USD Magazine, Fall 1995

J n a decade when leen

bidh rales conlinue lo

climb, child advocates

are searching for ways

lo keep kids from

having kids. USD's

Ba b ies A r e No l Te dd y Bears Founded in 1989, CAI is in the business of protecting California's children from poverty and abuse through legal advocacy. With offices in San Diego, Los Angeles, Oakland and Sacramento, CAI maintains working relationships with lawmakers throughout the state and often plays an integral role in developing legislation that protects the rights of children. In their work with parent-teacher associations and state officials, CAI advocates concluded a new form of intervention was called for in the fight against teen pregnancy. Though sex education was well established in the public school system, birth rates continued to climb. Condom distribution to high school students to protect against pregnancy and disease was a controversial effort adopted by few schools in the nation. The parenting course was a fresh idea designed to encourage junior high school students, while still young and probably not yet sexually active, not to have babies. The parenting curriculum won approval from the state Legislature in 1992 and soon after was written into the education code. The law reads, in part: "Because the state government bears much of the economic and social b11rden associated with the disintegration of the family, the state has a legitimate and vital interest in adequately preparing its residents for parenthood." Lawmakers acknowledged the public school system is the best place to reach a majority of residents, and CAI took on the challenge of writing a curriculum that defines and illustrates good parenting. The institute employed Gail Mills, a curriculum specialist and Los Angeles middle school teacher, to write course material that covers such topics as developing self-esteem, child growth and development, budgeting money, parental responsibilities and child abuse. Students may take the course as an elective or the curriculum could be incorporated into existing classes, such as social studies or health sciences. In either case, students have the option not to participate in the work. The 7th- and 8th-graders who do take the course will start by focusing on self-esteem issues. With the teacher's guidance, they will look critically at their lives and learn to articulate their goals and dreams for the future, the career they hope to pursue and what kind of life they would like to provide for their children. Kalemkiarian calls this portion of the course the life skills section. It encourages students to discover meaning in their lives and dreams, rather than hoping a child will provide that meaning. The other half of the course discusses the fundamentals of raising a child, including providing food and shelter, budgeting and understanding the different stages of a baby's growth. One

Children's Advocacy

lnslitute is leading lhe

uring the academic year, USD law professor Sharon Kalemkiarian '89 (J.D.) and several

charge in California

with a parenling course

for Junior high schools students spend Friday mornings in juvenile court advising teen-agers, mostly girls, who want to be legally lha l addresses lh e emancipated from their par- ents' authority. Many of the realilies - and shaHers

girls, some as young as 15, are preparing to be parents themselves and are seeking independence in order to receive state aid while rais-

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ing their children. The fact that they are in court and seeking legal counsel shows they have considered some of the responsibilities that go into parenting, Kalemkiarian notes. But at the same time, virtually all of the teens remain as idealistic and bright-eyed about their future as any young person eager to experience early adulthood and the privileges associated with growing up. "I have yet to interview a teen mother there to be emancipated who doesn't say, 'I plan to finish school and go to college. I have arrangements for my baby,"' Kalemkiarian says. Unfortunately, the likelihood of a young mother accomplish– ing such lofty goals, however good her intentions, is slim. Kalemkiarian is all too aware of the grim statistics, thanks to her role as supervising attorney for USD's Children's Advocacy Institute (CAI). "The problem is, teen pregnancy is linked very closely to low educational achievement for the mother and to poverty for the child," she says. Biologically, teen-agers can have babies and in some parts of the world, girls are expected to give birth at a young age, Kalemkiarian notes. However, in the United States, teen mother– hood is too closely associated with poverty to make pregnancy acceptable. In its role as a protector of children's rights, CAI is spear– heading an effort to encourage students to look beyond the warm-fuzzy feeling of a baby wrapping its arms around mommy or daddy and consider the responsibility of providing for a child for the next 20 years. A recently passed law, written in part by CAI, calls for junior high schools throughout California to begin offering a parenting course designed, in part, to make 7th– and 8th-grade students aware just how hard it is to be a parent and a child at the same time.

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