Friday, April 26, 2013

Texas' Social Services (Or lack thereof)

It is widely known that Texas falls behind in the social services that it offers, compared to other states. This is because our state government has a commitment to low taxes for everyone, and very limited spending on government welfare programs. Social welfare programs in Texas are characterized by the commonly held belief that each person is responsible for making their own way, and taking care of themselves. It is also characterized by a deep-rooted suspicion of big government in general. Both of these ideologies lead to a social welfare program that expects people in poverty to dig their own way out of it, without the governments assistance.

As a result, we continue to favor low taxes over spending money on social services, despite the giant population of needy and impoverished people in the state. 15.8% of the population were said to be under the poverty line in 2008, according to the US Census Bureau. Two main sources of state-aided income for impoverished people are food stamps and Temporary Assistance for Needy people. Out of 50 states, Texas ranks the 4th lowest on the amount of benefits people receive from these 2 programs. These programs alone represent hundreds of different branches and programs of social services that are under-funded. As a result, many different populations of people are marginalized in the state.

This topic of Texas' under-funded social welfare program really hits home for me, because of the field of work I am going into. I have spent the past year volunteering with a local women's shelter, and I see firsthand the effects of under-funding. Almost every logistical challenge we face in the shelter has it's roots in lack of resources: an inadequate number of social workers (resulting in over-worked/burnt-out social workers), lack of space in the shelter for more women in crisis, having to rush the women out of the shelter once they get a room, inability to find somewhere else for them to go afterwards, and the list goes on. With more resources, we would be able to provide a higher quantity and quality of resources for these women in crisis.

And survivors of domestic violence and sexual abuse are only one of the populations of people that are affected by Texas' welfare programs..

Sources:

http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2011/ranks/rank34.html

http://www.urban.org/publications/310173.html

Friday, April 12, 2013

Critique on Other Blog

In this blog post, Dolores is discussing whether or not Planned Parenthood should receive federal/state funding under the Texas Women's Health Program. She firmly believes that they should. 

Firstly, she does a good job of alluding to her own personal experience as a reference for her stance. She claims that Planned Parenthood has helped her in the past, and that experience is irrefutable (because it is just that- personal experience). 

The only objection I have with the points that she makes is that she claims that Planned Parenthood doesn't promote abortions. This kind of a claim has to be backed by some evidence or statistics, because it simply doesn't seem true (unless proven). For instance, Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider in the US and in Texas. For instance, in 2004, for every 1 person they refer to adoption agencies, they perform 138 abortions. And on top of that, Planned Parenthood is still a business. Abortion is one of the primary ways that they get paid, so it seems like common sense that, in order to thrive as an organization, they must promote abortions. 

Overall, I would say Dolores has done a good job of sharing her own experience as support for her claims, but her research and evidence is lacking.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Sex Ed in Schools.

Teen pregnancy has been a problem in Texas for a number of years. Currently, Texas is has the fourth highest rates of teen pregancy in all of the US. This poses a number of problems. Some of them are obvious, such as children that are born unloved, uncared for, unwanted. Teens that have their childhood stripped away from them, and are forced into a position they are wholly unprepared for. Immense tension in families. But, some of the repercussions of teen pregnancy are not so obvious. For instance, it's expensive. It costs taxpayers in this state $1.2 billion every year.  That is taxpayers' money that could very well be used somewhere else. Another problem is that oftentimes teens delay prenatal health care to a point that puts their own or their baby's health at risk. 7 out of 100 teens never receive prenatal care at all. In general, teen moms tend to have more health problems (dehydration, undernourishment after labor) because their bodies are still developing. Also, boys born to teenage moms have a higher risk of going to jail in their life, while girls are more likely to become a teen mom as well. All in all, it's fairly obvious that teenage pregnancies are not only detrimental for the lives of individuals, but for society as whole. It's a serious issue that's very prevalent in Texas. 

That being said, the rate of teen pregnancy (both in Texas and in the US) has been steadily declining for the past two decades. It appears as though teens are delaying sex or using contraceptives. What is causing this? It very well could have been the sex education that teens have been receiving, which "promotes abstinence but also contains information about contraceptives". Overall, this sex education is comprehensive; it presents abstinence as the best option, while acknowledging it is not the only option. And evidence shows that teen pregnancies have been declining as more and more teens are becoming educated. 

Great news, right? Right. But, unfortunately, this is likely to change due to Senate Bill 521. Since 2009, parents have had an "opt-out" option of every sex education they didn't want their child to be a part of. But, this bill requires parents to "opt-in" for their child to participate in a sex education program at their school. The school must get written consent from the parent 2 weeks before the sex ed begins. This means that less teens are going to be receiving sex education simply because of paperwork, deadlines, and the forgetfulness of parents. Essentially, we are moving backwards. 

This bill also "prohibits school districts from using sex education materials supplied by any organization affiliated or linked to abortion providers". This bill's main intent is prohibiting Planned Parenthood from supplying sex education material, but unfortunately, AISD is supplied with Planned Parenthood material.

Although, in theory, I might agree with the premise of this bill, prohibiting Planned Parenthood from teaching my child about sex (because in my mind, they are affiliated with abortions), in practice it doesn't make much sense. This is primarily because the instruction material that Planned Parenthood provides is comprehensive and promotes abstinence above anything else. It simply informs them of the other options available to them. This doesn't mean that teens will be more likely to get abortions once they know what it is- evidence actually shows that this means they'll be more like to not have sex in the first place. Isn't this what parents want? 

Senate Bill 521 is going to result in less teens receiving sex education. It shouldn't come as a result to us that this is going to lead to rising teen pregnancy rates again. I believe that the Texas Senate should either revise or altogether trash SB 521 and leave sex education in schools the way it was before, because that was resulting in lower teen pregnancies. Afterall, this isn't about the ideological or cultural wars going on right now, between Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, those who believe in abortion and those who don't... this is about the lives of our teenagers and the well-being of our society as a whole. 

Sources Used: 

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/opinion/bill-a-step-backward-for-sex-education/nWzTY/

http://www.ehow.com/about_4616358_problems-teen-pregnancy.html

http://pregnancy.about.com/od/teenpregnancy/a/Teen-Pregnancy.htm

http://legiscan.com/TX/bill/SB521