I wonder what people will think of Baby Borrowers on NBC. It seems to give a more positive message and attempts to dissuade teens from starting families too early.

Seventeen teenage girls make a pact to get pregnant. Parents and teachers ask, “Why would they do this?”

Richard Dudum, author of What Your Mother Never Told You – A Survival Guide For Teenage Girls, thinks he knows why.

Dudum says, “Parents are too busy providing the basics for their families, shrinking budgets limit the ability of schools to educate teens about sex, and as a nation we don’t talk to our kids about the consequences of sex. Only a handful of parents and schools have had the courage to face up to these issues.”

These are the very issues Dudum tackles head-on in his book, What Your Mother Never Told You – A Survival Guide For Teenage Girls. The teenage survival guide includes chapters “Don’t Act and Dress Like A Ho,” “Change Friends When It’s Time” and, “Respect Yourself.” All should have been read by the seventeen mothers-to-be.

Dudum’s advice to parents of teenage girls is clear and simple. “Talk to your daughter about sex. If that’s too hard, put a copy of What Your Mother Never Told You on her bed. It will give her the tools to make good decisions, decisions that define and reflect who she is and who she wants to be. The book will open the door to dialogue.”

Richard Dudum is a San Francisco lawyer, musician, Realtor, summer-camp director, community leader and cancer survivor. He’s been married for 25 years. ”What Your Mother Never Told You” offers clear-sighted perspective and no-nonsense self-help advice from a father with the ability to convey tough love in a kind and supportive manner.

One other thing….to assume that government aid (AFDC/Welfare, Section 8 Medicaid) is a cash cow….think again. I know too many people who will tell you the absolute truth that its no jackpot, and they struggle just as hard, if not more, than others. Further, to denegrate these girls as stupid or ignorant or ostracizing doesn’t even begin to solve or intelligently address the problem, any more than the glamorization by the media. This is not a liberal or conservative issue – this is an American issue that should concern the entire nation. Our future is being gambled away and we spend more time sermonizing and finger pointing than coming together as a nation to try to solve or adequately address the issue.

Our kids are frequently growing up in a vaccuum of positive modeling so that they understand how their choices will affect their lives immediately and downstream. The media, as pointed out, isn’t doing much to help. Ironically, O’Reilly called for “values-based education” in the school systems just a week ago, yet there’s been nothing in the media that SHOWS that such programs exist, are implemented, and are having great results on all fronts, including personal and academic

We have to stop seeing these stories as “just another tragedy” and start getting upset enough to want to ask the tough questions — and then seek answers. All the tongue clucking and “gee, that’s a shame” we’re doing around the watercooler is doing nothing to turn the tide.

…and then we wonder when the “next” big outrage hits the news?