Women Owe it to Themselves to Get an Education

Michelle Frazier (March 15th) states “. I had my son at 15, and I would not change a thing; he will be 16 soon and we have done just fine.” I am happy that solution to an unwanted pregnancy worked for her, but each woman is different and deserves to be able to choose the solution that is best for her.

I also have to question how fine she and her son are doing in light of Hank Bounds column Lack of Diploma is costly. According to Mr. Bounds “Male and females students with low academic achievements are twice as likely to become parents. Dropping out of school and earning low wages becomes a self-perpetuating cycle. Students from low-income families have a dropout rate of 10 percent, students from middle-income families have a dropout rate of 5.2 percent and only 1.6 percent of students from high-income families drop out of school, according to the National Dropout Prevention Center”

While money isn’t everything, certainly those women who choose not to have a baby at 15, and opt to continue their educations should be applauded not held up to scorn. In today’s world having a university degree is mandatory in order to get a decent paying job. Today many women must support themselves without the help of a husband. Women owe it to themselves to get the best education possible in order to compete in today’s job market.