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Baby Borrowers & the Lessons We've Learned

At the end of June, I highlighted the Zero to Three organization's comments on the NBC show Baby Borrowers and how they felt it was harmful to the babies involved. Just a few weeks ago, the last episode aired.

Here is what the Zero to Three organization had to say about the Town Hall Meeting:

NBC aired the final episode of its Baby Borrowers reality show on July 30th and then capped its season with a nationally televised “Town Hall” meeting about the show on August 6. Thanks to the multitude of passionate early childhood professionals, parents and others interested in the well-being of babies, it appears that NBC got the message and offered ZERO TO THREE an opportunity to express our concerns about the show during the Town Hall meeting. ZERO TO THREE was represented by Kyle Pruett, MD, a past president of our Board of Directors and one of our Emeritus Board members.

Dr. Pruett served as a very effective voice for babies by raising many of the issues that clearly disturbed thousands of early childhood professionals about the show. While the televised town hall meeting focused a great deal on the issue of adolescent pregnancy prevention, Dr. Pruett made a point of telling NBC and the producer that the show’s premise of putting babies and toddlers in the care of teenagers who were ill prepared to attend to the needs of these children was flawed.

Since we issued our alert about this show, hundreds of you responded and echoed your concerns. Your passion helped keep the interests of babies and toddlers front and center, and we believe your added voices led NBC to invite Dr. Pruett to the Town Hall show. Many other organizations — including the American Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, American Psychiatric Association and the National Association for the Education of Young Children — issued their own statements of concern. Together, we helped to give voice to the needs and interests of very young children. Thank you for your continued passion and interest.

I admit I had not watched one minute of the TV show. I saw commercials for it before it aired and I was appalled at the idea. While I do agree that teenagers and young people do need a reality check about the issue of teen pregnancy, I do think there are other ways to get the point across. Let's hope that the television networks will make better decisions when trying to reach a new audience for future programming.

If you saw the TV show, what are your thoughts?

Sex Ed - Grown Up Edition

I'm working on writing a curriculum entitled, Let's Talk About Sex: Straight Talk Between Parent and Child. I'll be teaching this one-hour workshop to parents in the community in September. Incorporated in the workshop is a growing list of topics to help young parents educate their children so that they can - hopefully - make smarter, healthier decisions when it comes to their bodies and their sexuality.

STDs are top on the priority list as far as things I plan to cover. Some parents might want to know why my first concern is not "birth control," or discussing reasons to abstain.

Times have changed since my parents were teens. Times have changed - dramatically - since I was a teen. Sexually active people (no matter what their age) have always put themselves "at risk" for unplanned pregnancies, hence the name "birth control."

What amazes me is how little is known or discussed about STDs and the prevention of them. Sexually active individuals are more likely to have an STD, pass along an STD unknowingly or contract an STD than they are to conceive a child! This is the reality that young people, in particular, are having to deal with - unfortunately, from first-hand experience.

One in four American women between the ages of 14 and 19
has a sexually transmitted disease.

There have been many reports and discussions in the news about young people engaging in oral sex more often than the "sex" sex that most of us knew as teenagers. Yes, oral sex "existed" then, but there are many young people today who consider themselves virgins (and admit this proudly) even though they've participated in oral sex.

Times certainly have changed. With statistics being what they are, this type of ignorance is more dangerous to a person's health than they realize.

Let's start to educate ourselves and our children before it's too late.

Thank you to LOVE IN THE TIME OF HERPES for the inspiration behind this post. And a big thank you hug goes out to the blogger for her dedication to educating readers and allowing those of us who have an STD to "come out of the closet."