Thursday, November 11, 2010
Teen Moms
So, Seemay touched on this a little bit in Frances's post but I's seriously curious about everyone's opinions on teen mother hood. What would you do if you found out you were pregnant? Is it possible to do everything. Lately, I've seen a lot of really young pregnant women and I think this may be due to the attention the media has given this prospect. Many of the shows about this convey a sense of accomplishment in the women who were dumb enough to not think about the future and I think that many young women think, "Oh, well SHE may have had a hard time, but look how happy she is," or "She may not have been able to do it, but watch this." Let's hear it. . .
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10 comments:
I'm just going to throw this out there since I'm first. Stupid. If a teenager doesn't want to get pregnant they need to take the actions to make sure it doesn't happen. Like Seemay mentioned in the last post, people who do not want to better their lives are crazy. Sorry if I misquoted but Ithink that was the just of it. Teenagers change their minds about things so often. Even at this point, we're barely able to start providing for ourselves yet alone supporting an entire other life. Yes, shit happens and people make mistakes. However, I do agree that society and the media do have their roles. Like this Teen mom reality show stuff thats on tv. What is that? Like I don't feel it's an appropriate show in dipicting the struggles that people go through during a pregnancy. It's alot of whinning and alot of immature behavior which just goes to show that though a female's body may be ready to reproduce, she is not yet mentally and emotionally mature enough for the journey. Maturity usually comes through life experiences. Life hasn't even started yet as a teenager.
Simple. I would die. I cannot even fathom what I would do if I found out I was pregnant. I know that having a child as a teenager isn't the end of the world for most people, but for my world I think it would be. I completely agree with Ale that most teenagers don't even know what they want. Most young adults don't even know what they want! I know that an unplanned pregnancy would definitely throw a twist in all of my future plans. I'm not afraid to admit this, but I can hardly take care of myself! I don't think I am ready for the sacrifices that are made when you have kids, as well. Ah, I seriously cannot imagine what I would do if I was in that situation.
However, I definitely respect the women on Teen Mom for taking responsibility of their actions, but at the same time, the responsibility that the women display should have probably been developed before they became sexually active. I don't think many people think about the consequences of their actions because we often think that something, like getting pregnant, could happen to us. In reality, it could happen to anyone no matter how careful you think you are.
This is a great topic! I am very against teen motherhood because I think it makes things so much harder than it has to be. Not to mention the negative effects it has on the child/children, as well as the fact that many children to teen parents become teen parents themselves!! I think that is a startling and sad statistic. As the others have said, most teenagers do not even know how to care for themselves. So why should a child be the subject of this immaturity? Caring for a little baby while you are trying to learn to care for yourself is just a source of extreme, unnecessary stress. Having a child should be a happiness that comes when there is a stable, mature home to support it. I just wish more young women would take this into consideration and take a greater responsibility in protecting themselves before they are ready.
Well first off, if I found out that I was pregnant, I would ask myself if I remembered having an encounter with God because the only way I'd get pregnant right now is if it was by a higher power (like the Virgin Mary). But if for some strange reason I decided to go and have unprotected sex with some stranger, and I got pregnant, I think the first feeling would be utter shock and then maybe despair and then I thing, I hope I would have the guts to be like, okay, I have to do this, tell my parents who I know after I got over the initial disappointment and shock would support me throughout the whole thing.
I really respect those pregnant teens who stick with it and either try their hardest to raise the child on their own or give it up for adoption to a loving family. I'm not sure what I would do, keep it or give it up, but I think I would probably keep the child. Hmmm, this is a very tough thing to imagine what I would do because the whole idea is unfathomable to me.
No offense but this blog post is phrased really offensively.. Sure they didn't really think about the future, but mistakes do happen and I don't think we should necessarily place the label of "dumb" on all the teen moms that are out there in the world. And honestly, there are really some successful teen mothers out there and it's not something we should necessarily look down on or judge them by, in fact we should be congratulating them for being able to make something good out of their lives still. I absolutely agree with Carolyn when she said that no matter how careful you are it could happen to you. However, I do agree that the media has been placing quite and emphasis on teen moms such as in Juno and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. The media isn't necessarily making it a socially acceptable practice but they also are not labeling it as the awful thing that it would have been 50 years ago.
