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Teenage Pregnancy

Posted by janizarzagon • 9/01/08 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic

Can you share your thoughts about young girls who are getting pregnant in their early stage.

User Comments

9/01/08

voodooKobra

None of my concern. I'm 18 (almost 19) and still a virgin.

[reply]
9/01/08

MadameX

That's a pretty open-ended question. Thoughts on the morality of it? On whether or not it's a problem? On the problems they face as teenage, usually single, mothers? On the impact on the children they bear? On the responsibility of the parents of the girls?

[reply]
1. 9/02/08
  
  janizarzagon
  
  that's very kind of you and your husband..
9/01/08

janizarzagon

lol!really?are you not affected by the situation?

[reply]
1. 9/01/08
  
  voodooKobra
  
  Nope. Stupid people are going to continue to breed with other stupid people at young ages. I can't stop that, so I don't care.
9/01/08

janizarzagon

@voodookobra,
sarah palin's 17 yrs old daughter is pregnant.

[reply]
1. 9/01/08
  
  voodooKobra
  
  Good for her. How does that help me pay for college?
9/01/08

DrowseyMonkey

Teenagers have been getting pregnant since the beginning of time. Nothing new or earth shattering. And by the way, teenage girls don't get pregnant on their own ... odd how the teenage boys rarely factor into the discussion.

[reply]
9/01/08

gmoney

I feel that it is burden on society and the tax payers in America.

[reply]
1. 9/01/08
  
  DrowseyMonkey
  
  good lord, lol. Here we go again. Seriously ... like I said in the other thread I think you're either secretly a Republican or an 80 year old. LOL
2. 9/01/08
  
  gmoney
  
  you are funny.......
9/01/08

janizarzagon

Maam DrowseyMonkey,
are you a mother?

[reply]
1. 9/01/08
  
  voodooKobra
  
  EDIT: I was being sarcastic. O_O
2. 9/01/08
  
  DrowseyMonkey
  
  nope. what difference does that make?
9/01/08

janizarzagon

voodooKobra, well at least you are concern,what is happening in our society?

[reply]
1. 9/01/08
  
  DrowseyMonkey
  
  What society? In Canada I'm pretty sure teenage pregnancy is on the decline.
2. 9/01/08
  
  voodooKobra
  
  The self-righteous are over-reporting non-issues. That's what's happening.
9/01/08

Anok

Physically speaking, I think it's quite natural, as we weren't designed to have babies, or even live, into the decades we do now.

Sociologically speaking, we have a society that has stunted the maturity levels and lowered the personal responsibility bar so that even women in their young twenties aren't well prepared for bearing, and more importantly, raising children.

The childlike egocentric psychology that, without medical science intervention for long lives, would be shed somewhere in the teen aged years is now lingering on into the twenties, and for some poor parents, their kids in the thirties who still haven't left the proverbial nest.

So unless we as a group decided to either wholly support young mothers in every aspect, or completely change our sociological cultures and bias, teenage pregnancies continue to be problematic for everyone involved.

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9/01/08

janizarzagon

Maam DrowseyMonkey, Im just asking.

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9/01/08

LoveIan

It is my firm belief that other people's sexual/family business is their business.

It is their own decision (or their problem).

My only belief regarding teenage pregnancy is that sexual education is important - every child should be educated and be made fully aware of all their options regarding birth control, abortion, sexually transmitted infections, pregnancy and everything related by a medical health professional.

[reply]
1. 9/02/08
  
  timethief
  
  I agree wholeheartedly.
  
  Realities:
  Since 1991, U.S. teenage pregnancy, abortion, and birth rates have declined steadily in every age and racial/ethnic group. Teenage birth rates declined in every state as well as in the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands.
  
  Research indicates that sexually active teens are becoming more effective users of contraception and that more teens are choosing to remain abstinent during early and middle adolescence. Nevertheless, the United States continues to have higher rates of teen pregnancy, birth, and abortion than other industrialized nations.
  
  Teens ages 18 and 19 account for as much as 66 percent of U.S. teen births. Most teenage mothers come from socially and/or economically disadvantaged backgrounds and adolescent motherhood often compounds this disadvantage.
  
