I drive an hour back and forth to school 4 days a week. This gives me a lot of time to just think, and I think about just about everything on these trips. I think about failed relationships, and sometimes about blogs I know I should write (I'm working on that insurance one, I promise). I think about my friends and family, and what's going to happen in the future.
A couple of days ago, I was thinking about the term "Teen Pregnancy." In the strictest meaning of the word, this refers to any teenage girl who gets pregnant, teenage being defined as 13-19 years old. But, I got to thinking. There's a world of difference between a 13 year old pregnant girl and a 19 year old pregnant girl.
One of the girls in my class is the latter. She will be twenty before her baby is born, but she's still 19, and she's 3 months pregnant, I believe. She has a husband, and goes to technical school with me to learn how to have a steady, somewhat well paying job (moreso than working in a fast food place, anyway). Her husband works in construction. Though she still lives with her mom (as far as I can tell, anyway; they may live just really close together), I'm not sure I'd lump her in with the girls who get pregnant at 15 or 16. She's well on her way to fully supporting herself, and doesn't rely exclusively on her parents for support. If she were kicked out of the house tomorrow, she and her husband would be able to get back on their feet very quickly.
The 15 or 16 year old, on the other hand, typically hasn't graduated high school, and even still has a few more years to do so. They may or may not have jobs, but these jobs are very rarely enough to support themselves; they almost exclusively rely on their parents or other guardians for support. And if they're kicked out of the house for one reason or another, they'll fumble quite a bit before finding enough welfare to keep them on their feet. Without a high school diploma, they'll have difficulty finding good paying work, and will probably rely on the welfare system for quite a while. While this is not always the case for these girls, it too often is.
I don't worry about the girls who can go out and support themselves without using welfare as a crutch (at least permanently). I don't worry about the girls who are married and are ready to start a family. Rather, I worry about the girls who get pregnant, drop out of school, and have no one save their parents to support them. To me, 'teen pregnancy' defines these girls, rather than my friend. Though the technical definition encompasses them both, I don't consider it to. And when I read statistics about the rate of teen pregnancies rising once again, I wonder if they consider the independent 19 year old right along with the dependent 15 year old.
I had another term that I was going to write about, but I can't remember it now, so if and when I do remember it, I'll either edit this post, or write a sequel to it.
I think that a good term would be "young teen pregnancy" which should be the age range of 13-17 or 18 depending on if they are still living with parents and don't have their life together.
In my own opinion I would not want a kid right now and I am almost 21. I would rather have my career together and although my boyfriend and I have almost been together 4 years marriage is a very scary word. I just don't see it as a positive thing. I would hate to have kids then later get a divorce like many families have or have my spouse die like what happened to my dad.
But at least your friend has her life together I think it depends on the circumstances and like you stated the age.
Sorry to disappoint you, but I am voting for Lewis Black.
DrifterDani~