Incentive not to get pregnant

[sterne.law@gmail.com]

The DA is proposing an incentive to encourage woman to get higher education before getting pregnant.
Unwanted pregnancies aside, and older persons, the fact that we need to incentivize people to study before getting pregnant strikes me as some what ludicrous.
Surely, well to my mind, if the person does not have the intelligence to realize that waiting to get an education before getting pregnant, is an investment in their own, and ultimately the child's best interests, then they do not have the intelligenc eto pass higher level education. And if tehy can pass the higher education, then this in turn is an indictment on the higher education institute involved.

[wynn]

except for gliepsies of course

[Dave A]

Aren't single mothers given a subsidy in some countries? Could that be construed as an incentive to get pregnant?

if the person does not have the intelligence to realize that waiting to get an education before getting pregnant, is an investment in their own, and ultimately the child's best interests, then they do not have the intelligenc eto pass higher level education.

Is it a question of intelligence or ignorance? I see a difference. And if it's ignorance, that's solved with education - actually taking the time to point out the benefits of making sure one doesn't get pregnant too young. Which is going to be tough with the child grant system in place too.

Ultimately, how can we be sure what the solution is for our situation. I really thought that plastic bag legislation was pretty silly and stood no chance of impacting our litter problem. But it did.

And if you introduce a grant to test the result - it's pretty hard to withdraw it even if it doesn't work as well as one might have hoped.

Based on South African track record, bribes work
Maybe the DA is taking a leaf out of the ANC's book

[manhav]

An incentive for women not to get pregnant?

We already experience a high volume of unemployment, which have impacted on all races and classes of the community. To aggravate this problem, we have to deal with affirmative action and employment equity policies.

Then we have the problem of poor matric results, and scholars not achieving sufficient marks to obtain university admission. The lucky ones who manage to go to university to study (not those who believe that their time at university should be about striking and marching etc) have to fight and pray for employment opportunities, and despite having qualifications can not find employment.

Now, you are going to give an incentive to women not to get pregnant and to obtain qualifications. The first part of not falling pregnant seems easy enough, but what are the DA going to do to get the women to obtain qualifications? Are they going to lower the matric pass marks? Are they going to demand that universities lower their entry and admittance requirements? What price is the DA willing to pay for this idea?

Then we also have to deal with politicians who advocate sex before marriage, extra-marital affairs, and that it is fine to have illegitimate children.

[AndyD]

......I really thought that plastic bag legislation was pretty silly and stood no chance of impacting our litter problem. But it did.

Probably off topic but the plastic bag legislation was necessary because a large sector of society is not litter conscious or the waste handling procedures were inadequate. The legislation financially penalised the innocent as well as the guilty and didn't address the root cause of the problem it merely treated the symptoms. This isn't the type of legislative remedy I would like to see become the norm.

Incentivising women not to get pregnant seems like it might produce legislation from the same stables as the plastic bag legislation but it seems to me another vote winning way to appear to be making a difference whilst leaving the deeper issues deliberately well alone. These unaddressed issues will continue to manifest themselves in different forms ad infinitum or at least until someone with some real wedding tackle holds the reigns.

[Dave A]

The legislation financially penalised the innocent as well as the guilty and didn't address the root cause of the problem it merely treated the symptoms. This isn't the type of legislative remedy I would like to see become the norm.

Yep - I felt the same way at first, but take a close look - it has changed behaviour. Significantly!

Working on the symptom has managed to influence the root cause. It has turned into an elegant (and surprisingly effective) form of regulation.

[sterne.law@gmail.com]

i suppose the raising of awareness is what makes it work, which lends credence to your earlier post re ignorance or intelligence.
I still feel that if you can not make the logical conclusion that getting some study done before having baby, and again i am not talking about, gliepsies, because they happen, you have no thought process and how are you going to pass...unless we make it easy, like matric

[tec0]

Getting pregnant or not is not the topic. Ultimately it comes down to “mom and dad” will take care of the baby the useless boyfriend aka “boy toy” and daughter. So they can live the good life party every night “mom and dad” can keep on paying for their mistakes. <- that is the mentality you have to deal with in everyday life.

Basically I have seen this happing over and over and in the end the child is just a toy. I honestly think jail time and forceful castration might end this problem. But again it is “inhumane” well I have seen the other side of the coin and it is always the child that suffers! ALWAYS with no exception.