  Teen Pregnancy Prevention
  While recent data shows that the U.S. teen pregnancy rates are falling, the United States has the highest rates of teen pregnancy and births in the western industrialized world, with thirty-five percent of young women becoming pregnant at least once before they reach the age of 20 -- about 850,000 a year. The NEA Health Information Network is particularly concerned about these numbers because teen mothers are less likely to complete high school (only one-third receive a high school diploma) and only 1.5% have a college degree by age 30.
  
  HIV/AIDS, sexually-transmitted diseases and unintended pregnancy are major public health concerns, with rates in the U.S. higher than any other industrialized country.
  Source: www.neahin.org/about/index.html
  
  Common Sense
  It seems obvious to me that what needs to be the focus is:
  Strengthening a culture of personal responsibility regarding sex, getting pregnant, and bringing children into the world, as well as strengthening the practice of always using contraception when you aren’t ready to have a child;
  
  Supporting responsible policies that will increase the use of contraception, particularly by those who cannot afford it and by those at greatest risk for having an unplanned pregnancy; and
  
  Providing more education to teens, parents, and young adults that encourages them to take sex and pregnancy seriously, stresses personal responsibility and respectful relationships, and includes extensive information about contraception.
  
  U.S. Teenage Pregnancy Statistics:
  Overall Trends, Trends by Race and Ethnicity and State-by-State Information www.guttmacher.org/pubs/teen_preg_stats.html
  U.S. Teenage Pregnancy Statistics National and State Trends and Trends by Race and Ethnicity
  www.guttmacher.org/pubs/2006/09/12/USTPstats.pdf
2. 9/02/08
  
  LoveIan
  
  Wow, timethief, I'm continually impressed by the amount of and quality of research you always provide to back up your opinions.
  (I'm glad I'm not on the opposite side of this debate! =D)
9/01/08

csiunatc

Heres an interesting side note.

Just up the street from me there is a young couple. They had their first child when they were both 17. They were married at 18. Are now 24 and have another child who is 2. Mother is a successful small business owner, father a surveyor for the city.

Their next door neighbor is an alcoholic mother in her 40's who just had her 12 - 10 and 9 year old children placed in foster home.

Is age important? Sure, Is it a 100% determiner of anything. Not at all.

[reply]
1. 9/02/08
  
  poisonapplesauce
  
  well said
2. 9/02/08
  
  Anok
  
  It's also anecdotal, and not the norm.
9/01/08

janizarzagon

Here in the Philippines statistics show that teenage pregnancy is increasing.
The Government is pursuing to teach the high school students about sex education.

[reply]
1. 9/01/08
  
  voodooKobra
  
  Good. They need to teach the kids and give away contraceptives for free at the health department. That will cut down on the number of abortions, too.
9/01/08

janizarzagon

But the church is protesting these issue.
The church doesn't allow advertisement that teenagers being use as a model.

[reply]
1. 9/02/08
  
  voodooKobra
  
  [But the church is protesting these issue.]
  Who cares what the church does? We're all individuals capable of critical thinking, right?
2. 9/02/08
  
  DrowseyMonkey
  
  Well, there's the problem. If people are going to let the church dictate these things you can expect a lot more teenage pregnancies.
3. 9/02/08
  
  carlgalloway
  
  Yup, the reality is the number of people who pay any kind of attention to a church is no longer the majority yet they still wield disproportionate influence.
4. 9/02/08
  
  MadameX
  
  "If people are going to let the church dictate these things you can expect a lot more teenage pregnancies"
  
  Well, technically, if people let the church dictate EVERYTHING, there wouldn't be ANY teenage pregnancies, unless there were a lot of early marriages.
  
  Seriously, though, I'm thinking back through the years and I can't recall the last time there was a teenage pregnancy in my parish. The problem doesn't come from "letting the church dictate", but from mixing and matching--letting the church dictate bits and pieces without living the whole lifestyle and community that goes with it. It's sort of like taking birth control pills a few days a month.
5. 9/02/08
  
  voodooKobra
  
  MadameX: Since we're not a theocracy, the bits and pieces are only damaging.
6. 9/02/08
  
  DrowseyMonkey
  
  @MadameX Perhaps in the US. But in other countries where the church wields a stronger arm ... access to alternatives other than abstinence is almost unheard of.
7. 9/02/08
  
  MadameX
  
  When you say "we", Kobra, I think you're changing the context of the discussion a bit. The OP is speaking of the situation in the Phillipines.
8. 9/02/08
  
  voodooKobra
  
  Ah, quite right.
9/02/08

janizarzagon

That's the point. The church is teaching differently.

