Once again, the South is behind.

With the CDC publishing teen pregnancy rates for 2008 this week and with the return of MTV's 16 and Pregnant (a guilty reality TV pleasure of mine), I got to thinking about why the South, including Texas, is so clueless when it comes to sex education. Overall teen pregnancy rates have dropped from the spike of teen births in 2007, but the South continues to be the leader in number of babies born to teens. An article written by The Hill's Mike Lillis points out the connection between that states that stress abstinence only education, mainly in the South, have much higher rates of teen pregnancy than the states the teach comprehensive sex education.

So how does Texas measure up? Not very well. Texas, along with its Southern neighbors Oklahoma, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Arkansas, all had high rates of 60 per 1,000 births belonging to 15-19 year-old girls. According to change.org, currently local school boards "determine how or if, sex education will be implemented in the school curriculum." If a school district decides that sex education will be apart of the curriculum, that school must stress abstinence only education.  Conversely, in a state like Massachusetts, comprehensive sex education programs that not only teach abstinence but also birth control methods and availability, have a much lower teen pregnancy rate.

Texas, as a part of the conservative South, falls in line with the family values trend that preaches abstinence only education and turns a blind eye to what today's youth is actually doing. Teens are having sex, this is pretty clear given the teen pregnancy rates. With this knowledge of teens having sex, why not give them the information and access to prevent unwanted pregnancies? Progressive areas in the country such as New England have taken this approach to sex education and their states have some of the lowest teen pregnancy rates, New Hampshire has the lowest rate in New England and the country.

I'm not naive enough to think that this is the only answer to help prevent teen pregnancies. As a teen mom myself, I had the knowledge and access to birth control to prevent becoming pregnant but just didn't think it would happen to me. Teenagers tend to think that they are invincible and have the view that pregnancy happens to other people, not to them. Schools can teach and give kids the information to be safe, but for an overall effect parents need to drive the point home. Government and schools can only help kids so much, parents need to be responsible as well and give their children the tools and information to prevent an unwanted pregnancy. Comprehensive sex education isn't the only answer to stopping teen pregnancy, but it's a better solution than what Texas has in place now. Hopefully someday Texas and the South will catch up with the rest of the country and offer real solutions to teenagers about preventing pregnancy.

How much will more legislation help?

In an article written in the Grits for Breakfast blog, the author of Mental health resources, not new laws, best way to respond to bullying deaths claims that more legislation will not help reduce the number of bullying deaths but rather more access to counseling and mental health education would be more affective. The author of this post believes that bullying has gone too political and way too far in "criminalizing juvenile misbehavior." As of now, Texas law mandates that schools prohibit bullying and and harassment and allows victims of bullying to transfer to different schools. Several Democrats believe that proposed legislation to expand training and incident reporting when it comes to bullying would reduce the amount of bullying happening in Texas schools. 


The author argues that the criminal justice system can only go so far when dealing with issues that arise in the schoolyard. As a result the issue of school bullying has gone political, as evidence the blog points to fellow blogger Murray Newman who flip-flopped on the issue of how effective prosecutors can be with school bullying after a Houston area bullying allegedly contributed to a teen suicide. The Grits for Breakfast author then points out that bullying isn't necessarily the issue, but most likely teen suicide. As the author stated "it's not nearly as politically popular to advocate for more mental health services compared to going after killers."The author believes that the taboo issue of mental health issues are most likely the cause of teen suicide but is often over looked. The blog concludes with the idea that beefing up counseling and mental health service could help matters with bullying deaths, but because of the state budget shortfall next year the solutions will most likely be put on the back burner. 


I believe that the author is spot on in the solution of how to help with teen suicide. Counseling and mental health education would greatly put teens at an advantage of how to deal with certain issues, most importantly bullying. Some one who contemplates suicide because of bullying most likely has underlying issues that could be helped with counseling. But I don't agree with the author that more legislation is not a good idea. While the legislation that has been purposed may be unnecessary, if educators had more training on how to deal with bullying and mental health issues they may be able to spot when a teen is showing symptoms and may be able to help that individual. 


As the author points out in his conclusion, unfortunately this growing problem will most likely not be looked at in the upcoming year as Texas is facing a $21 billion budget shortfall. 

It takes two to tango: Gubernatorial Debates.

In an Austin American Statesman editorial, Texas voters entitled to exchange of ideas, the Statesman's editorial board criticizes Governor Rick Perry for not stepping up to the plate and agreeing to partake in a gubernatorial debate with challenger Bill White. The major newspapers of Texas have sponsored a gubernatorial debate set to take place October 19th at 7 pm and televised by KLRU-TV. Candidate Bill White has long taken the stance of anytime, any place for a debate with Perry. With White confirmed to debate, Perry believes that he can set the conditions surrounding the debate. Perry has said that he will not agree to a debate with White until he produces his tax records from when he served as Texas Democratic Party chairman and US Department of Energy Official. White has since provided the tax records from when he served as Houston's mayor but Perry says that is not enough. 


The Statesman's editorial board believes that Governor Perry owes it to the Texas voters to answers questions in a debate with White. I agree. As a concerned Texas voter, I agree that Governor Perry and White should answer Texans questions of how they would handle the state should they be elected. The state of Texas faces numerous challenges in the up coming year including the possibility of 18 million dollar budget deficit, an unemployment rate higher than its neighbors, border security, and education. The state of Texas, as well as the nation, face a crossroads in the direction that the state and country will take. These officials running for office owe it to the voters to detail what their solution for the state is, and let the people decide what is right for Texas. Perry refusing to debate based on the fact White has not released the tax records he wanted makes me wonder why he really doesn't want to debate White. To throw up a road block as small as unreleased tax records and to want to set the conditions for the debate seems like Perry wants to use more power than he has. Debates, especially televised debates for the last fifty years have been an important part of the election process for elected officials. 


The Statesman has stated that it will hold the debate regardless of whether or not Perry shows up to participate. The "debate" will then consist of an in-depth conversation of the issues facing Texas. 

Two Term Governors?

In an article posted by the Austin American Statesman, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White says that governors should be limited to two four-year terms. White says that this would prevent incumbents from "amassing too much power" in their position as governor.


White has also said that in order to change the current laws, there should be a voter referendum on term limits. He also favors a proposed constitutional amendment that would need to be approved by voters as well. Texas is one of few states that does not have term limitations for governors, 37 states already have in place term limits.


White is currently running against incumbent Rick Perry who is seeking his third full term as Texas governor. Perry has said that he disagrees with White, stating that he believes "the voters decide who they want to be their elected officials."