THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 2, 1996 TAG: 9605300018
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 36 lines
Recently editorials and special features have dealt with the plight of teenage pregnancies and the need to remove these women and children from welfare situations. One solution is to return them to their families.
Many of these parents have struggled for years to bring their daughters to a realization of their responsibilities for their own lives and have failed due to many social-environment factors. Now the parents are expected to raise and support the daughters who ignored them.
But what has happened to the issue of the absent male who also is responsible for this child? Not one mention of his responsibility. So many promises are given to the teenage girl in the name of love, but when the child arrives the male parent disappears. When state agencies try to track down the father for child support, months or years may pass before he is found, especially if he is in another state.
At our homeless shelter for abandoned women and children, where we also serve two-parent ``intact'' homeless families, we are trying to provide a new life and new directions in the form of life-skills and parenting training and to give additional support as needed.
The Norfolk community has been most helpful, but prevention is still the key. Small private agencies cannot do it alone. The media have to assume some of the burden of helping to eliminate teenage pregnancies. Talk to the boys and men, not just the parents of the girls.
In future coverage of teenage pregnancies, emphasize the need for male responsibility and the need for training of males to prevent teenage pregnancies and to assume their roles as fathers in society. Don't put all the blame on teenage girls.
GRACE M. VAN DERVEER, president
The Haven Family Center Inc.
Norfolk, May 22, 1996 by CNB