"This is a social catastrophe"

There are plenty of wonderful single parents. Too pull off such a thing requires a level of sacrifice and goodness that is beyond what many are capable of. But taking that into account and putting politics aside, which some people cannot do, this is still a disturbing trend. There's nothing inherently wrong with single parenthood, and I know from experience that it can be necessary. But it's not something we should want to become prevalent.

 

Probably not that big of a coincidence.

The New York Times is the assignment editor for newsrooms & talk radio stations across the country.

 

This is true.

But, here's the other thing. In Scandinavia for instance, single parenthood isn't limited to those with a lower income, so it's not as big a problem. And, the lack of a marriage certificate doesn't mean the father isn't in a relationship with the mother and/or an active parent.

So, it's not single parenthood per se that's the issue.

The problem is young, poor women who have kids, and don't have the means, or time, or education necessary to give their children the tools they need to succeed. And, too often the father is not involved at all.

And, that's sort of where the article about Stuyvesant High School comes into play. It points out that a large percentage of the student body are either immigrants or the children of immigrants. But, the African-American and Hispanic population at this magnet school is extremely low.

And, part of it is a general lack of awareness about the school, the advantages of attending it, and what is necessary to get your kid in it.

So, to me, the problem isn't single parenthood, it's "uninvolved" parenthood. And, I don't know how you address that problem.

And, most of these articles don't really even identify the problem.

 

There are those who suggest a solution to something correlated this "problem":

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCwQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpricetheory.uchicago.edu%2Flevitt%2FPapers%2FDonohueLevittTheImpactOfLegalized2001.pdf&ei=fCxJT4avGc_AtgfU_qjwAg&usg=AFQjCNEfFX4oPJiBZ7qeCfphscTehyyNQQ

 

I think that's largely been debunked.

 

Without having read the article, I wonder if it's not conflating unmarried parenthood with single parenthood. One doesn't necessarily imply the other. I can think of at least four couples on my relatively short FB friends list who had at least their first child unmarried, two of whom are now married and the other two of whom are still together.

That, then, is a matter of the changing approach to marriage among the generation being discussed here.

 

I was posting this with derision. It still has its influence, which I don't like.

 

RCP has everything on earth from NR linked on their home page, but not this. Alas.

 

Furthering deskslave's point, how many "unwed" mothers are raising kids with their lesbian partners?

 

These girls already don't have a male figure in their lives, so when a guy gets interested in them, they figure if they have a baby, the guy will remain involved in their lives.

And then the guy runs off to his next girl, leaving the woman and kid to fend for themselves.

What needs to be done is to teach these girls that they don't need a man to give them self-esteem. They can get that for themselves. And maybe if enough women start saying "No" to having sex, the men will start to treat these women with a little more respect.

I think what needs to be taught to these girls is not "Abstinence because you'll go to hell if you don't", but "Abstinence because you'll be only hurting yourself and your future." And have them do those classes where they have to carry a pretend baby around with them for a month. Then they'll see that it's not some sort of badge of honor to have a baby.

 

This thread reminds me of parents wringing their hands about why kids do drugs, and trying to come up with countermeasures to address the kids' lack of self-esteem, indifference to school, desire to stick it to their parents/etc., etc.

I'm not saying that the need to replace an absent father, hold on to a boyfriend, stick it to your mother, etc., etc. aren't at play in some of these girls' lives. I'm just saying that sometimes girls have sex because it feels good. Any consideration of the situation that ignores that will fail.

 

Or, you know, teach the guys some personal responsibility, rather than blame the girls for everything. And teach them to respect a woman whether she sleeps with them or not, rather than force them to use sex as some sort of bargaining chip for respect.