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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 29, 1982)
Page 2 Portland Observer, September 29, 1982 The forgotten story: Teen-age unwed fathers by Henry Duvall A boy in a foster home in Wash ington, D.C., became a father at age 12. A lthough a child him self, he maintains contact with the 14-year- old mother and lends support the best way he can. A nother young father, an 18- year-old in Tulsa, Okla., has a fairly decent jo b , plans to buy a home soon, and intends to marry the mother of his child. While much public attention has focused traditionally on the unmar ried teen-age mother, the adolescent father virtually has been excluded from the family picture. But the attitude toward father hood for most young fathers today seems to show emotional concern for both the mother and child, ac cording to a study conducted by Dr. Leo E. Hendricks, senior research a- sociate at Howard University's In stitute fo r Urban A ffa irs and Re search in Washington, D.C. "Adolescent fathers are extreme ly interested in their children," says Hendricks. “ We found re la tio n ships to be serious," and a "genuine concern for the mother.” In a survey o f unwed adolescent fathers, Hendricks discovered that 96 per cent o f the young fathers ex pressed concern for their child’s fu ture, and 80 per cent saw nothing wrong in having a child out o f wed lock. Moreover, the m a jo rity o f the young fathers perceived love in their relatonships, w ith 77 per cent indicating no serious problems be tween them and the young mothers. Hendricks has collected data over the past two years from 194 young fathers under the age o f 21. "O ne- on-one interview s," he says, were DeLaney wins suit Reginald A. DeLaney was award ed $31,800 by a jury in his discrim ination com plaint against Taco Time International. DeLaney was employed by Taco Time International in September of 1978, as manager o f the Interstate store. “ I loved my jo b ,” he said. " I t was just what I wanted and I be lieve I did a good jo b .” He testified that in August o f 1979 he was assigned a new district manager, Greg Ledbetter. In No- vemer, a survey o f the store’ s cus tomers was made which found the service fast, the food good and the restaurant clean. Two white custom ers allegedly stated that there were too many black employees on the day shift. DeLaney claims that the district manager told him to hire more whites but the only way to accom plish this was to terminate blacks, which he refused to do. He later was forced to terminate a black employee, he said, stating on her term ination papers “ does not meet standard.” While DeLaney was on vacation, he said, the former employee filed a civil rights complaint. DeLaney was then instructed to rehire her but she would not return to work. DeLaney said he was then given an evaluation that implicated him in the termina tion o f the employee, which he re fused to sign. DeLaney said he was told by the district manager and the director of operations that if he did not sign he would be terminated. Refusing to sign, he was terminated on January 15, 1980. A fte r 216 hours deliberation the ju ry awarded DeLaney $31,800 in back pay, p unitive damages and emotional stress. DeLaney, who is currently study ing accounting at Portland Commu nity College, has not had substantial employment since his termination, blaming poor references and an atti tude that followed him: “ Are you going to sue us?" vopeYes CHICKEN c. ’L l ? 2 A Í.1 ? - o o e (Continued from page ! col. 6/ ¡ng,” they are profoundly worried. For the first time, there is not this great spur of generosity culminating in massive contributions, that we have witnessed in the past. No dona- tions, no line-ups o f volunteers, but an unprecedented Jewish demon stration at an Israeli Embassy (France), headed by Jewish person alities, some o f whom are d is tin guished and dedicated to the exist ence of Israel. Israel has never been able to d i gest a defeat. Today—it must be ad mitted—she cannot even digest her victories. A fte r the Yorn K ippur War, tens o f thousands of young Is raelis left the country. Once their companions are buried and the dust o f tanks has settled, how many more w ill leave, refusing to digest the next victory? For 2,000 years, we have been threatened by our weakness. Today, we arc threatened by our uncontrollable strength. Once the guns are silenced, we will be the occupants o f another c o u n try’ s territo rie s: a "te m p o ra ry” occupation which may well become, once again, a long-term one, as we await a hypothetical in ternational agreement. According to S h a rjn and Begin, this situation would guarantee our security. Should there be need for proof, we have but to turn to the West Bank to see that an occupation ensures neither security nor coexistence. We are confronted with two p olit-, ical delusions, both fundamental: if Israeli politics is distorted by the dis p ro p o rtio n between its m ilita ry strength and its political means, in Palestinian politics, the same dis proportion exists, but reversed. Its policy o f steadfastness is not sub- Sevier's G arbage S ervice J tween ethnic groups White fathers were older than black and Hispanic fathers when they first engaged in sexual intercourse, and more white fathers are employed than those in the two other groups. Whites also tend to marry sooner after the preg- ancies. The number o f teen-age pregnan cies in this country increased during the '70s, with the biggest increase among youths between the ages o f 11 and 15, says Lucy Eddinger, in formation officer for the Office of Adolescent Pregnancy Programs of the U.S. Department o f Health and Human Services. The number o f teen-age births, however, declined in the ’ 70s while the number of