Great. More underaged, unprepared parents. That's just what this country needs.

I read this earlier. What can really be said at this point. MS is # 1.

Nice mix Liberty -
Since, I believe, neither the left nor the right is holding guns to teen heads and forcing them to become pregnant the problem probably is a mixture of things: teens having sex (), public pregnancies that make it seem okay, classes that don't work...

I used to like Greta but in the last year, she's gotten as weird as everyone else on cable - I'm soooo sick of the different networks calling each other out.

Why does anyone give Ann Coulter air time???

Yes, here in MS we are the fattest, poorest, and under insured. And now we have tons of babies with teen mothers. Go MS! (Please note that is dripping in sarcasm.)

I have never liked Greta. She has always gotten on my nerves for some reason.

82, what part of MS are you in?

There was another article out today on Yahoo saying indicating that Tennessee has the highest teen birth rate in America. I think someone commented on another thread that she thought there were more Democrat teen mothers than Republican, but if you go by the representation of high-birth-states in the map, the opposite seems to be true (this is, of course, going by traditional red states.

Article: news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090107/ap_on_he_me/med_teen_births

bella - I'm in northeast MS.

Does it really matter if which party has a higher teen birth rate? The fact that this nation has a high teen birth rate should be the main concern. I do find it interesting looking at that map that the southern states (southwest and southeast) have a higher birth rate than the northern states. Now I wonder why that is.

I don't think it matters, but posters in other threads seem to think it does.

The sad thing is that the teen pregnancy rate will climb as long as the economy's in the toilet: if your family is struggling, you can't count on college, parttime jobs are going to your elders - why not have sex to lighten things up?

I wonder why, it's not like the entertainment industry glorifies teen pregnancy... cough* Juno, Jamie Lynn Spears.

'I do find it interesting looking at that map that the southern states (southwest and southeast) have a higher birth rate than the northern states. Now I wonder why that is.'

Great question, I can only talk about what I see here in Philadelphia. There are tons of inner city teen mothers, and one day I was stuck on a bus with a couple of these girls and we got to talking (I was 24 at the time, they were probably 18 each having a 2 year old) and they basically told me the way that a man shows you he loves you is by getting you pregnant. For them, that was true love and it kind of was their goal. Its not necessarily a lack of knowledge or access to birth control. Also for these girls, it was the societal norm and acceptable to be a teen mom.

Now on to MS, where I would imagine it might be a societal norm but IS unacceptable (my assumption here being that MS is part of the Bible Belt). They probably don't have as good access to contraception and education as the teens in Philly. So, why then does MS and the south has higher teen pregnancy rates than the north? The only correlation I see is income level. These girls were from a rough neighborhood and I'm assuming not very well off. And MS is one if not the poorest state.

This is so lame. Sex Ed Please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lil what's truly horrific about Tennessee (Memphis in particular) is that some areas have a higher infant death rate than Third World countries.

See that's the thing mydiadem... we can only comment on what we see in our own states. Yes, MS is part of the Bible belt and pregnancy outside of marriage is a very unacceptable thing. But sometimes all the religious fears in the world won't change your situation.

I've worked in health care for years here in MS and I have always been so sad to see the number of teen mothers, just in my area. I think in MS it has a lot to do with poverty levels. And poor sex education. On the poverty level, I think it has to do with the fact that you can get on Medicaid, food stamps, electric bill reduction, etc if you meet certain income requirements and have a certain number of people in your household. I've literally had some people tell me, it's easier to have a baby on Medicaid and live off welfare that it is to go get a job. Now I know not everyone is that way, but believe me, some people are out there.

Then like I said, I think the sex education is a problem. I've seen so many teens 13-15 who are pregnant and probably haven't been taught anything about sex or how to protect themselves, yet they feel they need to have sex to be loved or appreciated or accepted. A lot of these teen pregnancies are in families who are underprivileged where the parents work their rears off to provide for their families. I think in that struggle to survive, they forget the basics of teaching their sons and daughters about sex and having safe sex until they come home pregnant. Now I did go to a school that taught sex ed, but I know a LOT of schools in MS still don't teach sex ed... and I really think that would help with our teen pregnancy rate as well.

