Teenage pregnancies and the battle to end them...

[Pam]

Sex is shoved at kids (and adults for that matter) in an *in your face* kind of way through advertising, TV sitcoms, videos, movies, etc., etc. There is a lack of spiritual nourishment in the homes today and I blame that in a major way. Nowadays most kids come from families where there is no one home when they come home after school. A girl in my daughter's high school had not one but two children by the time she graduated high school. When she came home from school the boy would come over and well.....

I am probably an old fuddy duddy but I can remember the days when sex was saved for marriage. Sure there was the occasional pregnant teen when I was in high school but most kids were just not having sex at all. We didn't have sex flaunted in our faces everywhere we looked. TV shows were of the Ozzie and Harriet and Leave it to Beaver variety (see I told you I was old) and my mom was home when I got there. Sure I didn't grow up with the *things* that kids have today with both parents working, but it was a happier time for sure. I feel sorry for kids growing up today. So much stuff is being thrown at them at an age when they should be enjoying just being kids.

[Lori Jordan]

I agree what all you have said 100%.I myself did not wait until marriage i was 16 when i started,and i cannot say that i was forced to do so my mother and father were very strict,I had lots of friends so it wasnt a attention getter i really have no answers for why i started so young,But now you see 13 year old having children it is crazy.I agree with the parents wanting to be the kids friend ,I try to inforce things but at the same time i want my daughters to know that they can come to me with any problem they might be having.All you can do is raise your kids the best you can..That is the only thing you can do.If they make the wrong choices we also have to deal with that.

[CagneyDog]

root of the problem is boys and girls mingling too freely

So lets keep boys on one side of countries and girls in the other? Man oh man, I'm shocked by some of the replies on here. Although dressing skimpy is a turnoff, I don't think it promotes losing your virginity or having sex. Wearing short skirts isn't "just asking" for someone to seduce you. It's all about self morals, and self respect. People can wear skimpy clothing, have boyfriends, and be friends with males if they respect themselves, and have strong morals. Parenting has little to do with it, sure they need to educate but deep down every kid knows the downsides to teenage sex and deep down people know that absitence is the safe way to go until your older. Education isn't what is needed. Parents can say all they want and people will go against it, I know plenty of people that couldn't careless what their parents say. IMO it's all about the person. If you have morals than you can realize what you are getting yourself into. Putting the blame on parents, media etc. isn't right. When it comes down to it, it's your decision.

Ps: To answer the question, I am not in this side because I dress skimpy or any of that. As a matter of fact, I don't at all. It's just an opinion

[Lady's Human]

Parenting has little to do with it,

IMO it's all about the person. If you have morals than you can realize what you are getting yourself into.

And who instills morals in a child?

Last time I checked it was parents.

[CagneyDog]

And who instills morals in a child?

Last time I checked it was parents.

Last time I checked people without parents or with very litty parenting support still have morals. Morals are self obtained. I have morals that my parents don't.

[Lady's Human]

Cagney,

It is rare to find someone without good parenting who has good morals. The ones who do have good morals have normally picked them up from other places, like church, good role models at school, etc.

[CagneyDog]

Cagney,

It is rare to find someone without good parenting who has good morals. The ones who do have good morals have normally picked them up from other places, like church, good role models at school, etc.

Perhaps from your experiences, however that's a generalized statement..

[Vela]

Cagney,

It is rare to find someone without good parenting who has good morals. The ones who do have good morals have normally picked them up from other places, like church, good role models at school, etc.

I beleive this to be true. It's not impossible for someone who comes from an immoral or less moral background to have morals themselves, but the above statement holds true. It may be sound generalized but it's much more true than not. Perhaps you're the exception Cagney, rather than the rule. I am glad to hear that you have made those choices for yourself though, that is a really great thing.

[Jessika]

Last time I checked people without parents or with very litty parenting support still have morals. Morals are self obtained. I have morals that my parents don't.

Morals begin to be instilled at day one, the day you are born. Even if the person is not your parent, or biological parent, they will still have a figure that they look up to who will, knowingly or unknowingly, instill morals upon them. It does not have to necessarily be a parent but a figure they look up to.

[sasvermont]

When I referred to education, education, education, earlier in the posting process - I was referring to a general education, not just sex education. I think that, in the US, we fail to education our children properly and as a result, generation after generation fall in to the welfare, social services that were originally put in place for emergency circumstances not to sustain people for years. "Let the government programs take care of me" syndrome. With a good education, you can earn a living, contribute to society and not live off society. That is not to say that every uneducated person lives off society, but it is the education that keeps you interested, informed, productive and off the welfare rolls, or having your parents support you, for the most part. Are there exceptions? ... Surely, but without at least an high school diploma, you are looking at minimum wage jobs.

