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Feb. 8, 2013

Rabbi Berel Wein: Lofty ideals must be followed with grounded applications

Clifford D. May: Letter from the West Bank
Steve Rothaus: Judge OKs plan for gay man, lesbian couple to be on girl's birth certificate
Gloria Goodale: States consider drone bans: Overreaction or crucial for privacy rights?
Environmental Nutrition Editors: Don't buy the aloe vera juice hype
Michael Craig Miller, M.D.: Harvard Experts: Regular exercise pumps up memory, too
Erik Lacitis: Vanity plates: Some take too much license
The Kosher Gourmet by Susie Middleton: Broccoflower, Carrot and Leek Ragout with Thyme, Orange and Tapenade is a delightful and satisfying melange of veggies, herbs and aromatics
Feb. 6, 2013

Nara Schoenberg: The other in-law problem

Frank J. Gaffney Jr. : A see-no-jihadist for the CIA
Kristen Chick: Ahmadinejad visits Cairo: How sect tempers Islamist ties between Egypt, Iran
Roger Simon: Ed Koch's lucky corner
Heron Marquez Estrada: Robot-building sports on a roll
Patrick G. Dean, M.D.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: How to restore body's ability to secrete insulin
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: 3 prostate-protecting diet tips
The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen 7 principles for to help you make the best soup ever in a slow cooker
Feb. 4, 2013

Jonathan Tobin: Can Jewish Groups Speak Out on Hagel?

David Wren: Findings of government study, released 3 days before Newtown shooting, at odds with gun-control crusaders
Kristen Chick: Tahrir becomes terrifying, tainted
Curtis Tate and Greg Gordon: US keeps building new highways while letting old ones crumble
David G. Savage: Supreme Court to hear case on arrests, DNA
Harvard Health Letters: Neck and shoulder pain? Know what it means and what to do
Andrea N. Giancoli, M.P.H., R.D.: Eat your way to preventing age-related muscle loss
The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington Baked Pears in Red Wine and Port Wine Glaze: A festive winter dessert
Feb. 1, 2013

Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb: Redemption

Clifford D. May Home, bloody, home
Christa Case Bryant andNicholas Blanford Why despite Syria's allies warning of retaliation for Israeli airstrikes, the threats are likely hollow
Rick Armon, Ed Meyer and Phil Trexler Ex-police captain cleared by DNA test is freed after nearly 15 years
Harvard Health Letters: Could it by your thyroid?
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: When 'healthy food' isn't
Sue Zeidler: Coke ad racist? Arab-American groups want to yank Super Bowl ad (INCLUDES VIDEO)
The Kosher Gourmet by Nealey Dozier The secret of this soup is the garnish
January 30, 2013

Allan Chernoff: Celebrating 'Back from the Dead Day'

America isn't a religious country? Don't tell Superbowl fans!
Mark Clayton Cybercrime takedown!
Germany remembers Hitler rise to power
Israel salutes U. N. --- with the one finger salute
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: Get cookin' with heart-healthy fats
Ballot riles Guinness World Records
The Kosher Gourmet by Elizabeth Passarella Potato, Squash and Goat Cheese Gratin
January 28, 2013

Nancy Youssef: And Democracy for all? Two years on, Egypt remains in state of chaos

Fred Weir: Putin: West is fomenting jihadi 'blowback'
Meredith Cohn: Implantable pain disk may help those with cancer
Michael Craig Miller, M.D. : Ask the Harvard Experts: Are there drugs to help control binge eating?
David Ovalle Use of controversial 'brain mapping' technology stymied
Jane Stancill: Professor's logic class has 180,000 friends
David Clark Scott Lego Racism?
The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali The celebrated chef introduces us to PANZEROTTI PUGLIESI, cheese-stuffed pastry from Italy's south


Jewish World Review May 8, 2009 / 14 Iyar 5769

With knocked-up teens, best-laid plans often go awry; when hypocrisy isn't

By Linda Chavez


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Bristol Palin is back in the news. The Alaska governor's daughter became the most famous unwed pregnant teenager in America last summer when her mother was nominated to be the GOP's vice presidential candidate. Since then, Bristol has given birth to a boy in December and the engagement to the baby's father has ended. This week she took center stage again for promoting abstinence among teenagers as part of Teen Pregnancy Awareness Day — but she's been greeted with howls of derision from pundits and others who think her actions are hypocritical. But before critics jump on Bristol, maybe they should consider the facts.


The majority of teenagers who have had sex regret their decision — and that's not just those who get pregnant. We need to worry about increasing rates of teen pregnancy, which fell steadily between 1991 and 2005, but started moving up again in 2006 and are higher in the U.S. than in all other countries in the industrialized world. But pregnancy isn't the only issue that should concern us when teenagers are sexually active, especially young teens, even if they use contraception. Most young teens are not emotionally ready to have sex, even if their hormones are telling them differently.


The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy has been the leader in providing hard, empirical data on what works to prevent teen pregnancy and in studying attitudes among young people on the issue. (I currently serve on the board of the National Campaign, which includes a broad range of public figures, health specialists, and academics whose views cut across a wide political spectrum.) In 2007, the National Campaign published a comprehensive survey on attitudes toward sexual activity, teen pregnancy, and who and what most affected teens' likelihood of engaging in sex. "With One Voice: America's Teens and Adults Sound Off about Teen Pregnancy" includes some surprising findings.


Among teenagers who have already had sex, 60 percent said they wish they had waited. And 90 percent of teens say they believe that providing young people with a strong abstinence message is important, a figure not much different from the 93 percent of adults who favor a pro-abstinence message. Teens also credit parents with being the most important influence in their lives on their decisions to have sex or to delay sexual activity. Nearly half (47 percent) credit their parents with influencing their decisions, more than friends (18 percent), religious leaders (7 percent), siblings (5 percent), teachers or sex educators (4 percent), or the media (3 percent). These figures have remained consistent in all the National Campaign's surveys.


According to the findings in this survey, which included a representative sample of more than 2,000 teens and adults interviewed by phone, both adults and teens believe it is important to discourage teenagers from sexual activity at least until they are out of high school. Eight out of 10 adults said such messages were very important, as did two-thirds of teenagers. But a majority of adults and teens also want information about contraception given to teenagers. However, nearly half of teens (46 percent) surveyed acknowledged that telling teens "don't have sex but if you do, you should use birth control or protection" actually encourages teens to have sex.


Given these findings, Bristol Palin's advocacy for teen abstinence is a good thing. She's a high-profile example of why all the best-laid plans sometimes go awry. Bristol got pregnant even though she and her former boyfriend admitted they usually used contraception. She may have thought she would marry the father of her baby, but they ended up breaking up after the baby was born. And now instead of being a college freshman enjoying an active social life, she's home taking care of her infant son.


At least Bristol has a support network to help her raise her child — many unwed teen moms don't. If she can discourage even a few young girls from following in her footsteps, I think she deserves our praise, not the snickers she's been getting from some quarters.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.


JWR contributor Linda Chavez is President of the Center for Equal Opportunity. Her latest book is "Betrayal: How Union Bosses Shake Down Their Members and Corrupt American Politics". (Click HERE to purchase. Sales help fund JWR.)

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