Strengthening Constitutional Self-Government

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Late Night Fodder

And now, a story from just up the road from Ashland, where 65 high school girls (our of a total of 450 or so) are pregnant at Timkin High Schoolin Akron.

The punch line in the story reads: "School officials are not sure what has caused so many pregnancies. . ."

Um, maybe they need some more No Child Left Behind funds for this one.

(Hat tip: The Corner.

Discussions - 18 Comments

Steve, you forgot to mention the sub-headline:

School To Unveil Three-Prong Program

And that’s going to reduce pregnancies?

John:

So. . . which one of us gets to send this headline to Jay Leno?

If we could only get some words into their beloved rap "music" that premote abstanence I bet we could have cut that number of pregnancies in half at least! Another idea for Leno - he could say I guess this tells us how effective pushing condoms on kids is, since this happened right in Akron which is also known as Rubber City! But maybe that would be too politically incorrect for Leno, who is a known Democrat.

Update: Not only is Akron the Rubber City, but I’ve discovered that the Timkin Huh Scholl team name is . . . The Trojans.

Just shows why satire is so difficult these days. Real life has overtaken fiction.

Well, the Trojan joke could still work, but not the one about the school’s location in Rubber City, since the school is in Canton, not Akron. The two cities are situated pretty close to each other, but are distinct, and they have some sports rivalries, as well...

This is an unfortunate problem that will disrupt many peoples’ lives and leave a whole new generation without stable families. I fail to see the humor in any of this.

again, you people are so absolutely insane it is scary.

Mack, as funny as it sounds, I actually like your idea about putting a positive message in rap music. Maybe not abstinence is cool, but just also not bragging about how many kids they have and stuff like that. As a young person, I can tell you that not all of us are impressed with the nasty lyrics and bad messages being put out there in popular music.

Hey ff. How about you shut up.

Yeah, Mack and Sandra, GREAT idea!!! I’m sure cool youngsters won’t be able to get enough of a hit new single like "Just Wait- Don’t Procreate!" You two sure are good for a laugh. Sandra, I still don’t think you’re a real person.

That was rather less than cordial, Phil. Honestly, though, music has a HUGE affect on young people. (Could someone give the book number from Plato’s Republic to help me out?) Maybe we don’t need to start cranking out the "Sex is Bad" hip-hop crusade or have Snoop Dog talk to kids about "abstinizzle" but I don’t know how anyone could argue pop icons (rap or otherwise) have no affect on the souls of young people. A GOOD idea, but one which I’m sure you believe tramples all over the rap "artists" freedom of speech would be censoring their music or actually obeying the law and making sure young people don’t have access to music dubbed "explicit." And Ohio Voter, sometimes all you can do is laugh.

Shakespeare has something to say on the matter:

"I would there were no age between ten and three-and-twenty, or that youth would sleep out the rest; for there is nothing in the between but getting wenches with child, wronging the anciently, stealing, fighting."

Well-said, Will.

Well, Andrew, I didn’t say "pop icons (rap or otherwise) have no affect on the souls of young people," did I? In my less-than-cordial response to Sandra and Mack (two people who routinely post rude comments), I just mocked the ridiculous notion of "positive message" rap songs having any effect on young people. This is not to say that pop music does not have any effect, but rather that teens can see right through corny, "The More You Know" - style songs.

Also, I just want to say that I find it obnoxious when people insist on putting rap "music" or rap "artists." Okay, YOU don’t like it or appreciate it, but does that mean it has no merit as a music form? I don’t like the cheesy, schmaltzy Hallmark cards set to music that pass as country songs these days, but I still wouldn’t write country "music."

I understand what you’re saying about the affects of music on human beings. But as to the rap artists, I just don’t think someone should be labeled an artist whose only virtue is an ability to rhyme words quickly. We don’t go around calling Mick Jagger a "rock artist." I’m sure there are many talented individuals in the rap industry, but their efforts would be much better spent in some other capacity. To me it is like seeing Michelangelo illustrate comic books.

I think I’m actually with Phil on this one. Putting a few pro-abstinence lyrics in hip-hop tunes would be worse than useless, since kids have an unusually well-developed capacity for detecting hypocrisy. What would help is for popular musicians actually to live morally exemplary lives. But then, I suspect, they’d become a lot less interesting.

Well, I still say that teens need to have some positive role models to look up to and that if some of them would make more songs about the good things in life instead of rapping about comitting crimes and having illegimate children, it would be a good thing, not a bad thing. It doesn’t have to be a corny song just because it has a positive message! There’s a pretty big audience for Christian music out there, and that’s certainly some positive music.

Can you name any rapper that actually raps about having illegimate children in a positive light? Who exactly are you referring to?

Well Rap Fan, since I choose not to listen to rap, no I cannot tell you which rappers put having illegitimate children in a positive light. But they certainly brag about how many women they get and how they will shoot people who cross them. And I know the phrase "my baby’s daddy" comes from the rap culture. I don’t see how you could argue that rap music isn’t a bad influence.

I understand that it’s not "cool" to be positive and that all you Liberals are going to keep on making fun of me, but I believe today’s music has a very bad affect on young people and that laughing about it is not going to solve a very real problem.

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