Teens with Tots an expensive handout
The Teens with Tots program profiled in the Feb. 26 issue of The Sun is a prime example of the mother-state-child relationship that rewards irresponsiblity and poor citizenship with handouts from California taxpayers. It's disgusting that the rest of us have to fork over part of our paychecks to assist in the rearing of the children of these young women.
The main problem is that programs like these are a safety net for the irresponsible. The headline of the story proclaims as much: "Program gives students with babies an alternative to dropping out."
Why is that such a good thing, anyway? Maybe if their poor decision-making skills actually resulted in hardship and misfortune, they wouldn't have chosen this path. If they know that if they have a child, that the state will step in to take up where the father or the family has left off, then there is no disincentive to premature childbearing out of wedlock. Instead, they can go to school like normal kids, with, heaven forbid, the huge added burden of having to spend lunch and brunch with their offspring. The state enables the irresponsible to escape the consequences of their decisions/actions by passing the financial and societal costs on to everyone else.
In this vicious cycle, a state of dependency and irresponsiblity is created that is extremely difficult to break. An illustration of the pervasiveness of this cycle is the first young woman profiled in the story, who related that her own mother had given birth to her when she was only 16. This is a typical outcome for the children of young mothers. The parenting is deficient, and the mindset of these parents is passed on to their children. They don't pass on the lesson of not making the same mistakes that they did. The values just aren't there.
I have one last comment. There are 19 babies enrolled in this program. The program was endowed with a $300,000 grant from the state. Thats a per-baby investment of $15,789. It should make all responsible citizens who are rightly concerned about the incredible burdens of the welfare state and overpopulation cringe when that figure is compared to the paltry $400 cost of an abortion.
John Lindquist
Cupertino
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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, April 16, 1997.
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