"Dear colleges,
Please stop letting girls who got pregnant at 16 go to college for free. You're encouraging bad behavior. Reward the people who were responsible and DIDN'T get pregnant in high school.
Sincerely, a responsible teen."
It immediately pissed me off. Really? What "bad behavior" are we talking about? Having sex, getting pregnant, or keeping the baby? Is this girl expecting to be "rewarded" with a scholarship because she's a virgin, or just lucky that the condom never broke on her?
Really, I'm not sure if this post is assuming that having sex is inherently bad, irresponsible behavior, or that every girl who gets knocked up at 16 only got pregnant because she wasn't trying not to.
OR maybe the assumption is that, because of these generous scholarships, girls will get pregnant just so they can go to college for free. It's the same logic people use to argue against decent living conditions and healthcare in prison:" if you give those damn dirty criminals free healthcare, people are gonna commit crimes just so they can go to prison and get that benefit!" Seriously, what rational human being is going to get pregnant on purpose just so she can get free tuition? She'll still be a teenage mother, which is extremely difficult even for privileged girls, and trying to juggle motherhood and education is no easy task without the added stress of working a part-time job to pay for it all. Again, the underlying assumption is that women are sneaky little bitches who will do anything to cheat the system.
People also need to stop assuming that if a girl gets pregnant, she must not have been using a condom. Yes, some people do have unprotected sex, they either have this "it won't happen to me" mentality or they were grossly misinformed about birth control in their abstinence-only sex ed classes, and think it's not even worth using. But most people do know the risks and at least try to protect themselves - problem is, condoms break, birth control fails, and you need to be 17 to get Plan B without a prescription, which is hardly affordable for most teens anyway.
I support these scholarships wholeheartedly, just as I support high schools specifically for pregnant teenagers and young mothers. It's extremely important for these girls to get educations so they can provide for their families, and it's important that every girl have access to an education, teen pregnancy or no pregnancy. Colleges should consider being more accessible to young mothers by providing family housing and low-cost daycare.
In general, I'm really sick of people whining about how certain people get scholarships while they don't. This whining usually comes from upper class white kids who don't think it's fair that they have to pay for their education while "those people" get scholarships - be "those people" African Americans, teenage mothers, or children of immigrants. Scholarships for such groups of individuals are usually given to people who are overcoming adversity, and who come from diverse backgrounds which can increase the diversity of a school, thus enriching everyone's education. There may not be scholarships exclusively for rich, white kids, but there are certainly a lot of scholarships they can apply for, and are usually rewarded to white kids from wealthy, suburban backgrounds, because those are the kids who tend to get better education and receive more encouragement from their teachers and parents to strive for college admission. And if those kids can't get scholarships, the worst they may have to do is apply for some financial aid and work in daddy's law firm over the summer, maybe even get a part time job while they're in school if they're only middle class.
As for the girl behind the DBPB post: get off your high horse. Being a virgin, or being lucky enough to avoid teen pregnancy, does not make you "better" or "more deserving" of a college scholarship than the girls who weren't so lucky. Please examine your privilege before making any more ignorant comments like the one above.
It immediately pissed me off. Really? What "bad behavior" are we talking about? Having sex, getting pregnant, or keeping the baby? Is this girl expecting to be "rewarded" with a scholarship because she's a virgin, or just lucky that the condom never broke on her?
Really, I'm not sure if this post is assuming that having sex is inherently bad, irresponsible behavior, or that every girl who gets knocked up at 16 only got pregnant because she wasn't trying not to.
OR maybe the assumption is that, because of these generous scholarships, girls will get pregnant just so they can go to college for free. It's the same logic people use to argue against decent living conditions and healthcare in prison:" if you give those damn dirty criminals free healthcare, people are gonna commit crimes just so they can go to prison and get that benefit!" Seriously, what rational human being is going to get pregnant on purpose just so she can get free tuition? She'll still be a teenage mother, which is extremely difficult even for privileged girls, and trying to juggle motherhood and education is no easy task without the added stress of working a part-time job to pay for it all. Again, the underlying assumption is that women are sneaky little bitches who will do anything to cheat the system.
People also need to stop assuming that if a girl gets pregnant, she must not have been using a condom. Yes, some people do have unprotected sex, they either have this "it won't happen to me" mentality or they were grossly misinformed about birth control in their abstinence-only sex ed classes, and think it's not even worth using. But most people do know the risks and at least try to protect themselves - problem is, condoms break, birth control fails, and you need to be 17 to get Plan B without a prescription, which is hardly affordable for most teens anyway.
I support these scholarships wholeheartedly, just as I support high schools specifically for pregnant teenagers and young mothers. It's extremely important for these girls to get educations so they can provide for their families, and it's important that every girl have access to an education, teen pregnancy or no pregnancy. Colleges should consider being more accessible to young mothers by providing family housing and low-cost daycare.
In general, I'm really sick of people whining about how certain people get scholarships while they don't. This whining usually comes from upper class white kids who don't think it's fair that they have to pay for their education while "those people" get scholarships - be "those people" African Americans, teenage mothers, or children of immigrants. Scholarships for such groups of individuals are usually given to people who are overcoming adversity, and who come from diverse backgrounds which can increase the diversity of a school, thus enriching everyone's education. There may not be scholarships exclusively for rich, white kids, but there are certainly a lot of scholarships they can apply for, and are usually rewarded to white kids from wealthy, suburban backgrounds, because those are the kids who tend to get better education and receive more encouragement from their teachers and parents to strive for college admission. And if those kids can't get scholarships, the worst they may have to do is apply for some financial aid and work in daddy's law firm over the summer, maybe even get a part time job while they're in school if they're only middle class.
As for the girl behind the DBPB post: get off your high horse. Being a virgin, or being lucky enough to avoid teen pregnancy, does not make you "better" or "more deserving" of a college scholarship than the girls who weren't so lucky. Please examine your privilege before making any more ignorant comments like the one above.
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