryGal]

Hello wrote:

<quoted text>
Where did you get the idea that this high school is the ONLY one in the country with a built in day care? I know of several high schools in East TN that have the same thing. And FYI that does NOT encourage kids to have sex or get pregnant.
They are going to have sex regardless because that is what society tells them is okay to do.
Kids are NOT taught any morals or values anymore.
Their parents have no morals or values so the kids are not going to either. Doesn't matter what the parent says if they live something different. I do agree there shouldn't be a daycare there for teen mothers to have someone at the school take care of their kid but if they don't offer the service with kids as young as 13 having kids the will just drop out and that is just that many more I have to support. I realize chances are I will end up supporting them anyway but at least this gives a small chance they will actually get a HS diploma and try to get a job somewhere. Still goes back to the parents. If the parents are 2nd and 3rd generation welfare bums who pop out babies to get a bigger check then their kids are going to be the same way.

I said COUNTY not COUNTRY. Drop the R. And I 've talked to several LOUDON COUNTY teenagers who said what I said..they said "if I get pregnant, at least I know I can bring the baby to school". I know kids are going to have sex, but if that daycare wasn't in that school, they wouldn't have said that comment & maybe, just maybe, they would at least use protection.

[SaltShaker]

Hello wrote:

<quoted text>
Where did you get the idea that this high school is the ONLY one in the country with a built in day care? I know of several high schools in East TN that have the same thing. And FYI that does NOT encourage kids to have sex or get pregnant.
They are going to have sex regardless because that is what society tells them is okay to do.
Kids are NOT taught any morals or values anymore.
Their parents have no morals or values so the kids are not going to either. Doesn't matter what the parent says if they live something different. I do agree there shouldn't be a daycare there for teen mothers to have someone at the school take care of their kid but if they don't offer the service with kids as young as 13 having kids the will just drop out and that is just that many more I have to support. I realize chances are I will end up supporting them anyway but at least this gives a small chance they will actually get a HS diploma and try to get a job somewhere. Still goes back to the parents. If the parents are 2nd and 3rd generation welfare bums who pop out babies to get a bigger check then their kids are going to be the same way.

TRUE!! Also, if these young girls had to actually RAISE their kids instead of letting mom and dad raise them, and getting huge welfare checks, they might think twice before slutting around!!

[Dad]

It's not the schools, the media or any lack of crisis-centers. It's me and you and your sister Sue. Kids didn't have any more to do after school in the 50s and 60s, but their little sweetheart daughters were SLUTS when they got pregnant. Now they're normal and cool. People used to be ashamed to go to the food-stamp office, now it's their God-given right so hand it the hell over lady, my baby's hungry. A man could beat the living hell out of a 20 yr-old boy who was trying to bed his daughter and the boy couldn't even get the DA to take his case. I know it's old-school, but the world is indeed doomed so get yourself and your kids in church where you belong so maybe you stand a chance of saving yourselves.

[Upset Mom]

CountryGal wrote:

<quoted text>
I said COUNTY not COUNTRY. Drop the R. And I 've talked to several LOUDON COUNTY teenagers who said what I said..they said "if I get pregnant, at least I know I can bring the baby to school". I know kids are going to have sex, but if that daycare wasn't in that school, they wouldn't have said that comment & maybe, just maybe, they would at least use protection.

Stating that kids are having sex simply because there is a daycare at the school, should they get pregnant, is just silly. Having or not having a daycare center is not even a thought to these kids. They live in the moment, but what they do not have are transportation to get to the stores to buy protection, money to obtain them or resources to help them avoid the situation. The daycare is at the school, as a means to help children who have made a bad decision and need the help to get out of it so that one day, they might have the chance to one day make something of themselves. Calling children sluts, does nothing to help the situation. And why isn't anyone speaking of the "males" responsibility in all of this?

Sex is inherent to our being. Our job is to pro-create to sustain life, so trying to stop it would be like trying to stop a 500 lb boulder from rolling down a hill...aint' gonna happen!

[CountryGal]

Upset Mom wrote:

<quoted text>
Stating that kids are having sex simply because there is a daycare at the school, should they get pregnant, is just silly. Having or not having a daycare center is not even a thought to these kids. They live in the moment, but what they do not have are transportation to get to the stores to buy protection, money to obtain them or resources to help them avoid the situation. The daycare is at the school, as a means to help children who have made a bad decision and need the help to get out of it so that one day, they might have the chance to one day make something of themselves. Calling children sluts, does nothing to help the situation. And why isn't anyone speaking of the "males" responsibility in all of this?
Sex is inherent to our being. Our job is to pro-create to sustain life, so trying to stop it would be like trying to stop a 500 lb boulder from rolling down a hill...aint' gonna happen!

I never said the daycare is why they have sex and no where did "I" say the girls are sluts. But yes, the kids know the daycare is there & yes, I know the daycare is there to help them who have made a mistake, but basically, I'm tired of my tax money paying for the daycare when other more valuable programs for a larger majority students are dropped. And yes, you can't stop have kids from having sex..however, any kid in this city can walk (if no car or ride)to the health department to get free condoms and birth control. I did when I was young. Plus, I haven't forgotten the guys role in this. He also can go to the health dept for condoms too. Unfortunately, the fact of life is that the guy can walk away from a pregnacy, the girl can't; that's the double standard for you. but all in all...it's up to me as a parent to teach and raise my children to make the right decisions. No community or govenment agency will do that.

[CountryGal]

CountryGal wrote:

<quoted text>
I'm sure it doesn't help either that LHS is the only school in the county w/ a daycare built in & been there for over 20 years & taxpayer funded. I think having the daycare there is having the opposite effect...it encourages teens to get pregnant because the teen already knows she can bring the baby to school instead of saying it's (the daycare) there to help if you do.

I don't know what happened to Tasha's post...but to her...girl, stop whining about nothing to do in this town. I grew up here...unlike many on these posts (no name calling)...I know it's boring. However, I chose not to run around and have sex (which I think you've also chosen) & "sex" was always in the school halls back then too (when Loudon was the highest in the state). Thing is...it's not up to the schools, the community, or really even the parents...you kids must choose your own path. As for the daycare...waste of money...other good school programs are dropped or not added to keep that running...regardless of state or federal grants. So everyone can think I'm nuts and mean. Guess what, that's life.

[Just a Dad]

I am glad to see Hope Resources in Lenoir City. We should all donate money to them.
The problem is. We have taken the church out of our lives. We may go to church. But, we don't always hold true to the values. I have raised three daughters and got them all through High School without going to jail or getting pregnant. Not sure how we did it. But, I know God had a big hand in it. By the way I am not a saint or closer to God than anyone else. Most might look down at me for having a beer. Love your childern, educate them and be there, good or bad? Let them know they can talk to you about anything.