I agree with Koblog! I stumbled across this blog site looking up Dewey and the mess he has created by un-educating our society. People look to blame so many other sources for the downfalls of our society. It boils down to a us American citizens being un-educated. I am not making excuses for our government. They are making many mistakes. However, much of what is brought in the Constitution today is in violation of what it truly stands for. Our infrastructure of our government that was set up by our founding fathers of this nation was based on Freedom! We are one of the only (if not ‘the’ only) nation in the world that the people have Civil Rights. However, we are slowly being told what we can and cannot do in this nation. It is not nearly like what it is in other nations, by far. Our education system has slowly pulled out many things that were taught back in the days. They don’t even teach Geography in the public schools where I live. The private and home school students have better educations than the public school students around here. I am sure that is the case in other states, as well. And, to call schools ‘public’ is an error in itself. The ‘public’ schools today are government funded and government run. So, if the government is doing all that with school, it is only natural to tell our children (and us adults throughout the last 50 years) what we can learn in schools. Does anyone remember the McGuffey Readers? To quote from a site on the net:

“The finished works represented far more than a group of textbooks; they helped frame the country’s morals and tastes, and shaped the American character. The lessons in the Readers encouraged standards of morality and society throughout the United States for more than a century. They dealt with the natural curiosity of children; emphasized work and an independent spirit; encouraged an allegiance to country, and an understanding of the importance of religious values. The Readers were filled with stories of strength, character, goodness and truth. The books presented a variety of contrasting viewpoints on many issues and topics, and drew moral conclusions about lying.”

http://www.mcguffeyreaders.com/history.htm

I cannot find when or why these books were taken out of public schools. Today, they are used in some homeschooling applications and some Protestant schools.

Today, what is teaching our children? MTV? Hollywood? Video games? Cable TV? Where are the parents? What are they teaching their children? Parents need to spend time with their children and encourage them as they enter adulthood. Discipline and love are also necessary (as one blogger put it up above). That is where ‘tough love’ comes from. It is rare that children and teens learn what tough love can teach them.

I am sorry for these girls getting pregnant at so young of an age. But, now what are they going to do? Parents should be the one to educate their own (and possibly other) children before someone or something else does.

Date: June 27, 2008

Contact: J.T. FINN, Publisher, “LoveMatters.com”

Phone: 310-378-0067

Subject: UPDATE: 17 Pregnant Students, Gloucester MA

EDITORIAL COMMENTARY

The publishers of “LoveMatters.com” wish to express their support for the young expectant mothers of Gloucester, MA.

“It’s natural to want to have a child. Our society must recognize this, and teach our youth what to do about this desire,” said J.T. Finn, publisher of “LoveMatters.com.”

“LoveMatters.com” promotes the FAMILY BONDING that results from SAVING SEX FOR MARRIAGE as the way to fulfill the NEED TO LOVE AND BE LOVED.

“Our 32-page newspaper features celebrities including star athletes,” said Finn.

Two million reprints of “LoveMatters.com” have gone out for free distribution to schools, youth groups, colleges and to campus and community organizations.

The “LoveMatters.com” website shows the online edition and offers free reprints at:

http://www.LoveMatters.com

J.T. Finn

Publisher, “LoveMatters.com”

Redondo Beach, CA

310-378-0067

My concern – my FIRST concern – is always, always the children born into these circumstances. People who think that this is o.k., that they’ll muddle through and no harm will be done, need to read some of the outstanding work of the Swiss psychoanalyst Alice Miller. Poor, neglectful, ignorant, abusive parenting is responsible for a whole host of disorders and wasted lives. If a girl is getting pregnant because she wants a baby to love her is completely out of touch with any concept of what it means to be a parent AND WHAT CHILDREN NEED. It is directly attributable to her own harmful childhood that she is in this predicament of unrealistic expectations and feckless, stupid decisions. In fact, I would say that this narcissistic need to be mirrored in the infant child will be there beyond adolescence. Such a person needs depth psychotherapy to work through her own narcissistic wounds. Unfortunately, narcissists are people who have no concept of an inner life and are not people likely to enter therapy. It is a vicious cycle that just tragically repeats on into future generations.

Those libs who have dropped in on this topic and made flip comments about our consternation about this phenomenon are shockingly ignorant of the consequences which spin out from these events. I’m not trying to be the moralist here, but there certainly are moral dimensions to this, however much they may be denied or mocked. I’m not primarily condemning the girls. People do indeed make mistakes and fail to meet reasonable moral standards. I’m not casting stones. I’m just pointing out that certain behavior is wrong BECAUSE THERE ARE WELL FOUNDED REASONS FOR CONSIDERING IT DISORDERED. It may not be hip or cool or with it. I do not care. I’m trying to point out that things more often go wrong in these situations than work out for the better. Check in on the lives of these babies a couple of decades down the road and tell yourselves those convenient lies.

And it’s going to be even more fun when the feckless fathers start suing for their right to have access to their kids—like the homeless guy, for instance? (Said access won’t, of course, include marrying their baby’s mother, or providing anything for their support.)

I feel sorry for the babies in this affair.

However, older women who are unmarried and/or have no kids are all too often depicted as selfish shrews. (And, of course, being the mother of a disabled/handicapped child will get you looked down on, even if you’re married.)