THE BEST – AT 10:31 A.M. ET:  Sometimes there is good news, and often there are good people.  From the Washington Times:   

Sarah S. Brown, who has spent the past two decades battling the “intractable” social problem of teen pregnancy, is retiring in an unusual place: on top.

Unwanted teen pregnancies and births have not been eliminated in the U.S., of course, but Ms. Brown, the longtime chief executive of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, has witnessed — and contributed greatly to — one of the best turnaround stories in public health today. Both teen pregnancy and birthrates are at historically low levels, having fallen by half over the past 20 years.

The “intractable” problem, Ms. Brown said in an interview, turned out to be treatable with smart public policy and the adroit use of media to change attitudes and influence behavior.

The use of media to address teen pregnancy has turned out especially well, Ms. Brown said in a recent interview.

“Millions and millions of teen girls and boys” have watched programs such as MTV’s reality show “16 and Pregnant,” she said.

Far from getting a glamorized or scripted view of teen parenthood, they got an unvarnished — and sobering — look at the strains of everyday life with a baby, she said. A 2010 study of 1,000 teens showed that almost half of the girls “agreed strongly” that watching such shows would cause them to “think harder” about avoiding pregnancy.

COMMENT:  In other words, you have to change the culture, and Sarah Brown understood that.  Sadly, our colleges and universities are filled with "scholars" who don't understand that, who believe we must accept every aspect of some group's culture.  We don't.  And we shouldn't.

We wish Sarah Brown well.  As Casey Stengel would have said, "She swung the bat pretty good."

June 8, 2015