Prevention groups are working with teen girls to break the cycle of becoming a teenage mom.
Teens in North Carolina are getting paid NOT to get pregnant.
Instead of trying to convince teens that having a baby is going to make their lives difficult, and prevent them from achieving what they want in life…
A group called College Bound Sisters is helping prevent teen pregnancy with a unique program that actually rewards teenage girls with money if they’ve managed to stay baby-free while in their program.
So far it’s managed to keep 119 girls pregnant-free after more than 6 months of enrollment.
Six of the 125 girls *did* get pregnant during the program so they didn’t earn their financial stipend at the end…
But imagine what that 6 could have turned into if it weren’t for this program?
It makes me sad to think about it…
And yet really grateful that College Bound Sisters is there to do its part to help these girls break the familial cycle of being a teenage mom.
Indeed, many of the girls who join the program initially are motivated by the money. But they stay, Brown says, because of the support they receive and the opportunity to get a college education. “You can’t work toward a negative,” she says, “so saying ‘Don’t get pregnant’ isn’t good enough. This program gives them something to work toward.”
Only six girls of the 125 enrolled for six months or longer have become pregnant. About 40 have already finished high school, and 10 have graduated from college….North Carolina ranks eighth in the nation for teen pregnancies. The $75,000 annual cost for the programs run by Planned Parenthood and College Bound sisters pales next to the $500,000 a teen pregnancy can cost taxpayers for health care and welfare.”
While rewarding teens with money for not getting pregnant is a controversial topic in some circles, (especially because the girls aren’t required to abstain from sex) we can’t ignore the power of motivating kids to make good choices for themselves.
For younger kids, they’ll sometimes be more inclined to do their homework if they know they’ll get to go outside and play afterward.
For these teenage girls, it’s being found that they’re more likely to avoid getting pregnant if they know they can earn money toward college as a reward.
We require the same kind of motivation sometimes as adults…
(Ever been more inclined to do something that’s difficult if you know something great is waiting for you on the other side of the finish line? Yep – me too.)
Motivating ourselves to get things done is something that works. Period.
When it comes to preventing teen pregnancy, it seems to work the same way.
What do you think?
Should teenage girls get paid to avoid getting pregnant? Is it an effective way to prevent teen pregnancy?
Students Earn Extra Cash For College As Long As They Don’t Get Pregnant [Daily Finance via Parents]
