I was reading the news online this morning and I came across an article about teenage girls in Massachusetts allegedly planning to become pregnant on purpose. It seems that when the girls went into the clinic for pregnancy tests they were elated to be pregnant and disappointed when they found out that they were not expecting a child.
What is going on here? How can 16 and 17 year old girls even fathom the huge responsibility, expense and time that it takes to successfully raise a child?
Where is the glamour in teenage single parenting?
Where on earth are the parents of these girls? Where have they been for the first 16 years of their lives? Haven't they informed their daughters that having a baby is tough under the best of circumstances?
I had my first child after I graduated from college, had a career and owned a home. It still was not easy and I was not a single parent.
I was fully prepared for the trials of parenting and yet I was totally surprised at how time-consuming at all hours of the day taking care of a cranky or sick baby could be. There are nights in the life of every parent when you just don't sleep and you can forget having a social life. After a baby you don't have a social life at all for a while.
As a twenty-something mom I did not miss the social life that I would have missed at sixteen.
We have to teach our teenagers that they cannot believe Hollywood's version of teen pregnancy as in the movie “Juno.” The movie “Juno” glamorizes something that never will be glamorous and that is teen pregnancy. The story that is told in this movie is one big fat lie.
Jaime Lynn Spears, as I write this article is just about to embark on the biggest realization of her young life. The realization is that having a baby at sixteen is not glamorous, no matter how rich you may be. Real life teenage pregnancy does not mimic the movies and it never will.
It is appalling to think that parents are not talking to their teens about the unlimited
negatives of being a teenage parent. Statistics show that teenage parents more than likely
will drop out of school and never achieve all that their childless teenage peers achieve.
What about birth control? “Just say no” died a long time ago. We have to educate our teenagers on the importance of using birth control, we are not cavemen.
Teens are having sex and will continue to do so. Let's educate them about ways to prevent pregnancy, STD and the other challenges of a sexual relationship.
Most of all, we need to quit walking around like ostriches with our heads buried in the sand. Teen pregnancy is out there and we need to talk about it.
If they can get all this why worry,pregnancy is a benefit not a hinderance. Great article.