[reply]
1. 9/02/08
  
  DrowseyMonkey
  
  So people should stop listening to them. Kind of hard to have sympathy for people who won't think for themselves.
2. 9/02/08
  
  voodooKobra
  
  Who cares? The church also taught that the Earth was flat. Were they right?
9/02/08

timethief

Teenage pregnancy is linked to several risk factors. Being poor, living in a single-parent household, child abuse, and risky behaviors such as drug abuse and early or unprotected sex are all predictors of whether a teenager will become pregnant. Notice that I said predictions and not guarantees.

Overall, there are no simple approaches; a strategy to reduce teenage pregnancy must include emphasis on personal responsibility, sex education, strategies for teen pregnancy prevention, and changing teenage behavior in relationships.

Focusing only on personal responsibility by teaching abstinence alone has not proven to be effective. Teens must be educated in all forms of birth control to prevent unwanted pregnancies and to protect themselves against STDs.

[reply]
1. 9/02/08
  
  MadameX
  
  I also notice that many arguments seem to assume teen pregnancies are "unwanted" pregnancies. Of course, that is often the case, but it is also often emphatically not the case. For a variety of reasons, many teenage girls choose to become mothers.
2. 9/02/08
  
  voodooKobra
  
  And it's not always a good decision, but it's theirs to make.
9/02/08

janizarzagon

voodooKobra,
the church believe theologically.

[reply]
1. 9/02/08
  
  voodooKobra
  
  Screw the church. The church doesn't matter. What do YOU think, independently?
2. 9/02/08
  
  janizarzagon
  
  why you're attacking the church?
  you don't believe in god?or the people whose leading it?
3. 9/02/08
  
  voodooKobra
  
  I'm not attacking anything. My point is that the church is completely irrelevant. You're allowed to think for yourself without the church's consent! Don't get confused by rhetoric.
4. 9/02/08
  
  carlgalloway
  
  You are obviously a devout church going Christian, but a lot of us aren't. Asking if we believe in God isn't really appropriate.
  
  As for me, I am a Christian in the sense that I approve of the philosophical teachings of a man named Jesus. But I certainly don't believe that any Church is worthy of my support, and in my life I have come to the conclusion that God in the biblical sense does not exist.
9/02/08

janizarzagon

Madame X,if you're a mother, would you like your daughter to get married in her early age because she gets pregnant?

[reply]
1. 9/02/08
  
  MadameX
  
  That's a very complicated question. I would hope that she would be married before she got pregnant, but if it happened otherwise then the circumstances would dictate the answer to that question: the character of the young man in question, their relationship, their relative maturity (or lack thereof) at the time.
  
  As it happens, my 18-year-old stepdaughter did recently have a child. She chose to become pregnant, and I wish that she had opted to get married first, as she has been involved with the baby's father for four years and plans to marry him eventually. I think that all three of them are facing challenges that weren't necessary as a result.
  
  However, she has made the decisions she's made and how I would have preferred she sequence the events isn't really the most important issue on any of our plates right now. Our job at this point is to surround her child with love and help her and her child's father grow into parenting with as much experienced support as we can provide.
2. 9/02/08
  
  janizarzagon
  
  well, we have different practice here in the Philippines.
  Yeah, I got your point.
  Well see, after few years things maybe different.
9/02/08

Arcticulates

There are a lot of countries that have different views of when a female can have a child. It depends on the culture and what the norms are in each area..

There are a lot of teen pregnancies here in United States, we expect our teenagers to act like young adults, but then act shocked if someone gets pregnant.

It is always easy to have 20/20 vision after the deed is done, and say what should or could have been done.

The "church" does have a very strong voice in the area you live in. I know because one of my best friends is from there. It is hard for the people who have been born and raised there to go against what they respect.

It is a serious dilemma that I wish I could help you with, but I like many others have no answers.

[reply]
9/02/08

acousticguitarist

I find your questioning tedious.

I'm surprised that a mature aged woman would ask such a question

[reply]
9/17/09

msj904

Schooling comes to an end and mental torture takes over

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