Campaign for Teen Safety

Margaret, it's only pure and simple if you've never been a pregnant teen. There are a lot of girls out there whose parents would abandon, or, in extreme situations, harm their daughter were she to come home pregnant. Some would force their daughter to carry to term against her wishes. I was a pregnant teen lucky enough to have supportive parents... See More. Not everyone is so lucky. The parent should educate the child to talk to them, but it shouldn't be mandated by the state. Kids know their own parents better than the law does.

I think the thing that everybody is overlooking is the human nature and undeniable conscience of minor teens. They are people. They are perceptive. They are not like dogs to be scolded when they do the wrong thing.

I've been working with youth groups for a long time, and teach teens in school. Ive got news for you; most of them will and do tell ... See Moretheir parents everything. Tose who don't have good reasons to, and they will tell someone else in their life who loves them.

Despite what you believe of teenagers, they aren't looking to avoid punishment or "run away" from their problems. They actually are looking for love and support; forcing them to go to a place where that might be the opposite of what they get isn't even a semblance of a solution to something that is not the root of the problem anyway. This isn't a preventative measure. It's punative. And we know from history that that never works.

The only people who can strengthen communication between kids and parents are kids and parents, not the government. If a pregnant teen already has good communication with her parents, then there is no need to rely on Proposition 4. However, if there is no bond, and if the pregnant teen knows she will suffer severe punishment (I'm talking beatings... See More, not simply being grounded), then that child should not be mandated by the government to put herself in harm's way. I think that most people who support Proposition 4 are against abortion outright. If that's the case, there's no point in arguing because your minds are already made up. No matter on which side of the fence you reside, if you foster healthy communication with your children, that's all that matters.

Prop 4 allows for you to not have to tell your parents if you are in a situation that involves abuse.

"The decline in unintended pregnancy in California has been attributed to laws and
policies promoting comprehensive, medically accurate sex education and confidential
access to low cost family planning services.7 Contraceptive use by adolescents in
California averts an estimated 236,000 pregnancies to teens annually.8"--From the Bixby Center Report (see link below)
... See More
7 Contraception Counts: Ranking state efforts. Guttmacher Institute;
New York, NY. February 2006.
8 Kahn J, Brindis C, Glei D. Pregnancies and pregnancy consequences
averted by the use of contraceptives in U.S. and California teens. University
of California, San Francisco. Paper commissioned by the California Wellness
Foundation. June 1996.

http://www.new.facebook.com/note_redirect.php?note_id=53200939808&h=66889a6481d1628e3b705a410c5aa117&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbixbycenter.ucsf.edu%2Fpublications%2Ffiles%2FParentalNotification_2008Sep.pdf