What's Your View On Teenage Pregnancies?

[Ajbuckly]

I think it's quite disturbing how many 'babies with babies' there are. I'm sick to death of seeing lots of young girls wandering round with about three kids in tow and they can't be older than 20.


One young single mum who lives near me (she's 27), her child is of school age, says its no point in her returning to work to get the tax credits etc as then she'll lose her free school meals and doctors prescriptions, it's beyond a joke that the Tax and NI I have to pay should fund these kind of people when I get nothing at all.

Wow. That's just disturbing to me that it actually makes MORE sense to not work and stay on Public Assistance while then the people who work have to subsidize their lifestyle.

I have no problem with Public Aid and helping out people in need. I just get irked when the system is set up to perpetuate poverty.

It's similar in The States, with the welfare system being somewhat perpetuating. However, the Medicaid system will still provide benefits up to a certain income level.

They've made a lot of changes to the system in recent years, some good, some not so good. I think it does somewhat better in providing assistance to families who need it, but there are still a lot of kinks in it.

And that's the problem here in The U.S. The people who are impacted by teenage pregnancies the most are the people at the bottom of the pile. The lower middle class and the poor.[/QUOTE]


Ops....I am here again..

But you just such say great things in here.

In Europe politicians(?) are extremly focused on high education as to compete on the gobal market. But if you are caught up in:
crime, violent in the home or have baby at 15 or doing drugs ... I hope you get my drift. And you don´t´ have a network that can back you up. You will struggle just to hang to life and getting through the day which will not leave any room for studing - let alone trying to learn anything new.
Say; ten years ago people could get a cleaning job without any cualifications(?). But nowadays in Europe not only must you be able to read to safety instructions you are to better yourself for the rest of your life. "Lifelong learning". Which for most seems fair and manegeable. But for thoose you describe I fear not.
So how responsible are we as nations as to dictating the life of "free willed" people?

 

[talkingtocactus]

I have no problem with Public Aid and helping out people in need. I just get irked when the system is set up to perpetuate poverty.

unfortunately any capitalist system will do this - the rich get richer, the poor stay in the same boat.

And that's the problem here in The U.S. The people who are impacted by teenage pregnancies the most are the people at the bottom of the pile. The lower middle class and the poor.

In Europe politicians(?) are extremly focused on high education as to compete on the gobal market. But if you are caught up in: crime, violent in the home or have baby at 15 or doing drugs ... I hope you get my drift. And you don´t´ have a network that can back you up. You will struggle just to hang to life and getting through the day which will not leave any room for studing - let alone trying to learn anything new.

yeah, poverty breeds poverty, and this is another reason teen pregnancies are more common in poorer areas - because teenagers tend to follow their mothers, and so the cycle just carries on. it's incredibly hard to make it if you have a deprived background - which is why there are so many films about the rare people that do. the problem as i see it is that in a rampantly capitalist society, poverty is inevitable and will only get worse. i'm not a marxist (at least not quite) and i'm not naive enough to think it can be overthrown, but it really is at the root of so many social problems, and those social problems only perpetuate themselves.

 

[Ajbuckly]

I have no problem with Public Aid and helping out people in need. I just get irked when the system is set up to perpetuate poverty.

unfortunately any capitalist system will do this - the rich get richer, the poor stay in the same boat.

And that's the problem here in The U.S. The people who are impacted by teenage pregnancies the most are the people at the bottom of the pile. The lower middle class and the poor.

In Europe politicians(?) are extremly focused on high education as to compete on the gobal market. But if you are caught up in: crime, violent in the home or have baby at 15 or doing drugs ... I hope you get my drift. And you don´t´ have a network that can back you up. You will struggle just to hang to life and getting through the day which will not leave any room for studing - let alone trying to learn anything new.

yeah, poverty breeds poverty, and this is another reason teen pregnancies are more common in poorer areas - because teenagers tend to follow their mothers, and so the cycle just carries on. it's incredibly hard to make it if you have a deprived background - which is why there are so many films about the rare people that do. the problem as i see it is that in a rampantly capitalist society, poverty is inevitable and will only get worse. i'm not a marxist (at least not quite) and i'm not naive enough to think it can be overthrown, but it really is at the root of so many social problems, and those social problems only perpetuate themselves.

