It's always something new that Hollywood has done wrong. Currently, it's glamorizing pregnancy. There's Juno, Jamie Lynn Spears, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, and all kinds of A-list celebs sporting 'baby bumps.'
Okay, so that's a lot of pregnancy crammed down our throats daily. But the fact is, the amount of pregnancy we hear about every day is not to blame for those girls allegedly getting pregnant on purpose in Massachusetts. Juno showed an example of what a more liberal home-life would support; mild disappointment ending in the adoption of the child. Jamie Lynn showed that people make mistakes and they have to live with them. The Secret Life otf the American Teenager...well, I don't really know yet. And 'baby bump' is just another word for having a very large belly with a baby inside.
I'm not sure if people think that unwanted/accidental/or even planned teen pregnancies are something new or if they're now starting to pay attention. According to society's standards, millions of girls that are too young to have children have become mothers since there were women. In 2005, 65 girls at Timken High School in Ohio were pregnant. Timken is a high school that has often had an abundance of pregnancies.
I guess what I'm trying to say here is that whether or not the story about Gloucester High School in Massachusetts is true, it's ridiculous to claim that Hollywood is to blame. Parents and the education system should be warning young girls about what can happen when they become pregnant at such a young age.
It also doesn't help that so many schools are attempting to only teach abstinence. Teens should learn that there are dozens of ways to practice safe sex, that NOT having sex is just one of the ways. It's naïve to think that students will practice abstinence without a second thought. Some will, some won't. For those that will, then good. For those that won't, then they have to know their options to practice safe sex and have to know what they're facing if they DON'T practice safe sex.
And one last point is that, while I'm not promoting 15-year old girls to go out and get pregnant, I do believe that people act as though being young and pregnant is the worst thing possible. What about the teen girls that do get pregnant and go on to lead fine lives? Albeit, that doesn't happen to often, but who are we as a society to determine when the correct time is or is not for a woman to have a child?
I could go on and on, but I think that's enough for now.
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Well, if we look far enough back, there were girls getting married very young, even younger than when these girls are getting pregnant now. Nevertheless, I think it's safe to assume that the average 17-year-old girl is not mature or stable enough to be trusted with raising a child on her own.
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Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress. --Mahatma Gandhi
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You're right about teaching abstinence - it is not a very effective strategy. I do not think that people look at teen pregnancy as the worst thing ever, though. It is not even the fact that these girls may make excellent parents. Its that when a girl in high school becomes pregnant, she limits her options for the future. Sure, we can say that she can finish high school and even go on to college, its just that it's very difficult to do those things with a child.
These situations go further than simply a young teenage girl limiting her likelihood of future financial success, it also costs our country quite a bit of money. The medical costs of giving birth and vaccinating an infant is quite a costly endeavor. The majority of these girls and babies depend on Medicaid and other government funding to meet these medical needs. Not only are the medical costs covered by our tax dollars, but also their food if they receive food stamps, their housing, and even monthly stipends so these girls have some cash (TANF). I am not saying that they don't need the assistance or that their babies don't deserve medical care, food, and shelter, I'm just saying that there is a much bigger picture to teenage pregnancy than a young kid becoming a mother.
I agree with all of you. The abstinence only thing just isn't working! I think that if our schools could change their approach to sex ed, we would see a change in this trend over the next few years.
There are some girls that go on with life to do great things (I did) but there are many more that don't. It wasn't easy, and most people aren't willing to work hard enough to make it happen. It is in this situation that the costs PoisonIvy mentioned are passed on to taxpayers.
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