In This Section
TV Guide Spotlight
Also on TVGuide.com
|
« Today's News: Our Take
Are We Having a Teen Pregnancy Moment?
Jamie Lynn Spears by Gregg DeGuire/ WireImage.com
Have you read this story? Time magazine is reporting that a group of high-school girls in Gloucester, Mass., who are all under the age of 16, made a pact to intentionally get pregnant and raise their children together. I'll let you excavate all the sad details of that situation on your own, but it got me thinking: What has happened that teenagers want to have children?
The Today show reported on Friday that teenage pregnancy rates have gone up for the first time in 15 years. Referencing the Time story, they offered a group of experts who offered possible explanations for the intention to get pregnant at such a young age. One proffered that having a baby is akin to having a pet that offers you unconditional love. Another argued that having a baby is the latest fashion accessory, made popular by the media coverage of young, unwed celebrities whose "baby bumps" are all the rage these days.
At the box office, Knocked Up wrestled — albeit comically — with the difficulties of becoming an unwed mother. Juno earned an Oscar for telling a tender story of teen pregnancy sketched in really broad strokes.
Oh, and you know what else happened on Friday? Nickelodeon star Jamie Lynn Spears, 17, gave birth to a daughter, Maddie Briann. Now I'm no reactionary moralist who is going to tell you that Spears' pregnancy is good, bad, or otherwise, but it begs the question: Is pop culture making it seem cool to be a young mom? -– Mickey O'Connor
|
TVGuide Links:
|
|
|
|
Jun 21, 2008 2:34 PM
|
Yes, these kids had a horribly unrealistic idea of what it would be like to have children and did think of them more as pets than as human beings. It's disgusting.
But the root of their problem probably goes back to their own upbringing, which was obviously lacking. Their parents were probably too busy being selfish losers who didn't spend enough time being parents. Kids need far more attention than people today are led to believe, because people today still want to be able to put themselves first. The motto is "I deserve this".
And finally, the schools did a horrible job of teaching these kids what it means to be sexually active and to have babies.
I don't put the bulk of the blame on the schools, because parents really need to take the bulk of responsibility whenever it comes to the upbringing of their kids. But these kids obviously had nobody teaching them anything.
And let's be serious. People (I'm talking adults) have kids because they want cool pets, or because they just want them. Not because they can afford to devote the proper amount of time or effort to them. Not because they're ready to give up some of the freedom they had before. After all, there's always someplace you can drop a kid off and stop being a parent for a little while.
|
|
Jun 21, 2008 3:19 PM
|
I read this article yesterday and it makes some valid points. But again I feel like Hollywood is such an easy target and everyone wants to blame them for the problems in our society. We need to understand that Hollywood and our world are not the same, the rules and laws do not apply to both equally.
I'm tired of people blaming Hollywood because girls are starving themselves to become disgustingly skinny or trying to get pregnant at 16 so they can start a teen-mama club. Let's just call it what it is, these kids lack a thing called common sense and this goes far beyond the "childish behavior" excuse.
Yes Hollywood does influence our children and they have an easier time doing it but the point I'm trying to make is that it is not intended and also parents are with their children EVERY SINGLE DAY, while Hollywood is with them a few hours at a time. If we want reach our children then parents are going to have to work harder for it rather than sit back and blame Hollywood. Raising a child is difficult whether you're 16 or 46.
|
|
Jun 21, 2008 3:53 PM
|
|
Teen pregnancy is NOT cool. Most teenagers and even many young adults are not responsible and mature enough to handle a child. Just because someone else does it doesn't make it cool. If someone jumped off a bridge would you do it too?
|
|
Jun 21, 2008 5:10 PM
|
|
If "having a baby is akin to having a pet" then WHY NOT JUST GET A PET? I completely love my dog as another member of my family, and I didn't have to do anything shameful to get her.
|
|
Jun 21, 2008 5:48 PM
|
|
I'm not really sure Hollywood is to blame for this. At least not totally. Not sure if it is in the Time article, but in another one, it said the girls had known another girl the year before that had a child and was getting a lot of attention from everybody. So I'm sure they saw the attention and wanted it too. The school also has a free day-care center. That makes it very easy for the mothers to take care of their babies during the day.
|
|
Jun 21, 2008 5:53 PM
|
|
Their parents probably wouldn't allow them to get pets. Too much responsibility for a teenager.
|
|
Jun 21, 2008 6:09 PM
|
I think it's too simplistic to blame the rise in teen pregnancy rates on one thing, like Hollywood or poor upbringing or stupidity. People forget that teenagers are not truly "young adults" because they lack the ability to truly understand the ramifications of their actions. That's why they're still minors with guardians.
