If you were to ask a million people the following question: Should babies be having babies? -- the most common response would be NO, they should NOT.
 
Unfortunately it is A LOT EASIER to answer that question correctly than it is to make that answer a reality.

If you are like me, you too are sick of all the NEGATIVE stories and statistics you read about on a daily basis. They seem to get worse every year -- the murders, the beatings, the robberies, the drunk and drugged driving car accidents, the all-too-many inferior public schools, the low salaries for teachers, police officers, firefighters, etc., etc., etc.
 
Then, when you look at the front pages of every newspaper on the Island and watch the lead news stories on TV -- it isn't too difficult to see exactly where MOST OF THE BLAME lies.  It lies with the POLITICIANS who wouldn't be able to come up with an innovative program if the program came right up to them and bit them on their ass OR the POLITICIANS who NEVER come to the realization that what has been broken for decades has to be FIXED with NEW, EXTREME, SOMEWHAT RADICAL approaches and programs that WILL GET THE RESULTS that are needed for EVERYONE to enjoy the very best quality of life.  
 
After all, GETTING RESULTS IS A POLITICIAN'S JOB -- that's all they are suppose to do -- yet they seem to do EVERYTHING ELSE but GET RESULTS and it seems that way -- BECAUSE IT IS THAT WAY.
 
I'm NOT saying that things are any better in the United States -- I have also GIVEN UP on just about ALL of the politicians there. I care more about Puerto Rico leading the world in EVERY way, INCLUDING with politicians who actually GET RESULTS and do so in a RESPECTFUL manner WORKING AS A TEAM. Right now, there are NOT ANY politicians in Puerto Rico ANY BETTER than those in the 50 states.
 
Hopefully someone like Holly Conner, who is NOT a politician, but with the Center For Disease Control & Prevention and who was present at the "Foro para promover la abstinencia en adolescentes" yesterday in Old San Juan realizes or will realize someday soon that ABSTINENCE is ONE solution for ONE group of kids and NOT THE ONLY SOLUTION for EVERYONE.
 
If a tiny little island like Puerto Rico, a place where there are SO MANY PEOPLE who have SO MUCH in common, CANNOT GET ALONG and GET RESULTS that BENEFIT EVERYONE -- it's NOT going to happen in a place where there are 50 "Puerto Rico's" plus Washington, D.C. -- all much larger with a combined population 75 times greater. It's just NOT going to happen.
 
If El Nuevo Día or Primera Hora were to ask their online readers if they believe the overwhelming majority of Puerto Rico's top politicians PLACE PUERTO RICO FIRST OR THEMSELVES FIRST, my guess would be that 98 - 99% would answer that politicians place THEMSELVES first.  If politicians were not allowed to vote in the online poll -- the results would probably rise to 100%.

Here's my own survey -- it's an Island-wide sampling regarding teens and teen pregnancy through a child's perspective.  After all, when children are born to children, THE REAL VICTIMS are those children who have parents who compete with them for the same things -- like the video game control, the Barbie doll or who get to stay up late -- even though it's a school night.
 
Imagine having a MOM or DAD who are so young they get grounded by their parent(s) when they forget to take the diapers out to the trash or get punished or yelled at because the babies formula was not prepared correctly or in a timely manner.
 
Imagine having a dad who has to decide if his BABY is going to have Pampers available 24/7, proper medical coverage, a comprehensive savings plan underway for a college education 17 years down the road OR if the DAD is going to get a new bicycle because all his friends have a new one.
 
Imagine having parents who aren't old enough to get you into an R-rated movie, but emulated what many actors seem to do in those R-rated movies.  After all -- that's kinda how the baby was born to the babies.
 
Imagine having a parent who comes home mad from school because they have so much homework or they got a bad grade from a teacher they hate and have to square it with "abuela" or "abuelo" so they don't get grounded.  But then chances are if you are the BABY of a BABY, there probably isn't an ABUELO readily available for the newborn because there wasn't a DAD or much of a "DAD" available for either the BOY or GIRL who "got together" at some point and made their baby.  NOT HAVING A DAD AROUND throughout someone's childhood is most likely one of the MAIN reasons that got the BABY pregnant in the first place.

When I read "Embarazos en escolares: Rechazo a repartir condones a jóvenes" and an article on PuertoRicoWow.com that was available for about 30 hours and then was deleted rather than archived AS A PUBLIC SERVICE TO THEIR READERS:
 
«Education Secretary Gloria Baquero on Tuesday said she does not believe the distribution of contraceptive methods in public schools is the best way to prevent teenage pregnancies. Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá added that so far the method that has proven to be most effective against teenage pregnancy on the mainland has been sexual abstinence»
 
I said to myself would both Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá and Education Secretary Gloria Baquero have the same opinions if they heard directly from THE CHILDREN BORN to kids or if these kids could VOTE?
 
I decided to commission my own survey -- so in my survey, taken between May 29 - 31, 2005, I asked 1,500 children between the ages of 1-day-old to 4-years-old who were born to mothers 13 - 16 years of age the following: 
 
"What do you think of Governor Acevedo Vilá and Secretary of Education Gloria Baquero's position not allowing condoms and other birth control products to be distributed throughout the schools in Puerto Rico for those students who DO NOT plan on following an abstinence program that is ALSO available and promoted?"
 
