Teenage pregnancies and the battle to end them...

[Giselle]

I never regarded teenage pregnancies as a serious issue until I received word that a close friend of *my* friend was two months pregnant. This poor girl is only 16/17. She isn't even into her senior year and she was two months along into her pregnancy. She hadn't even entered her final year of high school, and she was about to give birth to another human being. My gawd. I was just so shocked. It makes you wonder, with all this hype about sex ed and birth control and abstinence, what went wrong in our society so that so many girls today are experimenting with their bodies and their lives? I know PLENTY more other young young teenagers who are having oral and "normal" intercourse regularly. In fact, a former classmate of mine began this risky lifestyle at the age of 13. She hadn't even entered high school, for what it's worth. I'm just so disturbed and worried for these girls. Don't they know what they're doing?

The 16/17 year old girl I was talking about had her abortion just last week. She is so depressed, so tired, and regretful. What are these girls doing? Why aren't they receiving education regarding this issue and why aren't they learning? *sighs* I guess this was more of a rant than anything else, but I had to get this off my chest.

[Jessika]

Its so sad, it really is. A part of me feels sorry for them, but another part of me doesn't, because they know the risks they were taking. And I will come out and say it -- its stupid. Regardless of age, unless you are emotionally, mentally, and financially ready and willing to accept ALL consequences of the action, don't do it. Period.

[sasvermont]

I think we are failing our young folks by not educating them enough .....especially about birth control, the consequences of their actions, the child at risk now, etc. etc. .... life as a parent.

I am an old PTer and have seen many young girls and boys survive the birth event and live happily ever after, both as a mother/father and as the child....and then there are those who don't do well at all.

Either way, education, as far as I am concerned, is the answer. Keep 'em busy, interested and educated. Many teenagers just have nothing else happening in their lives.

We fail miserably when it comes to educating our youth.

With lots of love, family support and guidance, many will do just fine. I always hope for the best.

Here's to all those folks who made it!

[animal_rescue]

Most of the girls I know have sex and their all on birth control, A couple of them aren't even having sex yet and are still getting put on birth control. I'm considering doing it but I don't see the point as I don't have a boyfriend and don't plan on getting one anytime soon.. My friends said their moms all know about it and one friend said "Sure, you have sex without your mom knowing but it's so much easier just to tell them" Then her mom took her in for a papsmear Gosh that was so funny. She refered to it as the most awkard moment of her life.

[k9krazee]

It is very sad My cousin, for example, is 22 years old...dropped out of highschool her freshmen year, is currently unemployed, struggling to make rent every month, is single and on top of that has kids. She knew very well what she was doing and in that respect I don't feel bad for her, but you'd think she'd learn after having one? Nope! She JUST had her THIRD child...oldest just turned four not too long ago, she has a two year old and now a newborn (all boys too!). She complains constantly and has no life anylonger, besides caring for the boys. Just watching her struggle is enough to make me NEVER want to go through that!

[lizbud]

I believe a lot of parents nowadays want to be a friend to their child instead of a parent.Parents generally don't challenge their kids to do
better in life. If you don't expect much of a child in life, you get what you
create.

[Vela]

I believe a lot of parents nowadays want to be a friend to their child instead of a parent.Parents generally don't challenge their kids to do better in life. If you don't expect much of a child in life, you get what you
create.

I wasn't going to reply to this thread but I agree with you 100%. Parents are so worried about being their child's friend they don't parent like they should. Things that sholdn't be accepted are accepted too often and limits aren't set they way they should be in a lot of cases.

[lute]

it's really sad how many teens are getting pregnant. when i moved back to my home town last summer i was shocked to see a lot of my friends from elm. school had bellies. most of them either the father left or they don't know who the father is. a frind of mine is 19 and just had her 5th abortion last year!!! she shows NO feelings about it at all. she just acts like it's another bump in her road of FUN.

i like the origonal idea that God had...wait till yer married to have sex.

[.sarah]

That is so weird that you posted this thread because I just found out about 30 minutes ago that one of my friends is pregnant. She has been fooling around for a while and, quite frankly, I'm surprised it took her so long to get pregnant. This one time she figured she didn't need birth control. She decided not to have an abortion. She's 16 now, and will be 17 by the time the baby comes.

My other friend gave birth to a baby girl on Valentines day. I think she planned this, though. Her and the father are engaged. She was 17 when she got pregnant and 18 when she gave birth.