abortions rose. There were 657,000 such births in I97O compared to 560,(MX) in 1979, says Eddinger. Among this age group, abortions numbered 244,070 in 1973 and 433,900 in I978. Births out o f wedlock have risen substantially. In I960, there were 91,660 such teen-age births, 199,900 in 1970, and 262,700 by 1979, ac cording to Eddinger. And more than 90 per cent o f those teen-age mothers who give birth keep their babies, she adds. One question in Hendricks’ study zeroed in on unwanted pregnancies: "D id you want to get the mother of your first child pregnant?" There was a resounding " n o " from the majority o f the young fathers. In interviews with fathers in Columbus, Ohio, Hendricks found that 46 per cent o f them indicated they weren’ t ready for the pregnan cy, while 19 per cent reported they were too young to be fathers. O f the 25 per cent who d id n ’ t view the pregnancy as unwanted. 41 per cent said they were in love with the young mothers, while 25 per cent planned to marry and have chil dren. The major problems faced by the unmarried adolescent father relate to financial responsibilities, parent ing skills, the d iffic u ltie s in completing an education, and get ting along with the unwed mother and her parents. A limited social life and babysitting were other problems indicated in the study. Hendricks says the family seems to be the major source o f help. In the survey, 59 per cent o f the young lathers indicated they would go to their fam ily first with a problem. The family member sought out for help was likely to be the young father's mother. "O nly 6 per cent of the subjects indicated they would seek help from a human-service agency," says Hendricks. The unwed adolescent fathers sur veyed in the five cities all expressed some desire for child growth and de velopment services, including par enting education and counseling. Employment services was another major desire. Hendricks says his study grew out o f community concern about the lack o f in form a tion on teen-age fathers that could help social-service agencies to include the lather in the planning fo r the welfare o f the mother and child. "Five years ago," Hendricks speculates, "m ost human-service agencies didn’ t have the data to focus on the whole pic ture o f teen-age parenting.” Hut another problem has been the view o f the teen-age father as a scoundrel. "M o s t agencies in the past have tended to have a punitive attitude toward the father. Some of it still lingers today,” says the re searcher. Israel in Lebanon: An opposition viewpoint District 18’s Democratic Commit tee w ill meet Wed., Oct. 6th, 7:30 pm, at the Original Pantry, meeting room, 1025 N.E. Broadway. A ll democrats welcome. District 18 bus iness plus preview o f Kulongoski ads. A ll Democrats welcome. with that Original New Orleans Flavor conducted in Tulsa, Okla.; Chicago, III.; Columbus, Ohio; Albuquerque, N.M.; and Washington, D.C. Most o f the adolescents surveyed were black, but H ispanic, A nglo and native Americans were also in terviewed. In drawing a profile, tfie unwed teen-age father tends not to be a churchgoer, doesn't use contracep tives, and is like ly to be a school dropout. "T his was consistent in all the c itie s ,” says Hendricks. And adolescent fathers tend to be be tween the ages o f 16 and 18. Little research has been done on teen-age fathers. Hendricks is only one o f a few social scientists in the nation who has worked on this sub ject. "F athers aren’ t as visible as mothers,” Hendricks notes, "a n d they just don’t come fo rth .” Teen-age fathers tend to come from large, two-parent families. In the study, 59 per cent grew up with both parents in the home and 64 per cent came from families with five or more children, with 75 per cent o f the young fathers feeling closer to their mothers than to their fathers when they were growing up. On sexual attitudes, 55 per cent of the young fathers reported that they learned about sex from a friend. Sixty-three per cent reported they had their first sexual encounter with a girl by the time they were 13 years old. The study also found that the ma jo rity o f the fathers were against a bo rtion. Ninety per cent o f the youths reported they disapproved of abortion. " I n general, there had been on going relationships," Hendricks ex plains, " n o t fly-by-night relation ships.” There were some differences be stantiated by any m ilitary potency. Hence, a realistic attitude, as well as respect o f universally-recognized principles, demand that both parties find a p o litica l solution based on recognition and peaceful coexist- ence. Spilled blood, desolation and hate w ill deepen the gap between our two nations, which are doomed to live or die together. How many more victories w ill we have to sub mit to before we realize lhat the only victory is Peace, a reconciliation reached through negotiation and mutual recognittion? We, in Israel, must fight o ff the illusions o f vic tory and strive, as best we can, to terminate our occupation o f the West Bank and Lebanon. On their side, the Palestinians w ill have to draw the conclusions o f this terrible lesson, and refuse to suffer the abuse o f irresponsible leaders and demagogic, unrealistic slogans War opposes one nation againsi another. The battle for peace must be fought from within each of these nations. COME TO OUR I) 0 V - 25% all New &■ Used Vacuum Cleaners Drop boxes <4 containers available “ No hauling too small" 1101 NE A lb e rta * 287-0262 rVEGOTGUEATLBGS! 3 Locations To Serve You: o949 N.E. Union Ave 3120 N.E. Union Ave. 283 9542 281 2628 2320 S E. 82nd Ave 774 9651 • • • • • e e e e e e e e • • • •• C anO e ’5 ^ cash for GOLD • SILVER • DIAMONDS Jewelry Sales Garry 777-I2R4 7! 10 SE Foster Rd Portland, Ore. EUREKA ELECTRIC CO. 140 N.E. Broadway*287-9420