Personally, if I found out that I was pregnant I would flip out primarily because like meagan I've never had sex haha. However, if I did find out I was pregnant I would go through with the pregnancy and give the child up for adoption to a family that would actually be able to take care of it, but I'd also stay in contact with the child.
My future would change completely if I somehow got pregnant. I wouldn't freak out and worry about my lost plans (I don't want to pursue med school with a kid to take care of), I would worry more about my future child. I would want to give my child the best life possible, and I really don't think that I can do that when I'm still a teenager. I know my parents would be furious, but eventually they would help me. I would also plan to go to nursing school instead of medical school.
As for teenage moms, I think that it's important for them to make the best of their situation. Yes, I don't think teenage pregnancy is a good idea, but I think that once it happens, girls need to realize that their life doesn't come first anymore-the baby does. My cousin, after graduating as class valedictorian, had a child at the age of 18 years old. It was rough on her at first, but with the support of her family, she is now 24 years old with a successful family and a secure job at UNMH as a registered nurse. This cousin proved to me that there are worse things in the world than getting unlucky.
Teen motherhood is not only irresponsible, it's selfish. I personally am disgusted by the positive media around teen motherhood; it's such a HORRIBLE influence on young girls!!!! The reality is that a teenage girl CANNOT take care of a child as well as she could 5 or 10 years later. And do these girls even think of the consequences to their child? Not only has this girl thrown away her future, she has truly hurt her child's future: what is mean is that a child can't raise another child. That being said, I do understand that there are extenuating circumstances on occasion. When I express my disgust, it is truly only aimed at those girl's who are like 14, 15, 16 years old and who actually literally go out and TRY to get pregnant because they think it will be "fun" to be a mom, or because they think it's the only other option if school isn't an option. Sadly I think we all know that there are A LOT of girls who think like that. For those girls where there are extenuating circumstances, and who didn't try to get pregnant, I think that it has to be the individual's decision. For me personally I know having a child right now would be both to mine and the child's detriment, but that's just me. For some people who may have larger families and a strong and reliable support system, having the child may be the best thing for them.
I agree with what most have said. I do think the media is trying to make teen motherhood a more acceptable part of society, this can be good because it makes it easier for teen mothers to not be judged for their lapse in judgement, since they already have a lot of other things to worry about, besides what society thinks of them. Personally if I found out I was pregnant right now, I'd have the child and keep it. I think my family would help me somewhat until I could get on my own, I don't like when girls say they'd give it up because I feel that would be one of those more easily said than done things. It is a human that shares your DNA and has been inside of you for 9 months. It would definitely interfer with my plans, but I've seen others do it and I would buck up and take on my responsibilities. However I am all for contraception and knowledge, I think it can reverse what we are seeing more and more on the media these days. Also I wanted to share an experience I had. I had a child development class and we made flour babies and carried them around everywhere. I'm catholic and took it to church, I got horrible looks and before I knew it was that week's gossip story. I disliked how they all prayed for the victims of abortion but were hypocrites when it came to a young girl making the choice to keep her baby. I think the stigma placed on teen motherhood should be lessened, but the idea should not be as widely accepted as it is.
I agree with almost everyone! Teem motherhood would be horrendous! Just giving up so much when you are so young does seem so stupid. And selfish when they dont give their child up for maybe adoption for a better home. But I don't really think that the media is really protraying it as "more acceptable" but rather it is saying that more and more this is what is going on and this is how they are dealing with it. No one should take from these shows that it is a good idea or acceptable to have kids when they are younger. The shows show us how hard it is and this is where I think most of our thought is coming from. These people who are having kids at this ag, I'm sure think they are stupid and I'm sure think that this isn't right for them. But it's not like they can turn back time. They made this mistake and they have to live with it. I think part of us has to be accepting of it because it is happening so often but not so much that it is becoming a choice for other teens, because like we all know, it needs to change fast!
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