Our answer has been to get all moralistic and preachy and rely on abstinence, while maintaining a huge denial complex of the realities of teens and sex. Birth control? No way, since it's not needed. How's that been working so far?

As I have watched in my local newspaper, which publishes births, it is really sad to see how many babies arrive without married parents. Some of these children will never know who their father really is. Our current welfare system really encourages this kind of behavior since it seems to reward single girls for getting into these situations. I think that for single mothers to get welfare, housing subsidies, etc. The "sperm doners" for these children should have to be identified. With DNA tests and etc. this shouldn't be terribly difficult. Doing this would possibly cause these "men" to at least accept some responsability?

After spending almost two years visiting at a county jail and a state prison, I was so saddened to see so many young women with children (sometimes several women visiting the same inmate). The fathers, even if they were able to care for and love a child, which was problematic in and of itself, were simply not available to the children they had sired.
It is a tradition in certain segments of our nation that a male is judged by how many children he can produce and a woman by whether she has a child. They're not expected to actually care for them. So sad--and rather like valuing breeding animals, not people. But as long as that tradition is held (and it is growing), we are going to have this problem. Our government over the last sixty years has rewarded unwed and irresponsible child bearing. Unfortunately, birth control doesn't help much--most of these parents choose not to use it for emotional (and selfish) reasons. You can't expect responsible behavior of irresponsible and immature people.
We MUST have a cultural change here--our preoccupation with sex is insane. And terribly destructive to the next generation.

Stop teaching your children abstinence and demonizing sex. You do that and your children will have sex, just to see what all the fuss is about. Teach children responsibility and safe sex.

Honestly, I wish children were not having sex, but they are. So teach them to be safe.

Stop teaching your children that underage drinking is bad and demonizing drunk driving. You do that and your children will get drunk and drive, just to see what all the fuss is about.

Honestly, I wish children were not drinking and driving, but they are. So teach them to do it safely.

Bob bogle | 8:08 a.m. is right.

Don't teach your kids about morality, responsibility or abstenance. Just have your kids spayed or neutered if you're going to let them run the streets at night and do whatever comes naturally!

Abstenance may not work 100% but I remember a time when the out of wedlock rate was 5% for whites and 17% for blacks. Back then, kids did not have the influances and were taught a higher moral. Today, anything goes and safe sex is not 100% safe either. They still get pregnant and STD's are at an all time high. Teach self respect, morals and self control, along with responsibility. More effective.