Teen Pregnancy.., How many agree it's stupid!! Options

[much2muse]

Oh geez there's girls at my school who find out their pregnant and their like "OH YAY my life got BETTER!". I'm thinking.. "Gawd, you're an idiot". So i vote wanting to/trying to is stupid.

[Sammiebanks]

you cant dictate like that, its not possible to generalise everyone. I had a child at 17, and look after her with all my heart and soul, she's the best thing that ever happened to me and i couldnt imagine life without her anymore. It wasnt one of those, 'oh wow i wanna baby, now!' things, but when it happened by accident, we coped.

i do think its silly when people decide they want children and wont ever change their minds, it is quite daft, and the cases where the grandparents end up raising the baby too. its silly.

i manage having Abi, College and 3 jobs too, its possible, its just that many new young mums are too lazy and get a name for all of us young mums.

im proud of the fact that i'm a young mum, and cope fantastically in my opinion!

Sammie x

[princess*missy]

Aww... How cute.. I love babies... How old is it now? (I know I'm noisy... lol..)

But anyways back to the topic... I agree with your opinion on it... In some cases (like yours) a child turns out to be the most precious thing to ever happen to you... if you can afford one then yes, it's ok to get pregnant at a young age, but in this case (as I've stated in previous post) she knows she can't afford a baby and she's still trying to have one. That seems a little ridiculous to me... and to everyone else at our school...

[voguelove]

yes. i think its stupid.

-About 11 percent of all U.S. births in 2002 were to teens (ages 15 to 19)2. The majority of teenage births (about 67 percent) are to girls ages 18 and 19.2
-About 860,000 teenagers become pregnant each year, and about 425,000 give birth.2
-About one in three teenagers becomes pregnant before age 20.3
-The teenage birth rate is declining. Between 1991 and 2002, the rate fell by 30 percent (from 61.8 per 1,000 women to 43).2 Still, in 2002 (the most recent year for which data are available), about 4 teenage girls in 100 had a baby.
-About 17 percent of teen mothers go on to have a second baby within three years after the birth of their first baby.1
-Teen mothers are more likely than mothers over age 20 to give birth prematurely (before 37 completed weeks of pregnancy). In 2002, the 7,315 girls under age 15 who gave birth were more than twice as likely to deliver prematurely than women ages 30 to 34 (21 vs. 9 percent).2 Babies born too soon face an increased risk of newborn health problems and even death, as well as lasting disabilities.
-Teens too often have poor eating habits, neglect to take their vitamins, and may smoke, drink alcohol and take drugs, increasing the risk that their babies will be born with health problems. Studies also show that teens are less likely than older women to be of adequate pre-pregnancy weight and/or to gain an adequate amount of weight during pregnancy (25 to 35 pounds is recommended for women of normal weight). Low weight gain increases the risk of having a low-birthweight baby (less than 5½ pounds).
-Pregnant teens are more likely to smoke than pregnant women over age 25. In 2002, 13.4 percent of pregnant teens ages 15 to 17 and 18.2 percent of those ages 18 to 19 smoked, compared to 11.4 of all pregnant women.2 Smoking doubles a woman’s risk of having a low-birthweight baby, and also increases the risk of pregnancy complications, premature birth and stillbirth.
-Pregnant teens are least likely of all maternal age groups to get early and regular prenatal care. In 2002, 6.6 percent of mothers ages 15 to 19 years received late or no prenatal care (compared to 3.6 percent for all ages).2
-A teenage mother is at greater risk than women over age 20 for pregnancy complications such as premature labor, anemia and high blood pressure. These risks are even greater for teens who are under 15 years old.2 These youngest mothers also may be more than twice as likely to die of pregnancy complications than mothers ages 20 to 24.3
-Three million teens are affected by sexually transmitted diseases annually, out of a total of 12 million cases reported. These include chlamydia (which can cause sterility), syphilis (which can cause blindness, maternal death, and death of the infant) and HIV (the virus which causes AIDS, which may be fatal to the mother and infant).4
-In 2002, 9.6 percent of mothers ages 15 to 19 years had a low-birthweight baby (under 5.5 pounds), compared to 7.8 percent for mothers of all ages. The risk is higher for younger mothers: 11.3 percent of 15-year-old mothers had a low-birthweight baby in 2002 (18,703 girls this age gave birth, and 2,112 had low birthweight babies), compared to 8.9 percent of women aged 19 (168,111 births, with 14,920 of low birthweight).2
-Low-birthweight babies may have organs that are not fully developed. This can lead to lung problems such as respiratory distress syndrome, or bleeding in the brain, vision loss and serious intestinal problems.
-Low-birthweight babies are more than 20 times as likely to die in their first year of life as normal-weight babies.
-Teen mothers are more likely to drop out of high school than girls who delay childbearing. A 1997 study showed that only 41 percent of teenagers who have children before age 18 go on to graduate from high school compared to 61 percent of teens from similar social and economic backgrounds who did not give birth until ages 20 or 21.5
-With her education cut short, a teenage mother may lack job skills, making it hard for her to find and keep a job. A teenage mother may become financially dependent on her family or on public assistance. Teen mothers are more likely to live in poverty than women who delay childbearing, and over 75 percent of all unmarried teen mothers go on welfare within 5 years of the birth of their first child.5
-Teens may not have good parenting skills, or have the social support systems to help them deal with the stress of raising an infant.
-A child born to an unmarried teenage high school dropout is 10 times as likely as other children to be living in poverty at ages 8 to 12.6
-A child born to a teenage mother is 50 percent more likely to repeat a grade in school, and is more likely to perform poorly on standardized tests and drop out before finishing high school.5

http://www.marchofdimes.com/professionals/681_1159.asp

[animalinside]

If you're mature enough to have sex, then you're mature to have a child and vice-versa. It's that simple

[princess*missy]

yes. i think its stupid.
http://www.marchofdimes.com/professionals/681_1159.asp

awesome research!... maybe i should show this to her..... especially the one about the premature one.

