Glorifying Teen Pregnancy (rant!)

[tropicsgoddess]

Generations ago teen pregnancy was something that was taboo and shameful, especially if a quick shotgun wedding took place. Unfortunately, this sort of thing is being glorified these days when the press made a buzz about the teen pregnancies of Solange Knowles (Beyonce's little sister) and Jamie Lynn Spears.To top that, there's an article about these girls from a high school in Massachusetts who made a pact to become pregnant together, have the baby and raise their babies together. The girls in this pregnancy pact are 16 years old and younger and are proud of it. There is nothing to be proud of the fact that they had sex with random strangers for their pact to become teenage mothers! There is nothing cool about the fact that they will not be able to enjoy their youth because of the obligations they have to their children for 18 years! Having a baby will change your life: being in constant need of a sitter so you can go somewhere the baby can't go with you (work,school,etc.), the need for a job to support yourself and the baby and having do deal with midnight feedings, doctors appointments while juggling school and/or work. Again, there is nothing cool about denying yourself your youth to get pregnant and have a baby at a young age to become one of the pack.

[Amethyst Hunter]

I don't think teen pregnancy should be shamed in the way like it used to be in the Good 'Ol Days (some of the things the adults did to the girls were downright cruel, booting them literally out on the streets), but neither do I think it should be glorified and cooed over either. Those girls have royally fucked up their lives (and likely the lives of the kids, because poverty breeds poverty), and I partially blame the cultural mentality that bleats that babies are So Cute And Fun And The New Status Symbol That Your Life Won't Be Complete Without. You NEVER hear about the reality of childrearing, which is a helluva lot less glamourous and fun than what's shown on TV!

I think, instead of making teens carry around those fake baby dolls for class for just a week or whatever, they should have to carry it around for a whole YEAR. (school year, that is) And if possible, those dolls should do as much of everything that real babies do so the teens can see how much of a chore it really is. That might make 'em think twice about pulling stupidity like in that link...

[AFPheonix]

I kind of wonder what their home lives are like, too. Sometimes girls like that get pregnant on purpose either so they have someone to love or to have someone who will love them unconditionally. Not that those are at all good reasons to have kids, of course, but it can be telling that maybe they're not getting the love and attention from the people they should, ie their family, so they seek it from somewhere else.
Also, a lot of teen mothers are themselves products of teen mothers. It's up to parents to break that cycle.

[Slytovhand]

Of course, just a few generations before that, if you hadn't had kids by the time you were 16 or 18, you were an old spinster!! Amazing how cultures change....

[protege]

Of course, just a few generations before that, if you hadn't had kids by the time you were 16 or 18, you were an old spinster!! Amazing how cultures change....

Most of that was simply because people weren't living as long. Now, with all the advances in medicine, people are living longer, and want to hold off on raising a family a bit. Also, many people want to get secure in their careers before having a child. Since children's needs are somewhat expensive, I can't blame them

[Lace Neil Singer]

I would also do something about the huge benefits that teenage mothers get automatically. Yes, babies are hard work, but they made the decision to spread their legs before they were physically or mentally mature enough to deal with sex, and the decision not to pop a pill or get their baby daddy to wrap it. Yes, some teenage pregnancies are accidently, but the vast majority are due to either ignorance or the reasons stated above. They shouldn't automatically get a house, or their rent paid in full; and they certainly shouldn't get tons of benefits when they're just sitting around doing nothing. There was a case on the local news of a girl who spent something like £40 of her benefit money on smokes and booze; money she'd been given cuz she had a baby.

There are more deserving people out there, people who are working their butts off at part time jobs in order to live hand to mouth cuz they can't get full time, or who are struggling to pay the rent cuz they choose not to have babies til they can afford them. Teenage mothers shouldn't be punished, true, for falling pregnant, but neither should they be rewarded. If they have a baby, then they and their baby's father should shoulder the cost; if they don't want to do that, then they should learn to keep their legs closed or use contreception properly.