For the first time in a long time I am doing something good in my life. I am going back to school to furthur my education. I chose not to attend college right out of high school because I was one of those students who thought that college wasn't important. Well it is. I learned that the hard way. I have been out of high school for seven years and I am proud of my decision to go back. Especially since I have pretty much forgotten every important thing I learned. Don't get me wrong, I am sure it will come back to me but it may take a while.
Enough about that. It is not what I am blogging about. My question is this. I am 24 years old and single and I have no children. I am choosing to wait until I get married to have children. Is it right that I have to literally pay my way through college out of pocket while others get a free ride all because they were unresponsible and had kids way too young and are on welfare? I am outraged! I can understand that they would get sympathy for being young mothers who are unwed, but if you consider the fact that they chose to be sexually active and they did it unprotected, hence the kids, then why would you be sympathetic? It was their choice, as bad as it may have been, and they should live with it.
What makes me even more mad is the fact that as a taxpaying citizen of the United States I pay for their welfare benefits as well as their free ride in furthuring their education and I STILL have to pay out of pocket for my own education. Is it fair??? For those of you who are angry at this blog, this is not just my own opinion. I have a few friends in my same predicament. We are all older and going back to school and we have chosen not to have children until we are responsible and financially able to care for them. We are also all having a hard time finding a way to pay for our education and all around us are young girls who have one, two or three kids a piece and aren't paying a thing for college and we are mad! What happened to rewarding the good decisions people make? What happened to recognizing those who have done the "right" thing?
So again I ask, Is it fair? I, myself, don't think so!
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In my opinion, there are just so many problems with the whole welfare system. I understand that there are some people who just can't work, but then again, there are people who are just plain lazy. Why should our country reward laziness? One of my teachers was talking about the whole deal with immigration and how when people come here from Mexico, they already qualify for welfare. Honestly, who wouldn't want to come here if they get to live for free?
It is very unfair. The good citizens pay for the ones who made bad decisions. And I have even seen teenagers that keep on having kids, were are the parents? Why should I pay for these people to sleep around? I am not very sympathetic towards these people. Some are, but is it fair to pay for them while we did nothing wrong? For 18 years we will pay for the children to be raised.
"Goodnight, Goodnight, parting is such sweet sorrow..."
you know what is even more screwed up? the illegal citizens that have babies here on purpose so their kids will have a chance at a free education. which is jacked up! cuz i'm with you on the paying out of pocket thing. it's not right. Hard working, smart people who have worked their butts off in school, or whatever to go to college to better themselves. they should give scholarships and free rides to young women who have been on birth control, used condoms, or just plain kept their legs shut damn it!
I think your post brings to light two very important issues that our country needs to address:
1 - the current welfare system does seem like a reward system for the irresponsible. It helps a great many, I am sure, but there are too many who have been able to abuse it. It needs to be overhauled.
2 - the cost of education. Astronomical!!! It is discouraging how far in debt students have to get before they graduate.
Do I have any good answers for these problems. Obviously not. I guess that's why I'm not a politician.
While it may be unfair, it is also (in some cases) important. I'm sure you're not a perfect person (none of us are), so why should someone be punished for one mistake? It's all well and good to say that these mothers should play their own way, but, frankly, it's more difficult for them, and if we don't help them along, it would be nearly impossible for these mothers to get an education. Is it fair of us to trap these women in a situation where they are unable to further their education, just because of one mistake?
And living on welfare is not "living for free". People on welfare are barely scraping by, living below the poverty line, and not by choice. I have never heard of a case where someone willingly lives off of the welfare system. It merely serves as an aide when people absolutely need it, until they can get on their own two feet again. Of course, there are people who abuse it. There are people who abuse every aspect of society and government. But would it be fair of us to take away said aspects, just because a few people abuse them? I'm not saying the system can't be improved - it certainly can - but it is not a situation most people are proud to be in, or one they want to stay in for very long.
I personally know several women who are perfectly willing to live on welfare so that they can do what they please. One even stopped taking her birth control everytime one of her children reached the age where her welfare could be cut so that she would get pregnant and have yet another child and stay on. She had her first at age 16, her second at age 19 and her third at age 20. It's ridiculous. She parties all the time and most days that I go to visit her children she is sleeping(this is usually around 11a.m.) and her children(ages 6,3 and 2) are running around the house all alone. This is not counting the times that a nearby restaurant has called the police because the children are running around the parking lot unattended by any adult. The 3 year old went through a glass door while unsupervised(mother was sleeping) and had to have stitches in his arm and his face looked like roadkill. I say all this to make the point that she gets a free ride, which I and other taxpayers are providing, and I am struggling to get to work with the prices of gas going up and paying for my education. Enough is enough!
That is sooo WRONG! The government should just cut these people out. I agree with maybe people that do word hard, two jobs and have a kid or too. They desirve welfare. But those who milk it? The governemnt need to fix this
i call bullshit.. MOST if not ALL of the people Felicia and i go to school with that are being PAID to get a college degree for having children drive nicer cars than anyone i know WITHOUT kids, get thier nails and hair done constantly, buy new clothes constantly(i'm talking name brand lable shit like Tommy and Baby Phat), and live in a nicer apartment or house than i could ever afford.. and meanwhile, people(not just women, men too) that are single or not married and adults can barely pay the rent or buy groceries(it's not like we get food stamps or WIC) and WE are told that we make too much money when we make less than $6k a year.. and god forbid we get enough money scraped together to buy a junker car to get us to work and school, if it breaks down we don't have a check coming in on the 1st of every month to pay for the repairs... and it's not like we aren't working, try having a full time job and go to school full time and be told that you have to pay all your bills on top of your college education because you were responsible and didn't have a kid outside of marriage and then tell me if that is fair.. responsible people should be the ones rewarded, not the baby-factories
Not all young mothers are able to get a tuition cut and I think it is sterotypical of you to assume that all young mothers are irresponsible. If they are trying to go to college and better their lives, and the lives of their children, then more power to them.
I wouldn't be surprised if there were scholarship opportunities for people going back to school. There are plenty of scholarships. There's also that crazy Matthew Lesko guy who has that guide to government grants and loans. Pretty much, just research the hell out of everything. Fastweb.com is a good place to look for scholarships.
--Mike
Oh yes...the whole governemnt system with money is shitty. Example...a friend of mine broke her back working, single white mother of 2. Her neighbor, a married black mother of 1 child fractured her finger....both applied for welfare...the white mother was denied IMMEDIANTLY and the black woman was granted it. Anyone see the problem?