[foreverNalways]

Some people have the wrong view on pregency. They think it'll bring them closer to their boyfriend.. I'm sorry but if anything it's going to tear you apart. I think it is dumb. Because you are still in school, you don't have a full time job with benefits. You can't support a child, let along yourself. And without benefits from a good paying job, you aren't going to get far.

[Musica.]

Im in the 9th grade..and i know atleast 2 people in my grade that has had a baby..In my high school everywhere you turn..some one has either had a baby..is going to have a baby..or just finding out that they are pregnant..

There are even girls in Junior High down there that are pregnant..

No wonder nobody wants to come to my city..it is very nasty..

[princess*missy]

Im in the 9th grade..and i know atleast 2 people in my grade that has had a baby..In my high school everywhere you turn..some one has either had a baby..is going to have a baby..or just finding out that they are pregnant..

There are even girls in Junior High down there that are pregnant..

No wonder nobody wants to come to my city..it is very nasty..

first off, welcome to Cb! and i'm in the 10th... same at my school... I betcha half of the school either is pregnant, just found out their pregnant, or already had a baby... it's so sad... and probably only 1/4 of those half still have the daddy beside them, supporting them...

[oXMuhNirvanaXo]

This, in my eyes, I think is a bad Idea. They are most likely not out of school and don't have enough money to take care of a child yet. It fucks the childs life up along with the mothers and the fathers. That is just what I think.

[GemLou]

Part of me thinks it is and part thinks not..
I know of 2 girls who couldn't take their GCSE's for being pregnant,
Trouble is in this day and society alot of teenage girls do it for the benefits they get from having a kid,
They don't do it for the love anymore..

[princess*missy]

Part of me thinks it is and part thinks not..
I know of 2 girls who couldn't take their GCSE's for being pregnant,
Trouble is in this day and society alot of teenage girls do it for the benefits they get from having a kid,
They don't do it for the love anymore..

Benefits? What type of benefits? Explain please.... The only way I can see it is they lose their education to a super hard-working life... although some are lucky and make it through high school...but none to college.

[HongKongDong]

Benefits? What type of benefits? Explain please.... The only way I can see it is they lose their education to a super hard-working life... although some are lucky and make it through high school...but none to college.

Then I guess you're not aware of the many programs out there helping teenage mothers get through school. Such as paying for their college tuitions and prive study courses.

Like GemLou mentioned, some are doing it just for the benefits, maybe because they don't have the money themselves to pay for college or to stay in school.

In my view point it's completely idiotic to want to have a baby for these reasons. Then again, I don't know what it's like to be really poor and to be desperate for that good education to have a better life. I've always taken it for granted.

It's for certain though, taking care of a child as a teenager is no easy task. $1000 a week couldn't get you through all the shiz you have to pay for the baby itself.

[x0xSilverNColdx0...]

Then I guess you're not aware of the many programs out there helping teenage mothers get through school. Such as paying for their college tuitions and prive study courses.

Like GemLou mentioned, some are doing it just for the benefits, maybe because they don't have the money themselves to pay for college or to stay in school.

In my view point it's completely idiotic to want to have a baby for these reasons. Then again, I don't know what it's like to be really poor and to be desperate for that good education to have a better life. I've always taken it for granted.

It's for certain though, taking care of a child as a teenager is no easy task. $1000 a week couldn't get you through all the shiz you have to pay for the baby itself.

Not to mention the welfare money.

Anyway, I do know a girl in my school that's trying to get pregnant. She's very white trash. Usually the guys she's doing things with are like twice her age, & she's been this way since 8th grade (we're seniors in hs now). I think she wants to have the kid for attention; she's faked pregnancies & miscarriages several times. She plans on getting an aparatment w/ her best guy friend & wants to have the kid with him or another friend. However she's unemployed, her best guy friend calls himself a "street pharmacist" & already has a kid that's on welfare, & the other guy lives in Texas! She lives in NJ. & yet she aspires to go to college & become a special ed teacher. They can't afford the apt., nevermind a child. The one time I spoke to her, she said that she would help her guy friend out with his "work", but hello! children & drug dealing do not go together. I told her that they take children away from parents that do drugs & deal, but she didn't listen to me. & I think it's sad that she'd want to do this, seeing as her mother had her as a teen, & she grew up watching her mother struggle.

As for teen pregnancy, I feel both ways. I think it's stupid if you're having unprotected sex & get pregnant; you should know better. But I understand accidents happen, condoms can break, & in cases like that, I feel bad b/c they were smart enough to take protective measures. We've had several girls in my school get pregnant. Suprisingly though, most of the fathers stayed around. It's interesting though b/c in my parenting class, we run a free preschool program, so you get to see a lot of the girls that had kids in hs come back with their children 2 or 3 years later & see how they're doing. It's nice to say though that the teen parents are doing pretty well. The one girl's parents had her senior year, & they both managed to graduate college; the father even got his masters, they both have good jobs, & they live in a nice townhouse.

[princess*missy]

Oh yeah those benefits! I've heard of them... it just didn't click right away... sorry.. well, people who do get pregnant (on purpose ONLY) just for the help of the giving, are just plain selfish, at least in my eyes.

[xBUTTMUNCHx]

i have nothing aganist it, cause i know ppo have their own reasons, but teens shouldn't jump to being a mommy THAT fast...yan'kno????

[AKAsuperconn]

Uh, so id have to say its pretty stupid
dont do it, youre only hurting the kid. especially if you dont keep it.
my mom had me when she was 14, i dont know her
or my dad.

Thats a big OOPSIES on her part