- Surprisingly, 100% of those surveyed said the same thing -- "THEY MUST BE SNIFFING GLUE!  Their children will not grow up getting pregnant at an early age -- but then not all of us were lucky enough to have had parents who were RAISED correctly, constantly and thoroughly. Who are they to NOT have a plan OR PLANS that can be customized for each student.  Not every student will follow the abstinence program or the advice regarding abstinence.  So what is going to happen to those students? THEY WILL BECOME PREGNANT and/or BECOME ILL and/or RUIN THEIR LIVES and/or GROW UP TAKING RATHER THAN GIVING TO THEIR COMMUNITY and/or RAISING KIDS WITH A BETTER CHANCE OF FAILING IN LIFE RATHER THAN SUCCEEDING IN A BIG WAY and/or DOING THE SAME DAMN THING at the SAME DAMN AGE."
 
- I also asked the same 1,500 children "How does it feel to have a mom 13 - 16-years-older than you are?"
 
- Again, 100% of those surveyed said the same thing -- "IT SUCKS!!"
 
«This survey's margin of error is +or- 0% -- IT'S ACCURATE! Finally and most importantly GIRLS CANNOT get pregnant without a guy and teen pregnancies occur EVERYWHERE throughout the United States and the world -- If something is seriously broken over a period of decades, DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT and do it IMMEDIATELY!»
 
The point of the survey: Kids are different and different approaches are needed to customize the way they learn and what they learn.  You can have a classroom of 26 students -- all from different families -- and half of them will grow up doing just about everything the right or correct way.  The other half may not.  An abstinence program will work for those students who are raised correctly and have something at that age they DO NOT WANT TO LOSE -- that being the LOVE and RESPECT of their FAMILY.
 
The kids AT RISK are those kids who may come from a single-parent home WITH NO DAD in the picture.  They may, at ages 12 -16, NOT GIVE A CRAP ABOUT ANYTHING OR ANYONE.  It may be the way they were raised OR it may be just they way things turned out.
 
Now, I am NOT saying there has never been a 12 or 13 or 14-year-old mom or dad who didn't do an EXCELLENT job raising their kid(s).  I am certain that some young children are BETTER parents than those people 2 or 3 times their age.  I know that for a fact -- AND SO DO MY CHILDREN.
 
I also know of 4 babies from Austria this morning who wished they had a teenage mom rather than the 32-year-old mom who murdered them.
 
- "Four Slain Newborns Discovered In Austria"
- "Descubren en una casa de Austria cuatro bebés asesinados"
 

THERE ARE ALSO NO GUARANTEES that kids from great families cannot get or get someone pregnant.  It can happen to ANYONE.  The odds of it happening to those at risk from a LESS THAN IDEAL OR COMPLETE FAMILY have to be a lot greater.
 
Every teacher in Puerto Rico and elsewhere KNOW THEIR STUDENTS.  They have to know who is just fine, who may need some attention and who are AT RISK.
 
If a teacher does not know this after the first few weeks of teaching a child on a daily basis -- THEY SHOULD NOT BE TEACHING.
 
THOSE IN CHARGE of PUERTO RICO and THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION HAVE TO REALIZE THAT ALL KIDS ARE DIFFERENT and need AN APPROACH that is better suited for them OR THEY SHOULD NOT BE GOVERNING OR OVERSEEING a million plus students.
 
If decade after decade after decade after decade there are more kids walking around the schools of Puerto Rico with a maternity school uniform -- FIX THE PROBLEM with something DIFFERENT -- something comprehensive -- and something that will actually work.
 
NO ONE should place their own moral values and/or personal beliefs -- religious or otherwise -- above what would CLEARLY BE EFFECTIVE.  Just ask ANYONE who doesn't count on votes to earn a living and sustain a career in politics WHAT MAKES SENSE in preventing teens from having babies -- THEY GET IT and they would do what is NEEDED and NOT what is POPULAR.
 
If in the past 40 years, 90% of all babies born in Puerto Rico were born to people AT LEAST 18-years-old, who actually WANTED the BABY, could EFFECTIVELY RAISE the BABY and could AFFORD the BABY -- how much crime would their be today?  How much of a problem would AIDS/HIV and other sexually-transmitted diseases be today?
 
The answer, to me, is SIMPLE.  Much less.  So much less that Puerto Rico would be the shining example to the world.
 
EVERY BABY born throughout this year, 2005 -- should graduate from college, find a career they like, get married and have their own children -when the time is right for them- and be happy with their lives.
 
There isn't ANY NORMAL HUMAN BEING who does not want ALL THIS for their child(ren).
 
How many people in Puerto Rico may NOT be NORMAL human beings?
 
The answer, to me, is SIMPLE.  Just enough to screw things up for EVERYONE.
 
Here's the NEXT QUESTION:
 
What will Puerto Rico look like in 2030 if NOTHING NEW OR BIG is done TODAY and things CONTINUE to SPIRAL OUT OF CONTROL?
 
That answer, to me, is also SIMPLE -- AND SCARY.
 
We can ALL do something different and do it immediately to REVERSE what is currently SO WRONG. EVERYONE can do something TODAY to insure that TOMORROW is great for all of us.  It all begins with people having kids WHEN they are responsible ADULTS.
 
To achieve this GOAL -- we have to BEGIN working hard to raise EVERY young boy to become a REAL MAN and NOT a REAL PRICK.

Well, that's all folks! Until next Friday.

Keith


For motivational speeches, conferences, media requests and other things such as eating disorders, you'll have to contact someone else. My only qualifications for writing a weekly column are based solely upon having a lot of free time, unlimited Internet access and very little else.