Teenage pregnancies and the battle to end them...

[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..

[Muddy4paws]

My opinion on this subject is from my personal experience, I'm 18 years old and got taught "sex education" at school from the age of 11, but it wasnt actually sex education as in birth control and explaining about what happens, it was more about changes to the body and periods etc.

We learned about a bit more about it one 30 mins lesson (Aged 16) I mean come on half my school had lost it by then and yeah mistakes did happen yeah and even in that lesson it wasnt a graphic lesson it was diagrams on the board of your insides, I mean I wasn't expecting a live show or anything of that sort but I really thought it could of been abit more realistic, we watched a video on it and it was just so fake everyone laughed through it so no one took anything in.

You want to know when we had that demostration of putting a ..... on a bloke? Aged 16. One of my last lessons at school and to be honest for most people in my school it was just too late!

I can honestly say that most things I have learned about sex education have come from magazines and personal experiences but I seriously think that sex education needs to be stepped up quickly to prevent more teenage pregnancys.


Another thing about clinics and hospitals.. I hated going in for birth control and being looked down their noses at you for being under 18 they would make you feel so ashamed and I hated it .. So to be honest I dont blame them teens who try to avoid them places.. I wouldn't of gone back if I hadnt of had someone to come with me, They dont treat you with respect or anything but I mean come on if teens are willing to go to a place like that, Its nerveracking enough without some moody old cow looking down her nose and being snobby about everything. I know some teenagers are just down right rude to people but not all of us are and yes I do have manners and I've been taught to use them so I expected some back ...

This subject just really gets to me, I think if sex education was more down to earth instead of diagrams of your insides It would get through to alot more teenagers.

I can tell you one thing though, When I done childcare at college I was made to watch a video of a mother giving birth (twice ) believe me the camera was focused in a certain position! I know for a fact that it certainly put me off of having sex for a long time!

[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.

[lizbud]

What if the poster had used the word smiled instead of laughed ?
I really don't think she meant to make fun of anyone's feelings. I did
have to smile myself at someone's idea that it's possible to spring from
the womb equipped with a fully formed set of morals & principals.

Most of us have to rightly give credit to some adult role models in their
lfes whether it's parents, teachers. or another adults.