Good idea to pay young girls not to get pregnant?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
After 14-years of decline, the nation's teen birth rate has risen over the last two years. According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, the current rate is more than seven pregnancies per 1,000 teen girls.
So here's an idea out of North Carolina to cut that number: Pay young girls not to get pregnant.
A program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro called College Bound Sisters gives girls aged 12-to-18 $1 a day if they avoid pregnancy.
Participants may not have ever been pregnant. They must be enrolled in school, have a desire to attend college, and have a sister who had a child before age 18.
Girls in the program attend 90-minute meetings every week where they learn about abstinence and the use of birth control. In return, they receive $7 for every week they do not get pregnant.
The money is put into a college fund. Any participant who becomes pregnant or leaves the program loses her savings and they are split among remaining members. The program is funded through a four-year state grant.
Here’s my question to you: Is it a good idea to pay young girls not to get pregnant?
Tune in to the Situation Room at 6pm to see if Jack reads your answer on air.
And, we love to know where you’re writing from, so please include your city and state with your comment.
What's the right role for Michelle Obama?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
First Lady Michelle Obama has said her primary role in the White House will be 'Mom-in-Chief' to her young daughters, Sasha and Malia. But lately Mrs. Obama has been expressing an interest in taking on more.
The Washington Post reports Mrs. Obama has been telling her staff and close friends for weeks that she isn't having the impact she wants. Earlier this month, she hired a new chief of staff and got rid of the old one. She's brought on a full-time speech writer, and told her staff she wants to have a "message" at speaking events. In other words, she doesn't just want to shake hands and kiss babies.
Her new chief of staff told the Washington Post, "It isn't just about hugging. Whatever she talks about will bring press and interest, but it's important that she's not just talking [but] actually moving forward on those issues."
Those issues will likely go beyond aiding military families, a cause she has taken on since the campaign trail. In recent weeks, she's been talking up the president's health plan as well. Michelle Obama has commanded more attention accidentally than previous first ladies did on purpose.
Her ability to communicate seems effortless and she comes across as down to earth and genuine. All qualities in short supply in our nation's capital.
Here’s my question to you: What's the right role for Michelle Obama?
Tune in to the Situation Room at 5pm to see if Jack reads your answer on air.
And, we love to know where you’re writing from, so please include your city and state with your comment.
How would you characterize the life of Michael Jackson?
(PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Talent and torment often go together.
History is filled with great artists and composers whose lives were a constant struggle against their own private demons. In the end, they leave us a great legacy of their works, but it seems the only real peace they ever found was when they stopped breathing.
Possessed of one of the greatest talents in the history of show business, Michael Jackson also seemed for much of his life to be a tormented, unhappy man. Following his death yesterday, there were reports of prescription drug use, including a shot of Demerol shortly before he collapsed and died from cardiac arrest.
His life was filled with episodes of bizarre behavior. Everything from his trial on child molestation charges - he was acquitted - to dangling his baby off a balcony, to the grotesque altering of his physical appearance through numerous plastic surgeries to his failed marriages. The press had a field day with Michael Jackson.
But there was also a kind, gentle man who donated much time and money to charity. Remember We Are The World? He and Lionel Richie wrote the words and music to that song, which raised millions for hungry people in Africa. When his hair caught fire during the filming of a Pepsi commercial, he donated the settlement from a lawsuit - $1.5 million - to a hospital burn center.
As with all of us, there was more than one side to Michael Jackson.
Here’s my question to you: How would you characterize the life of Michael Jackson?
Tune in to the Situation Room at 4pm to see if Jack reads your answer on air.
And, we love to know where you’re writing from, so please include your city and state with your comment.
@jackcafferty on Twitter
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