Imagine: You’re in your mid thirties happily married with a successful career and a mother of two intelligent, beautiful girls. But how do you react when your eldest daughter, a young fifteen year old, tells you she’s three months pregnant with a baby? To be honest, what could be going through your mind except, “my baby is having a baby?” How did this slip by you and are you to blame? The answer to these questions is NO, you’re not to blame, and honestly you can’t supervise you’re children 24/7–all you can do is instill them with the right values and hopefully they follow them. Did you know that“three-quarters of a million teens between 15 and 19 become pregnant each year,”why are these numbers increasing so steadily? Is there something that society can do as a whole to lower these rates?
The question I am posing is when did it become acceptable to be a mother as a teenager? I’m not trying to discredit any of the teen moms, but when did this become accepted in modern day society. Of course, predating back to the early 1900’s, it wasn’t uncommon to be married and having a family by age 18, but in this day and age, children are so dependent on their parents, you would think it’s less common for a teen to be a mother. This society is so odd that, with shows like “16 and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom,” we’re sending the wrong message instead of urging teens to practice safe sex; we’re subconsciously promoting that it’s appropriate behavior to be a teen mom. It’s a sad statistic that “pregnant teens are less likely to attend college than teens who do not become pregnant”—sad but true. My best friend got pregnant at sixteen, had her baby and graduated high school, now her son is three years old and she still hasn’t gone to college yet; she talks about it, but at times it seems like it’s out of reach for her. This statistic is devastating and true; why is it so hard for a teen mom to further her education?
Just to clarify I’m not writing this article to discredit any teen mothers or make their efforts to achieve a better life seem insignificant in society, but I honestly feel that recent reality television shows glamorize teen pregnancy. I understand that the network producers probably thought shows like “16 and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom” would reveal the hidden struggles of teen pregnancies and hopefully encourage teens to practice safe sex, but its purpose has been successfully defeated with the growing numbers in teen pregnancy. It’s easy to not really be concerned or care about teen pregnancy, because you’re not affected by it—but just remember this can happen to anyone, because “Out of all teen pregnancies, 82% are unintended. Teen pregnancy accounts for 20% of all unplanned pregnancies annually”; keep in mind that most pregnancies are unplanned, the only way to be responsible is practice safe sex or abstain—DON’T BECOME ANOTHER STATISTIC…MAKE SMART CHOICES.
Quotes from: Lowen, Lisa.“Teen Pregnancy Statistics in the US”. <http://womensissues.about.com/od/datingandsex/tp/Teenpregancy.htm>