Oy... that's a lot. Sorry... I just thought I'd throw my two cents in.

blue - you bring up a good point too. You look at these people who are teen moms... and they are bringing a child into a place that a child shouldn't be raised in. Heck, those teen mothers shouldn't be in those places either. Then you have teens who hide their pregnancies for fear of retribution from their parents... or those who just can't afford good care... and then we are looking at those high infant mortality rates.

It's a sad circle all the way around.

Sadly, that doesn't surprise me. A cousin of mine works at St. Jude and does a lot of volunteer work in community... some of the stories she tells are chilling.

Krae, you can't just blame the entertainment world - Palin's situation makes it seem okay too. Across the board, teens get mixed messages from adults.

I can't imagine how people can afford babies in this economy. It's so terrible. My sister's friend just had baby # 2 at 21 and she's in school (presumbably working, but that won't be enough because she has school and 2 kids). Daycare is still expensive, u can't find a decent job. But their not proud, they have no problems filing for child support or getting food stamps.

Oh, I'm very willing to put some blame on the Palin situation as well.

I was watching an SVU episode and they were quick to throw Palin under the bus. It was the epi w/ Jesse M. and they girls have a pregnancy pact. The girls says, "The VP lady daughter is pregnant. It's not a big deal." I was laughing so hard. Those writers ave no shame.

That is a super old issue of TIm. 1985! Ah good times. Good times. I remember my dad seeing that in the mailbox (I had a subscribtion that I had one in middle school) and he freaked started shouting, "YOU BETTER NOT BE HAVING SEX KIDDO! I DO NOT WANT YOU TO BE LIKE YOUR AUNTS AND UNCLES AND HAVING KIDS AS A KIDS. Those people are f-ked up."

Ah dear dad always freaking out at something. My mom on the other hand countered with, "When I was your age wanted to screw every boy that came along but your uncles prevented that from happening. Always chaperoning me everywhere Heck if I couldn't screw them I wanted to 69 um."

I freaked out at my mom cause I had only just learned from my pre-teen friend what 69ing was. Plus my mom was admitting that at 12 she wanted to bonk everything is sight. I told my sister and she freaked out that our mother was a high charged pre-teen.

Whoa, wackdoddle your mom seems like my kind of woman. But still kind strange.

Wack, your family is apparently awesome!

Isn't it funny u tell ur parent a term and they start using it the next day.

Wack, your family is hilarious. If my mom told me that, I'd just stare at her with an open mouth. A definite TMI.

Don't mean to hijack a thread or anything but can we get a post on Obama meeting w/ the Presidents sometime today.

What doesn't everyone's family have a laugh track?

Trust me I was speechless as was my cousin Julie who was standing there with me when my mom said this. When Julie and I see each other we still stand there and talk about this incident - like we have PTSD.

I think my mom was so open and outspoken because 1)she had a massive brain tumor and who knows maybe it squished her impulse control and 2) she knew she was dying and she was trying to tell me anything and everything I could ever possibly want to know or accidentally find out about her.

Though from everything I remember about my mom and everything I learned about her after her death she was hell-on-wheels. She was Madonna before Madonna was ever born. She always swore like a sailor, fist fought her sisters at school, smoked at school, had a motorcycle riding white boyfriend in high school (not really a big deal because she was bi-racial but still it was 1952, she threw her panties at James Brown during a concert and flashed The Beatles during a concert.

The woman lived. Then she had children and continued her "bad behavior" teaching us all to cuss like her, speak up, tell the truth no matter who gets hurt even if its you, and to laugh at yourself before others can.

She was a weirdy, I'm proud to be like her.

Only difference bring it back to Obama per Franky Ava's request she probably would have wanted to screw Obama and Bill Clinton for that matter. And she'd kick Ann Coulter's narrow butt and pull out her hair given the chance.

I'm sorry to hear that she passed away, Wack. That's very hard. But she sounded like an admirable @ss-kicker for sure.

Cool that you have such great memories of her - think I should go home and bring up 69ing to my 13-year old?

Aww, wackdoddle ur mother sounds like a complete bad ass.

Stephley she would probably have the same or similar reaction I did. Eyes bugging out, heart racing and slack jawed for several minutes.

My dad was unfazed.

But later I bragged to all my friends how cool my mom was until my best friend's mom one upped her by getting us back stage at the INXS Kick Tour and letting Michael Hutchence feel her up at the Fabulous Forum. My friend and I needed oxygen and a cold compress.

