Hard for people to take responsibility when what they think they're taking isn't what they've got.

We recognise the difference between safe use of alcohol and unsafe use of alcohol.
People aren't going to stop taking drugs, so how about we make it easier on the medical system by giving people the tools to take responsibility?

If a woman can not afford to look after a child there are plenty of loving couples desperate to adopt. The mother could even stay involved. It can be made to happen.

I've heard that New Zealand adoption law is archaic and far less straightforward than we tend to assume. Any PAers in the know who can shed some light on this?

The 'choice' to be sexually active and the 'responsibility' to be a parent for 18+ years if things don't go to plan. Just because someone's sowing wild oats, doesn't mean I have to be a farmer.

Anti-abortion campaigners often talk about the 'inconvenience' of nine months of pregnancy, not the inconvenience of 18+ years of child-rearing and parental responsibility. Let's be honest, if I was going to be a parent I would be in it for the long haul and I would give that kid everything I've got.

But the 'responsibility' to take this all on myself, or to drag someone else into parenting that potential child? How about the responsibility to make parenting a choice, not something to resent?

Contraception fails. Thankfully, not very often. If it does, I want to exercise that choice I already made by using contraception. Or even that choice I intended to make but forgot just once.

I was decile 3, and we had the standard issue white polo - black pants/skirt - red sweater with school emblem. And a uniform bank for those on low incomes, I think.

It was cheap (let's face it, high school kids keep changing size), there were several places you could buy them, and you could probably pick them up in the op shop if you were quick enough. You could even buy the school emblem and sew it on to a sweater if you were so incline - my Mum did.

But the best thing I liked about it, in hindsight, was the way it worked for everyone. Many girls wore black pants. Some wore skirts. The brethren girl wore a long black skirt. And two of the boys wore skirts. As adults, I think they would probably identify as women (and used the girl's bathrooms at school), but they may not have been the only ones - the uniform worked around this and let the students choose.

Also, it helped that they had a brother in the First XV - everyone knew bullying would not be tolerated, and the next year we gained a transfer student who was bullied at a neighbouring school because of it. I take that as proof that a vocal supporter or two can make a big difference.