I think idealogy be that one or the other might over and done with today as we have evolved into the gobal soicety. Look at the ThaiTsunami It was local event but affected more nationalities AND was headlined in most European countries. As for the economy look at the American begining to the Japanese trademarket. We were/are talk global crisis as an accepted term.(I was however VERY surprised to see how much China has invested in US and how dependent they are of thoose investments??) Guess Marxist money is more important then anyone would like to think and guess the bad captialists nations ain´t so bad anyways either.) Which is a discussion all on it´own as the liberation of Tibet and peoples rights in China.

But for any idealogy and our gobal world to work it has to provide man with better options to succed in life. When we used to live in caves we had to set up rules and rites in order to stick together against "them" and divide the workload so some would hunt and some would defend. You usually had the same values as the rest of the group or you tried to fit in.
Nowadays if you like toothpicksculpturing you go online and find others that do. Leaving your need to relate and/or depend on others minimal. The only thing that is left will be the norm: "The good life" in which you will have the surplus/morality/concience to care whether or not you see poor people and do something about it.

But will we ever agree on a global idea and global goverment? No because we are different. Look at the Roman Impire(?) ...Brutus did like the direction Cesar was going and put an end to that. The nation in itself the greatest thing at the time. Yes the slaves might disagree but it wasn´t a slave that killed Cesar. It was a welleducated and rich roman.

But we are back at the root of things. We belive in free will. But when free will leads people to do things the norm disagrees on. Getting pregant at 15. And puts a strain on a system that did expect x number of people to depend on Social Services AND we are more people getting old then are out there to earn money and pay taxes. And having - say 15 - 20 % of each generation without education and/or work. Some with a couple of kids. Then what?

 

[Jacquie]

Comes by and wonders where 'What's Your View On Teenage Pregnancies?' went. Let's get back on topic please

 

[talkingtocactus]

^ eek, sorry! i was trying (rather long windedly!) to say that teenage pregnancies are the product of societal problems.

 

[Ajbuckly]

^ eek, sorry! i was trying (rather long windedly!) to say that teenage pregnancies are the product of societal problems.

Me too...Sorry ....I agree with Lisa splitting topic is difficult as it is part/caused/problem of the world we live in.

 

[Jacquie]

Yes I do realize that teenage pregnancies can be a result of social economics but we don't need to get into the detail that was gotten into

And as to say that teen pregnancies are a result of societal problems is in my opinion not correct. To me I see this as saying that kids that do get pregnant are from poorer families. My sister was 17 when she first got pregnant. I don't think we were 'poor' growing up. For my sister's case it was ignorance and lack of education. You can get 'better off' girls getting pregnant just as much as the poorer girls. I think we may see more of the poorer girls because their parents can't afford to ship them off to Aunt Susie who lives in the country.

 

[talkingtocactus]

^ ah yeah, of course, not all of them are, but a lot are, and especially if they are perpetuated, for instance if lots of generations have very young pregnancies. girls get pregnant in all social backgrounds (just as there are rich upper class heroin addicts) but a large number happen in more socially deprived regions. also they're the ones that tend to (a) make the news and (b) get vilified by the public because they're the ones that claim, and need, state support to raise their baby. someone from a richer background is far less likely to need such things, and so doens't get so much of the social stigma (at least in this day and age, in the past they did).

 

[allmaple]

i do think there are teens from all walks of life that get pregnant, but there is evidence that people from lower income families and who have a lower level of education have children younger and have bigger families.

just from the area that i lived in, my highschool was considered a "rich" school even though there was variety. there was only one pregnancy while i was there and two more after graduation. i dont know what happened after i left. another school that was considered a "poor" school had to start a day care because so many students had babies.

there are always going to be exception, but there is certainly a trend forming. but who knows, it could flip. maybe the teens from well off families will think babies are the next "it" accessory...

 

[Jacquie]

there are always going to be exception, but there is certainly a trend forming. but who knows, it could flip. maybe the teens from well off families will think babies are the next "it" accessory...

That's all we need. The next 'it' accessory is my 2 week old baby I know this is a serious subject

 

[Shytownmofo]

I don't think it's necessarily that teenagers who are on the low end of the socioeconomic scale get pregnant more, because I think that the numbers would probably be similar across the board. I couldn't tell from just a quick google.