So if you want responsibly build into the system give the “new generation” something to lose. Do have any idea how many boyfriends leave there girlfriends if she gets pregnant? The law also allow them to get away with it. So there is no stopping this problem and in the end you will have a generation of boys and girls rejected by their biological mom and dad. That is what IS happening right now.

So here is the incentive I would implement. If you get pregnant and cannot care for the baby you get “hard labour jail time for 18 years” that way you can earn money in jail and your child can grow-up with the basic needs provided. This goes for both parties involved.

[Superscenic]

Do have any idea how many boyfriends leave there girlfriends if she gets pregnant?

As if some girls have a choice whether they consent to unprotected sex or not. I know of a useless, unemployed, drunk of a husband who has unprotected sex with his "girlfriends" and then insists on having sex with his wife (my friend's char) and gets angry *wife beater* when she doesn't want to. Traditional "African" culture at fault here. I know that many young black impoverished men hang out in shebeens all day. What example does our president provide them? Lecherous Bastard.

[tec0]

I was told this story:

Well a few years ago a black women has beaten up so badly she had to go to hospital. So her friends stopped at her house and placed the biggest pot they could find on the stove. Added some boiling water and a lot of salt.

When the bastard got home he found himself screaming as the boiling hot water disfigured his face and lower neck. He was taken to hospital after a long healing process he still walks around a marked man today. No women will talk to him no person will give him a job or a place to stay.

I wish to point out that taking the law in your own hands is NEVER a good thing. But the women never ever had to worry about him coming home again.

According to the police inquiry there was no witnesses and no one bothered to report anything as townships go this is not the first time I was told such stories.

Tell your friend to go to the police and move out. The first step is always hard but they WILL get through it!

[AndyD]

Yep - I felt the same way at first, but take a close look - it has changed behaviour. Significantly!

Working on the symptom has managed to influence the root cause. It has turned into an elegant (and surprisingly effective) form of regulation.

If you consider littering as the root cause then it influence the cause. If the plastic bags legislation was rescinded tomorrow I think we'd be back to square one in no time so I wouldn't say littering was the root cause.

I was thinking more along the lines of lack of pride in your neighbourhood or even country and lack of concern for fellow citizens being the root cause. This hasn't been addressed.

[tec0]

I don’t blame technologies but I do feel that pornography, movies and sex-education may have a significant role to play when it comes to violence against women and general behaviour. Fact is to most young people intimate relations have boiled down to 1 night stands and just basic reflex function.

Safe-sex dulls the sensation and perhaps again I feel that pornography had a really big role to play in these decisions. Then the close second is group-pressure. Lastly is rape and sexual abuse. All these horrible aspects must be understood before we say “what happen to “be faithful” and “marriage”.

Perhaps we must introduce stronger laws to uphold morality. Secondly allow the youth to grow up naturally and not this haste to be an adult all the time. See this problem exist now because of decisions that were made in the past to fight HIV and all the other bad things that can be connected to the subject at hand.

Perhaps we need to look at what the youth is exposed to in these modern times before we say “get a education first story”

[Dave A]

When it comes to shaping social behaviour and setting norms, it really comes down to leadership and role models. Yes, there's peer pressure, but what chance does a youngster have to buck that if there are no great role models to look to.

So maybe that's the problem - no healthy role models, so we have to resort to that old fall-back, hard cash!

What a wonderful lesson for our youth

[tec0]

I would agree with you under normal circumstances. Sadly I cannot. Humans are fallible and right now our morality structure has come to the point where the youth is downright exploited. Yes jumping in bed with someone and endorsing unsafe sexual behaviour is becoming the norm. However look at why. We cannot ignore the facts that technology have “spidered” into basically every aspect of our lives. There are simply no control.

Now I know of a lot of people that have lost their children due to bad breakups and even know of a few that is not with us anymore because they basically lost control over their lives. The truth is control systems and proper laws will be the only way to stop this from happening.

The money thing gets me a bit. As you know “I do help out on occasion” at the local care-village and it simply broke me to see all those tiny small children growing up not knowing who they are because mom is a drunk and dad is gone and because of money BS.

Prevention is better than cure and sometimes Prevention needs intervention. And I strongly belief that Intervention is key here.