Anyway, back to the topic teen pregnancy - meh...

Wackdoddle. I need to come 2 ur house and hang with ur peeps.

No surprise to me on the baby front.

Fell from Grace? What the hell is that about? The women was certainly quirky but to say she feel from Grace is an overstatement if I've ever heard one.

As for Ann she makes good points about societal issues, she's full of $#!+ on the use of B. Hussein Obama and she's right that the media in general was too soft on Obama.

I'll make you a deal Franky, you go in my place.

I try to avoid going to events for my mom's side of the family - too vain, too much under the table drinking, too much like a Maury episode "you are the father", too much blaming each other for crayons lost as children and too Irish. Though they are fun, they are also snippy.

Now the Burris' my dad trained us all to avoid them like the plague. My parents left there home state and never looked back. My dad's siblings would call and he would put the phone down and walk away and let them talk to the dog. Later when his parent were elderly and needed full time care, my dad was the only child of the 10 adult children to step up and find a good place for my demented grandmother and my bitter grandfather. Someplace that they could be together and be cared for without being taken advantage of by their own children and grandchildren. Once my dad flew back to Hell and got them in the home and PAID for it himself (heck somehow my dad's still paying the monthly tab even though he's been dead approaching 10 years) my uncles and aunts b*tched then took credit for taking care of things and getting "Ma and Pa" in a good home.

The Burris' have enormous get-togethers because one of them managed to change a light bulb. They actually called my sister after she was diagnosed with breast cancer and asked if she was gonna "move back home" (We kids never grew up or visited where our parents were born) and if they could have her big house in CA or if she could at least hold the monthly family reunion there cause the ocean is near California right?

So Franky you can have them all, I'll even spring for the plane tickets but you'll have to sleep at their houses on the couch cause that's the way it works. A hotel? What you don't like us? Yes, I do not like you.
Rant over.

Hmmm, no never mind. I'll pass.

And I thought my family was nuts!

Is your sister okay?

U had me until this part.....

"Yes, I do not like you."

Please expand.

She is responding excellently to chemo. She gets another PET scan on Friday to see how far the tumors have receded then once those result are in the oncologist will either push the mastectomy up to be within the next two weeks or they will give her two more chemo treatments then do the surgery.

She tired, she's pissed, she's bored, she's got the TV volume cranked up to 1000, she keeps watching Mr & Mrs Smith over and over again, she's arguing with the cats about whether they should or shouldn't walk across on the back of the couch - so she's otherwise normal. But she's completely bald. And weirdly it looks good on her.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith is a good movie to watch repeatedly because it's kinda long.

Oh they ask us (my sister and my three brothers and I) if we do not like them. We always say, "Yes, we do not like you."

They then get all excited and say well "we like you too". Subjective hearing...

I'm glad she's responding well to treatment.

For repeat watchings, I love Dark Knight and the extended versions of the Lord of the Rings movies.

Ok I done a zillion mindless posts - when do I get to be a Diamond? Did this do it?

No. Dammit.

teen birth rate are up again should be reworded to teenage pregnancy or labor is up... teens aren't being born.

Oh no if she's not watching "Mr & Mrs Smith" then its "300" if not "300" then its "Casino Royale" cause now she has the lusts for the new Bond - understandable, If not "Casino Royale" then "The Bourne Supremacy" which she keeps calling "Good Hunting Goes Hunting". And if not those movies she's watching Judge Judy, Ghost Hunters, Hunting Ghosts, Ghosts, Ghosts, Ghosts, Ghost Crazy Ravers, Most Haunted, or The Biblical History Channel.

Like right now - cannot call her Judge Judy is on. Oh then repeats of Ghost Hunters.

Oh PerfectScore I think my friend who;s 28 is going to give birth to a teenager. That womb is enormous. The baby must be at least 5'10 already.

I told her that my baby shower gift will include a shaving kit for her son.

That sounds like a recipe for insanity, Wack!

oh ok.

I'm not sure why this is news. Teen pregnancies and number of teens with STD's has been rising for a while now. This report doesn't even include the number of abortions cases either.

Krae85, have you even watched Juno? There was no glorification of teen pregnancy. It was very real, complicated and heartbreaking at times. You should know what your talking about before you go spouting of examples.