However, the issue, especially for teens already at the bottom of the barrel, is the impact of having a child at such a young age. Chiefly, the fact that, according to www.pregnancy-info.net, "most" teenage mothers will not finish high school*, and that up to 80% of them end up on Public Aid.

If there are resources available, then the family can adapt easier, and the grandparents can take a more active role in raising the baby, or afford more daycare, etc, or even pretend that the baby is theirs, and things can go on without as much upheaval.

However, if there aren't that many resources, and/or it's a single parent family, then, there's not as much room to adapt, or resources.


*even though via the ADA or another act that I can't remember the title of, that makes it the law to provide all children with an education, no matter what. If there are compications, such as a medical condition or a pregnancy, the school system is required to make accomodations, such as home tutoring so they do not lose ground. Granted, whatever happens after the baby is born is fair game, but at least while the young lady is pregnant and in the few weeks after, things are taken care of.

 

[Coco Chanel]

This is a very controversial topic.

I think the person with the greatest liability to get hurt in teenage pregnancy situations is the child. I think that it's the mothers decision how to deal with situations like this when, god forbid, they occur. There are so many possible different outcomes from a teenager having a baby, but not all of them are bad..

I was adopted, and my biological mother was 14 when she gave birth to me (my biological father was 22). The pregnancy was effecting her badly, and I was born through C-section a month early because she couldn't handle it, as a result i was in an incubator for about two months, but I was absolutely fine. My only 'defect' today is that i'm slightly near sighted, so minor that glasses are optional.

My point is that babies can survive alot physically, but not emotionally. I don't think accidental teen pregnancies are bad, because for alot of families they have great outcomes. My parents had tried for a baby for 7 years, had 4 miscarriages, 1 still birth and one that died after he was born, so I have no doubt that I came as a blessing to them.
I also have no doubt that I have a better life now than I ever would have had growing up with a mother 14 years my elder.
My biological mother will probably be scared forever but she'll have no doubt that she did a great thing, and I think that that makes it livable.

aaanyway, that's my opinion what happens happens, and once it's happened, you can't change it you just gotta find some way to live with it.

 

[talkingtocactus]

^ i completely agree, so often the debate focusses on the mother, the mother's background and so on but the child often doesn't get a mention. i think this is why i'm in favour of benefits for new mothers - regardless of how young or delinquent they are - because if it gets the child a better life, it's worth it. of course they could be better structured so they're a direct benefit to the baby, but that's fixable i think.

you're right about the trauma, babies can be very resilient creatures - this is slightly ot but i had major physical trauma as a baby, i was in hospital for 2.5 years on and off (mainly on) but actually that physical problem has almost no bearing on my life at all now. that said, the emotional problems that came from it are still pretty spectacular! i know lots of people whose parents were very dodgy in terms of abuse, or neglect or whatever) and they don't struggle with the physical aspects anything like as much as the emotional ones. as long as a person can give a kid the care and attention it needs, then they shouldn't be penalised, even if they are young or poor or whatever - i know more people whose parents were young and struggling but caring who are happy, than i know people who had rich, older parents who didn't give a crap who are happy.

 

[pretty_in_pink]

I think it's horrible and cruel to call teen pregnancies "disgusting" or to insult the women. Especially if you're pro-life (not getting into that, I'm just saying, if you want every woman to carry a child to term, you really should try your best not to call them a slut). I also think it's horrible that teens are getting pregnant in such high numbers. Generally, they aren't ready to be parents, and frankly, whether you think so or not, it does reduce their ability to go to college and have a good paying career later in life. They're focusing on having/caring for a child, there's not enough time to get a college education (generally). Also, the double standard of teen mothers vs. teen fathers is disgusting.

But honestly, we can't blame it entirely on the kids. Society (especially more conservative/religious people...sorry, it's the truth) pushes this ideal on us that, "Sex is bad, and if you do it, you're dirt, and you're going to Hell!" They find some semblance of comfort in their distorted view that plugging their ears and yelling, "LALALALALA" will make premarital sex go away. It's ridiculous.

My view is that birth control and condoms should be readily available at schools (if someone didn't want their child getting bc from the school, they could opt out of it), and that abstinence only sex-ed should be done away with entirely (abstinence could still be taught, but I think it's highly ridiculous to only teach abstinence). Also, parents need to take charge and tell their children about sex!