Merie Williams
96 Rockwell Place
Brooklyn, NY 11217
11/5/2014

The Honorable Mayor Bill de Blasio
City Hall
New York, NY 10007

Dear Mayor De Blasio,

I am writing to ask you to support Planned Parenthood’s “Get Real Comprehensive Sex Education That Works” program to lower the rate of teen pregnancy in Kings county.

Teen pregnancy is a problem that needs to be addressed.Teen pregnancy can be an emotional issue for the teenage girl as a social problem affecting numerous areas. The future choices teenagers make have a social “penalty” plaguing them. For example, the young mother would have to drop out of school and this will then make it hard for her to socialize with her peers and they will shun her for being a “mother”. On the other hand, if the child is born out of wedlock and without a father figure, this can leave a toll on the child to feel not complete. Teens get incorrect information from friends, videos, sitcoms and/or movies. Some teens do not have the knowledge needed to make smart and responsible decisions about whether or not to engage in sexual activity that can alter their life.

Your support behind Planned Parenthood’s “Get Real Comprehensive Sex Education That Works” program can inform many teens in Brooklyn. With your support, you can help encourage and allow young teens to delay sexual activity by offering classroom learning and parental involvement. The “Get Real” material is age-appropriate for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students. This program would prevent health, economic and societal issues that come with unplanned pregnancies.

When there are less pros than cons, it makes good sense to support this program to ensure more knowledge on prevention on young teens pregnancy.

Thank you so much for your help.
Merie Williams

Many teens have not thought about what life would be like
if they were to be pregnant or cause a pregnancy. Pregnancy has
become all too common in this day and age. Some teens think it will
not happen to them and do not use necessary precautions to protect
against it. There are several causes for teen pregnancy and the
effects can be life changing.Several causes for teen pregnancy are:
the need for affection, acceptance, and unprotected sex. One may
have a poor home life and look for affection from a peer.

Teen pregnancy is a problem that needs to be addressed.
Teenage pregnancy is an unplanned pregnancy during adolescence.
Teen pregnancy can be an emotional issue for the teenage girl as
a social problem affecting numerous areas. The future choices
teenagers make have a social “penalty” plaguing them. For example,
the young mother would have to drop out of school and this will
then make it hard for her to socialize with her peers and they
will shun her for being a “mother”. On the other hand, if the child
is born out of wedlock and without a father figure, this can leave
a toll on the child to feel not complete. Teens get incorrect
information from friends, videos, sitcoms and/or movies. Some teens
do not have the knowledge needed to make smart and responsible
decisions about whether or not to engage in sexual activity that can
alter their life.

Obama has created funding costs for Planned Parenthood.
According to Sarah Toree of Daily Signal, “At Planned Parenthood’s
annual fundraising gala last year, President Obama lauded the group’s
efforts in helping pass the health care law, remarking: “I know how
hard you worked to help us pass health care reform. You and your
supporters got out there—you organized; you mobilized; you
made your voices heard. It made all the difference.”With more than
a half-billion in current government funding in one year alone and
repeatedly reporting excess revenues in the millions of dollars,
Planned Parenthood hardly needs additional taxpayer money.” There
is enough money behind preventing teenage pregnancy, but where is
the education.Information needs to be stressed at this point.

Planned parenthood has created a middle school program
called “Get RealComprehensive Sex Education That Works” is
encouraging young teens to delay sexual activity by offering
classroom learning and parental involve me. The “Get Real”
material is age-appropriate for 6th,7th, and 8th grade students.
So far, the “Get Real” information has reached over 150 schools
in Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, and Texas.The curriculum
is built on good practices; is in line with local and national
standards; is sensitive to families’ values and beliefs; and has
been supported by adolescent development experts. Students’ cultural
backgrounds and social/emotional lives were considered in the writing
of the material. According to Education News, ” The program appears
to be getting results. Thus far, 16% fewer boys and 15% fewer girls
have had sex as compared to peers who have not taken part in the
program.” Get Real is one of a few middle school courses that have
reduced risky sexual activity for both boys and girls. The program
was tested among teens at high risk to have sexual intercourse.
The program is based on delaying sexual intercourse. The program
has an “abstinence for now” idea that is the reason for the
program’s success. It is realistic and helps teens understand the
importance of waiting until it is easier to decide maturely puts
things in a different light.The process includes understanding that
sex also includes relationship issues, levels of self-esteem, and a
support network a teen can turn to with questions or worries.

