Population Control: A Natural Method

5 Pages 1325 Words

Population Control: A Natural Method
I believe that education should be the number one focus, when it comes to population control. Limiting the number of children a woman can have or allowing widespread emigration should not be considered a form of population control. It is better to educate people about abstinence during the most fertile part of a woman's cycle (rhythm method), oral contraception, and the use of condoms, as a means of preventing further population growth. Educating families about the effects multiple children can have on income and house product usage is another good idea.
I do not think that placing limitations on how many children a woman can have will significantly help the growing population problem. In many countries, women are uneducated about overpopulation and pregnancy issues and men tend to like it that way. If some women do not even understand how a baby is made, how can they be told not to get pregnant? Studies show that in mostly illiterate areas, women have an average of 6.1 children. When the female literacy rate reaches 40% the birth rate drops to 4.2 children, and at 80% literacy birth rates drop even more. Literate women also have the ability to take better care of their children because they are able to read parenting books and articles (Edmondson). For example, an uneducated woman in an undeveloped nation might believe that pregnancy is a result of her “bad” behavior. She might believe that she is being punished by God for her sins. In actuality, pregnancy is an event caused by a sequence of conscious actions. If these women and families were educated about sex, pregnancy, childbirth and such, it might be possible to place limitations on how many children a woman is “allowed” to have. Thus the rate of population growth would decline naturally in direct proportion. I do not believe that it is right to tell a woman she can only have a certain number of children. I do, howeve...