Birth control, birth control, birth control!!!

[K9soul]

Birth control is better than nothing but it is not the ultimate answer. Seems so many people feel that as long as they have birth control they have free license to not act responsibly. Birth control is never 100% failsafe, and does nothing to prevent AIDS, hepatitis C and other STDs, nor does it teach someone to make responsible decisions and not get themselves into dangerous situations. I've typed plenty of medical reports where a woman/teen on birth control conceived anyway. It is not as rare as you might think.

I would stress... teach responsibility, responsibility, responsibility!

[Vela]

Well said K9Soul!!! It's not just about pregnancy...although that is a huge factor, what about AIDS? Did everyone forget about it? I guess herpes is not a big deal now since they have a drug you can take to help with outbreaks...Or maybe a little hepatitis C or gonorrhea would be fun. Or maybe just for fun try out some genital warts, that often leads to cervical cancer even in teens and early 20s and then you dont get to have kids when you are older since you sometimes end up having hysterectomies to remove the cancer or having so much of your cervix removed that you can't support a future pregnancy. Birth control is great, but that's not a free liscense to just sleep around and do whatever sounds fun, kids nowdays don't seem to realize that dangers and sex is just as much now as a handshake. It's scary. And it's true, birth control doesn't always work, and it sure doesn't prevent those other diseases. I know it sounds fun but it's not worth throwing away your future, for those who engage in it so frivolously! I get so scared for kids nowdays, it's really a shame. Many of them see nothing wrong with just having sex for the heck of it. It's too bad=(

[popcornbird]

I hope I won't offend anyone with my post, but this is something that really bothers me, and I do believe I know the reason teenage pregnancy is sooooooo common in Western society.

The reason...

Lack of education? Perhaps part of the problem...

Lack of parental guidance? Pretty big part of the problem...

Lack of religious or moral values?...pretty major problem in my opinion.

Too much socialization with members of the opposite sex in explicit clothing? MAJOR PROBLEM...

The fact is, no matter how much you educate kids about sex and the consequences, it is a NATURAL thing, a natural urge, and the trigger is NOT education, or lack of education. In fact, being constantly talked to about sex could trigger curiosity about it, and the wish to experiment. The trigger, and main trigger is WAY too much opposite sex mingling. In societies where men and women are not so 'free' and 'open' with each other, this problem is not nearly as common.

Face it. When there are half naked girls around boys in schools, cafes, restaurants, malls, magazines, EVERYWHERE...and there are boys out there who follow lust and desire and have no moral values, what is to be expected? How can a society give boys and girls the full freedom to be alone together, do anything together, expose their bodies to each other, and then, expect nothing to happen? If there are boys and girls together, and those boys and girls have no moral values or no proper upbringing, sooner or later, they are going to be involved in the act. When these girls and boys are encouraged to go to proms, dance together, hug and kiss each other...my gosh...doesn't anyone know how human emotions work? When young boys and girls are encouraged to interact, show each other affection, dance...only a strange person would have no feelings or desires develop from that. Once youngsters begin desiring sex and have the full opportunity to be with members of the opposite gender, that's calling for trouble. Our society has a major lack of moral character in general, and instead of being discouraged, it is encouraged. It is not only the open sex issue, but people in society, youngsters in general often use foul language, have no respect for others, and have hardly any manners at all. The problem needs to be nipped at the roots, not at the leaves. When a leaf or stem is cut off a plant, it just grows back. Until the problem is cut at the roots, nothing is going to change. Until boys and girls are taught to refrain from each other and stay in the boundaries, nothing's going to change. If boys and girls are encouraged to dress in exposing clothes, sit close to each other, hold hands, kiss, hug, dance, be close friends, and do anything and everything together, their parents shouldn't go crying when their daughter announces her pregnancy. The problem is the lack of moral values in society. People LIKE to stay outside of marriage these days so that they can fool around and not have a commitment with one person. Married couples so often break their commitment and fool around with other people. The result is the destruction of the family. Destruction of the family is destruction of society, as the bases and roots of a good society are good, close, committed families. Where have the family values gone today? Where have moral values gone? Really...the lack of moral values in this world often makes me sick, and it really isn't a problem that hard to solve. The only problem is people LIKE to expose themselves in ways that WILL lead to trouble. Like it or not, being too close to the opposite gender is the root of the problem. When people don't follow the commandments of their Creator, they will be in for trouble no matter what. Sex is supposed to be something you do with the one special person you've committed your LIFE to...not something to do with a random 'anyone'. Yuck.