By preventing teenage unplanned pregnancy, we can significantly
improve other serious social problems including poverty, child abuse
and neglect, fatherless figures, low birth weight, school failure.
Teen childbearing in the United States cost taxpayers federal, state,
and local. Most of the costs of teen childbearing are associated with
negative consequences for the children of teen mothers, including
increased costs for health care, foster care, incarceration, and taxes.
Prevent Teen Pregnancy schools has more influence over teen
pregnancy than what the public thinks. If schools and parents put
enough effort into their teen pregnancy programs that the teen
pregnancy numbers will drop. Schools need to start programs that
encourage abstinence, and show or list the consequences of being
sexually active. They are not taught the importance of abstaining
from sex or the proper use of effective birth control and
protection from sexually transmitted diseases. The problem that
occurs with this is that the parents or family that interact with
the teenagers are no more educated than the teenager themselves.
There needs to be more education in every middle school and in
high school that can get our society involved as a whole.
There should also be alternative services to prevent one mistake
to cost a lifetime of consequences.

Works Cited
Torre, Sarah 2014, Sept 29. “Obamacare Funds Nations Largest Abortion
Provider” http://dailysignal.com/2014/09/29/obamacare-funds-nations-
largest-abortion-provider/

Unknown 2014,October 30 “Planned Parenthood’s ‘Abstinence For Now’
Program Drawing Praise” http://www.educationnews.org/parenting/
planned-parenthoods-abstinence-for-now-program-drawing-praise/#
sthash.pHE97pwE.dpuf

Merie Williams

The condominium building I live in Fort Greene had on going community meetings and I was lucky enough to attend this meeting with my mom. The MAJOR issue is obtaining a proper certificate of occupancy. The investor Joshua Landau failed to get one since the building has been completed in 2009. The 96 Rockwell Place board asked a New York State Supreme Court judge for a lawsuit filed Saturday, claiming a temporary certificate of occupancy expired in July with no permanent approval in place. At the board meeting, the homeowners claimed since there were no certificate of occupancy, it would cause financial havoc on them causing them to have to evacuate. Without the TCO, now the residents can’t sell, refinance or obtain homeowner’s insurance but even worse, has caused some unit owners unable to pay their mortgages.

Landau, of Manhattan-based Integrated Capital and Eric Derector, of Manhattan-based Quest Builders Group, converted the  former piano factory in 2007 into a condo with 37 residential units and one commercial unit.”The sponsor’s interest is, and always has been aligned with the condominium board,” Landau said in an email.“The Department of Buildings has granted numerous TCOs in the past for the premises and we are working diligently to resolve any additional requirements they may have. We expect the matter to be resolved as soon as possible.” Director did not return calls. A Department of Buildings spokesperson did not return calls. In July, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman ordered the developers to void buyers’ contracts after the condo board did not meet many construction and financial complaints for the unit owners.

Our community board says that the developers owed $61,000 in unpaid common charges .The developers failed to finish construction on storage units,five years after some residents paid for the units and moved in to the building. Lastly, the developers spent about $37,000 of common charges on expenses they should have covered on their own. However, Landau denied that claim and said that the developers were using money from condo sales to repay the outstanding common charges. The community board meeting was lead by our board President Richard Coolidge. It was indept and informative. Everyone was quite tense on the issues collectively at hand. The meeting helped put into perspective the actions the board took, where it landed them and the necessary steps they will continue to take in order to obtain the certificate of occupancy.