How can you support a family on minimum wage? Even then, with a high school diploma, if you don't have any direction in life...which is typical of someone 16 years old, how the hell do you expect to rear and support a child. This falls in to "what were you thinking" when you had sex without regard to birth control or the consequences of pregnancy?

I just don't get it. I think many parents fail their children in this regard. Parents and adults set the standards. Maybe some parents fail their children because they (the parents) never learned how to parent.....maybe their parents were poorly prepared as well. Who knows.

Lots people make the best out of teenage pregnancy and the baby and the teeenager grow up at the same time. It is a tough life, at best and one that could have been so different with good parenting and a good moral foundation....religion, I suppose so, although I don't think you have to be religious to have morals and be responsible and see a real future for yourself.

I am sure many of these comments will make some folks cringe. Some of the earlier posts made me cringe.

[beeniesmom]

So lets keep boys on one side of countries and girls in the other? Man oh man, I'm shocked by some of the replies on here. Although dressing skimpy is a turnoff, I don't think it promotes losing your virginity or having sex. Wearing short skirts isn't "just asking" for someone to seduce you. It's all about self morals, and self respect. People can wear skimpy clothing, have boyfriends, and be friends with males if they respect themselves, and have strong morals. Parenting has little to do with it, sure they need to educate but deep down every kid knows the downsides to teenage sex and deep down people know that absitence is the safe way to go until your older. Education isn't what is needed. Parents can say all they want and people will go against it, I know plenty of people that couldn't careless what their parents say. IMO it's all about the person. If you have morals than you can realize what you are getting yourself into. Putting the blame on parents, media etc. isn't right. When it comes down to it, it's your decision.

Ps: To answer the question, I am not in this side because I dress skimpy or any of that. As a matter of fact, I don't at all. It's just an opinion

I have to agree with you 100%.
I was laughing at a lot of the replies here.
It's different for every person.

Growing up, most of my friends were males.

I didn't have sex until I was almost 20, and it happened 4 years into an important relationship.

I always wore what I wanted and never got raped because of it.

Parenting has little to do with it: my parents never had "the talk" with me.

Education: Never attended a sex ed class.

I especially agree on this: deep down every kid knows the downsides to teenage sex and deep down people know that absitence is the safe way to go until your older.

[K9soul]

Whether you disagree with some people's thoughts or not, I think it's rude to state you were laughing at people's replies. Everyone has different viewpoints on these issues and some really took the time (and risk of getting flamed) to put their beliefs down.

There is obviously a reason why teen pregnancy is so much more prevalent in the western world than in other places. You can't just claim those in another country are simply born with more morals than those in this country. I don't believe people are born with morals and ethics. They are learned, one way or another, through life's circumstances and the people we are around. Sometimes we develop our morals based on family members we do NOT want to be like, sometimes vice versa. No one ever said people who dress scantily will get raped or that they are asking for it. No one ever said if you wear tank tops and have guy friends you WILL 100% have sex. Heck a lot of my best friends were guys as a younger person. We were simply saying it ups the CHANCES, it ups the TEMPTATION for hormones and emotions to rule a person.

[sasvermont]

K9soul, Sorry, I must not have read these threads as thoroughly as I had thought. I didn't notice the laughing part. Maybe they selected the wrong word...... This is most certainly not a laughing matter.

P. S. Someone PM'd me with a pointer about the "laughing"..... I suspect that comment was made in a general way .... an expression, if you will, and not a direct belly laugh, as in making fun. But hey, I could be wrong. Some people have a very different sense of humor .....

[lady_zana]

Whether you disagree with some people's thoughts or not, I think it's rude to state you were laughing at people's replies.

I agree with you. I have been reading this board but have refrained from making a reply because this is one of those subjects that if you polled one hundred people, you'd have one hundred answers. However, laughing at someone else's beliefs is uncalled for. I'll admit to being surprised to some of the answers and a littled shocked but I wouldn't laugh at them because I don't want people laughing at me over my ideas about teenage pregnancy or any other matter that may be discussed.

[finn's mom]

I like the fact that this thread has stayed relatively calm, with the few occassional slip ups. I've read it all, and, there are a lot of good points, and most of them are right. The thoughts may not apply to everyone all of the time, but, anyway. This is a good thread. Thanks for posting it. I hope we can keep it educational, and, not let it resort to downright ugliness.