Come to think of it, having a sexual relationship with the one special person in your life that you're committed with, starting a family together, blooming together, sharing a bond of love is probably one of the MOST beautiful parts of life that God has created. Something that can bring a person such joy is so abused these days, to the point that its results in society has become a big problem. People who do things the wrong way have to face the consequences, and sadly, when something wrong becomes so accepted in society, then it is the entire society that will have to face the consequences of the matter. People think using birth control or condoms makes irresponsible sex safe. In my opinion, that is nothing but BS. Many people who use BC STILL get pregnant. Its not a guarantee. Even if one DOESN'T get pregnant, having sex makes a person VERY close to each other. When that closeness is not a committed bond, once it breaks (and it DOES most of the time), it causes great emotional pain. Emotional pain is sometimes worse than physical pain. Why do things that would hurt you in the end? Parents need to discourage girls from dressing in exposing clothing, and they need to discourage both boys and girls from being too involved with each other. Until that happens, nothing is going to change. The root of the problem is boys and girls mingling too freely. In families and societies where free opposite gender mingling is prevented, these problems hardly exist...and people who live such lifestyles still experience love, relationships, and probably a much deeper, truer commitment with their partners than people who fool around and have relationships with many, many people throughout their young years.

JMHO on this topic that often upsets me.

[Lori Jordan]

My friend works in the Maturnity ward in Brockville and she has said many many times,There seems to be more teenagers having children then adults.The sad thing is most of these girls end up on Welfare that is what bugs me the most.

[.sarah]

Birth control is better than nothing but it is not the ultimate answer. Seems so many people feel that as long as they have birth control they have free license to not act responsibly. Birth control is never 100% failsafe, and does nothing to prevent AIDS, hepatitis C and other STDs, nor does it teach someone to make responsible decisions and not get themselves into dangerous situations. I've typed plenty of medical reports where a woman/teen on birth control conceived anyway. It is not as rare as you might think.

I would stress... teach responsibility, responsibility, responsibility!

This is true, though they are teaching responsibility in schools (or at least the ones I attended). Parents are a different matter, some just want to be their child's friend as already stated in this thread.

The problem is most teenagers just don't care. Birth control is as responsible as you can be without being abstinent, and most teens don't even seem to consider abstinence as a choice.

Not too many people any more wait for marrige. Out of all my teen friends, I know of one other person who is abstinent. Everyone else uses birth control. My friend that is abstinent has religious beliefs and is waiting until marrige. I have moral values and am waiting until I am old enough and financially ready to support a baby if birth control fails. Not too many teens think before they act upon this anymore, and they don't see any wrong until they are pregnant or have an STD.

[K9soul]

You make some good observations and points Pops. Everything about Western society promotes sexuality, from clothing to television shows/commercials, movies, so on and so forth. It's a huge marketing area for everything from alcohol, clothing, makeup and beauty products to cars, perfumes and all manner of things. I remember when I was in a class studying about marketing and the things commercials and advertisers use most to sell their products, and sexual appeal was one of the top ones. It could be really subtle (the way a camera rolls across the sleek lines of a "sexy" sports car), or obvious (showing a guy drinking beer surrounded by scantily clad women).

Our society is focused on external looks and attracting the opposite sex. The things you mentioned all do contribute to making a physical relationship more tempting and desirable, and like Sarah said, a lot of them just don't really care or consider the consequences until they happen, if then. When I was in school if you weren't on the dating scene and having sex or talking about it, you were a misfit/outcast. I got ridiculed and mocked for not being on the dating scene and part of the cool crowd.

I remember when I was a teen and the big movie craze for all the girls was to watch Dirty Dancing, but my mom wouldn't let me watch it. I wasn't too happy about that but I accepted it. A few months ago it was on TV and I got curious because I had never ended up watching it before, and I decided that night to watch it. I certainly can understand my mom's reluctance after seeing it, that would about stir up any young teenage girl's desire. If that were the type of thing I had watched a lot of at that age, I'm sure I'd have been MUCH more eager to experience it, longing to have those feelings.

Pops is right, it's a lot to expect of someone, especially a younger, inexperienced person, to be surrounded by all of that and restrain from acting on it. It's a natural human instinct and eventually it's bound to win out over logic.