"No daddy, no problem"

After three years of college, I've finally decided what to do with my future: single motherhood.

Sure, there are a lot of negative aspects surrounding the circumstances of children who aren't raised in two-parent households, but kids are screwed up anyway, right?

A far as I'm concerned, the benefits of being a single mother far outweigh any negative personal implications for both parent and child. Should I choose this path of single parent child rearing, I'll be afforded almost every government benefit in the world.

The government will pay for me to go to college and for my child to attend the school of his or her choosing. I'll receive assistance for almost every necessity, should I fall under the preset tax bracket status, which undoubtedly, I will.

Currently, I'm a student and I receive almost no government aid whatsoever to attend UB. The only things I am offered are loans, which have a hefty interest rate, sure to saddle me with a few solid years of financial struggle after graduation.

Instead, why not take the easy way out and get pregnant?

The government in this country has done everything to ensure that "bad behavior" is rewarded, while those trying to succeed by going to college only receive the necessary assistance if they fall into a minority or low fiscal status.

I don't want assistance as far as school is concerned- I think there is something to be said for paying for (or having your parents pay for) your own education and having to work for it after school is over. Things that will ultimately enhance your life are worth the cost for most, and while there's an argument for universal programs for universal necessities like healthcare, education is a choice.

I would just like to even the playing field.

If you're going to be a single mother, that's a personal choice- however, behavior that leads to the disintegration of the entire family structure and ultimately has more negative than positive consequences on society shouldn't be rewarded with government aid, while others trying to get an education, presumably to avoid a life of mediocrity and struggle, are punished for it.

Ironically enough, it will be the college graduate who will foot the bill for a single mother receiving aid through taxes.

My intention isn't to immediately condemn those who choose to raise children alone- there can be many life circumstances that lead to a child living in a single-parent household; divorce, the death of a spouse, and the like.

Should an unwed woman become pregnant, I don't advocate for an immediate abortion either- adoption is a choice if you cannot support a child, but cannot terminate a pregnancy either.

Women who cannot support a child should choose to have someone else raise a baby they care enough for to give life. There are countless financially sound couples eager to adopt.

Instead, these young mothers choose to raise the child themselves, sentencing them to a lifetime of reliance on government aid and limiting their own futures, as well as those of their children. These unwed mothers often choose to saddle their parents with part or all of the responsibility of raising their baby- a job many grandparents aren't eager to take on.

I would never actually choose the path of single motherhood as a woman in my early twenties without the financial means to support a child. Nor would I want to burden my parents, who should be focusing on retirement and enjoying the benefits of having adult children, with long, sleepless nights of a baby's cries and diaper changing.

As a society, we've become so accepting of mothers with no father in the picture- or multiple fathers for multiple children. When did this become the norm?

It is then these mothers who are on assistance all of their lives- never giving themselves or their children a chance to thrive. Children growing up in single-parent households are also more likely to repeat the choice- producing generations upon generations of parents and children living below the poverty line, with no education and no real futures.

These mothers are not to be confused with older, more secure adults who can support a child, despite the single-parent status.

There is no reason for mothers who are young to settle for living on assistance when they can ensure a good life for their children. While women who are too young to raise a child shouldn't be having irresponsible sex that stands alone as a separate societal issue that frankly, I don't have the column space to discuss.

Despite having all of the benefits in the world once pregnant, young, unwed mothers can't give the child the one thing he or she really needs to flourish and succeed in life: a stable, two-parent household.

Perhaps the government shouldn't reward this behavior- instead, allot aid to students, the elderly and even parents looking to adopt or having trouble conceiving. There is nothing in this country with the intention of promoting the family structure, whereas single parenting is given the opportunity to run amok.

In Buffalo, project housing is filled with single parents who have children more susceptible to falling into a life of crime and repeating the cycle of poverty and wasted potential.

Something needs to be done to restore the normal family structure, or family morals will continue to disintegrate until they are nonexistent.

It shouldn't be easier to be an unwed mother.

My parents will struggle to put my siblings and I through school and I will have loans upon loans to pay off with each higher level of education I achieve. I don't think this is unfair, because it is a choice and the financial burdens associated with my choice are worth the outcome.

Shouldn't being a parent require even more sacrifice and true dedication, rather than a cozy lifestyle of living on the taxpayer's dime?