Offer to Teen Girls-Don't Get Pregnant, Get Cash for College

[ccharles000]

There's a controversial program in North Carolina that gives money to girls upon their enrollment in college, with the only stipulation that they not get pregnant while in the program. If that happens, the deal is off.

Called "College Bound Sisters," it began in 1997 as the health department in Guilford County worked to combat a high rate of teen pregnancy. They initially targeted girls aged 12-16 whose sisters were teenaged mothers.

"When I was doing maternity nursing," Dr. Hazel Brown of the School of Nursing at the University of North Carolina–Greensboro and the program's co-founder said, "the girls would always say, 'It hasn't been such a big deal in my family, because my sister already had a baby.'"

They eventually came up with the idea to give money to the girls for college -- a dollar a day for every day they were in the program. In addition to money, the girls learn about fellowship, goal-setting, age-appropriate sexual education and getting into college.

"College Bound Sisters helped me stay focused on school and to understand the consequences of getting pregnant," said 17-year-old Mia Hubbard. "Becoming a teen parent would slow me down or stop me from going to college. That's what happened to my sister."

http://www.opposingviews.com/articles/news-offer-to-teen-girls-don-t-get-pregnant-get-cash-for-college-r-1257119172

[Deja Q]

1. Is this just sexism, or is this reverse sexism?

I mean, I can't get pregnant and I'm a straight-A student (so far). Why can't I get any perks?

Old fashioned "save it for one you really care for and the same one saving it for you for the same reason" is obviously out the door, so if this form of pandering is the only solution, whatever. I've no reason to care... though I might tell the teenage boys that what's going on is biased against them and the only solution is to make it so they don't qualify -- which means one of two possibilities:
* have the boys convince the girls getting knocked up will serve them better in life (and it's more fun!)
* disqualify girls who aren't in relationships. There has to be a way to rule out just due cries of "sexism" as boys are just as responsible for makin' cheap labor machines babies. Either apply the same situation to the boys or if a girl is single and not dating anyone, she's summarily disqualified. (I prefer the former; far more straightforward. Keep the boys from impregnating everyone and give them a partial free ride...)

Though if you were to ask me, people in college getting good grades should be getting the real incentives to continue showing such noble results...

[TCJ70]

2. In the interest of fairness this should be open to boys...

...who don't get anyone pregnant.

[joeybee12]

3. A dollar a day? Yeah, that'll pay for a BIG CHUNK of your college tuition..n/t