Paying girls not to get pregnant

Paying girls not to get pregnant
HigherEd by Carin Ford
Posted in: Enrollment, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, Student Life
The University of North Carolina’s come up with an unusual incentive in hopes of encouraging teen girls not to get pregnant.

In an attempt to reduce the number of teen pregnancies, UNC at Greensboro is providing classes in abstinence and the use of contraceptives to girls ages 12 to 18 — and paying them a dollar a day not to get pregnant.

Girls who attend the 90-minute weekly meetings - and who don’t get pregnant - collect $7 at the end of each week. The money is put aside and can be collected when the girls enter college.

But is it ethical to pay girls not to have babies? Or is this a case of desperate times calling for desperate measures?

The teen birth rate is on the rise these past two years, with 7.2 pregnancies for every 1,000 teenage girls.

Although a handful of girls enrolled in College Bound Sisters have gotten pregnant since it began more than 10 years ago, there are also success stories. This fall, in fact, four graduates will begin college with the help of the money - in some cases, $3,000 - they’ve earned in the program.

Good idea or bad incentive for staying baby-free? Let us know what you think in the