I do think parents (and other adults) in teens lives need to be more involved with them- even though teens don't want them to be. Teens look up to actors/singers/athletes as role models because they don't have anyone else; parents find it easier to make sure they're still alive and stay out of their way than to actively parent.
Many parents seem to think that if they can't be their teen's friend then they'll just pursue their own lives. Instead, parents, and extended family, need to do more to be their children's role models- or at least maintain enough of a relationship with their teens so that teens will talk to them (occasionally  ).
And I also think it would be good to have teens around small children more. Then they'd learn how hard it is to care for them, even if they look adorable.
I've worked with teen mothers, and one thing all of them have ended up admitting to me is that if they'd known what truly went into having a baby, they would have waited. Unfortunately, because they didn't have good relationships with any adults in their lives, they weren't willing to listen to anyone before it was too late.
|
|
Jun 21, 2008 6:17 PM
|
|
Informant, schools really don't have a lot of say in what they teach as far as sex education goes, it's all mandated by law. Also, by law, parents have the right to opt their children out of sex education. In some places, schools are only allowed to teach abstinence only programs, which means the teachers face serious consequences if they try to teach about condoms and birth control. I've also heard of some abstinence only programs that teach birth control and condoms have a very high failure rate, even when used properly, which causes many teenagers who would use precautions to forego them because they've been taught preventative measures are pointless. Personally, I don't think any blame can be put on the schools. It's all on the parents, especially since parents are the ones who have limited what is allowed to be taught.
|
|
Jun 21, 2008 6:41 PM
|
It's gossip rags like Access Hollywood that are making teen pregnancy cool. By them continuing to talk about it, over and over again (something tvguide.com is also guilty of), it puts it out there for young girls to look at. If the media would stop covering these stories, it wouldn't be an issue at all.
Sad.
|
|
Jun 21, 2008 7:03 PM
|
|
I'm glad someone FINALLY addressed this. I've been grinding my teeth in frustration ever since we found out the then-16 year old was pregnant. The media seems to be almost glamorizing this. OK! Magazine has run a photo or story on this girl almost every week. Hello! She was 16! That's so NOT cool or cute. Instead of portraying her as an example of someone teenaged girls should NOT emulate, they seemed almost giddy in their rush to take photos of her expanding waistline. I'm not saying that Jami should have been cast out of society, but it's really irresponsible to treat this unfortunate situation as something that is perfectly acceptable. She's still a child and that should be the lesson here.
|
|
Jun 21, 2008 7:18 PM
|
Parenting, of course, is a huge part of it. I knew about how to put a condom on a guy (courtesy of the stereotypical banana demonstration) when I was 12, regardless of what I was (not) taught in high school. While my parents were parents and not friends, I knew I could go to them with any question and it would be answered. Even when I experimented, I knew how to be safe. (And my parents were super-religious, go to church every Sunday kind of people, so it doesn't have to be a religious thing.)
In addition to parenting, though, I think a lot of it is that most kids nowadays only see the "cool" side of having children, whether through their friends or the media. They see the attention and the cute kids and the unconditional love, but don't really see the other aspects of it.
I babysat from the time I was 13 (one summer I was with kids aged 1, 3, and 6 virtually every day), and I can tell you there was no way on earth I would have even contemplated having a child. One colicky child who cries for an hour straight no matter what you do should be enough to convince anyone that babies aren't easy! I just don't think that many kids/teens have the experience to be around little ones/babies to see the reality of it.
|
|
Jun 21, 2008 7:24 PM
|
|
Yes, young people are influenced by Hollywood, models, celebrities, politicians, ADVERTISING and anything else in the NEWS. Children and young people today have no chance for a decent life due to these outside influences. THAT'S WHY PARENTING IS SO IMPORTANT.
|
|
Jun 21, 2008 7:49 PM
|
|
I do not think Juno or even Jamie Lynn glorified teen pregnancy. The events are as follows teens have sex and are faced with decisions if anything it shows the importance of family and being there for your children no matter what. Some people will find fault with these movies and use Jamie Lynn as a reason to not use their own judgement, but this is not like anything new. I mean turn on lifetime and you see movies made about teenage pregnancy from the 90's. Just because your parents don't disown you and show comapssion does not mean they condone it. They are thinking of another life and hoping with support an intelligent decision can be made, not a hasty one made in fear and regret. No parents need to sit down with thier children have the birds and bees talk and the importance of safety and abstenece and then let them know you have unconditional love rather than love until you screw up.
|
|
Jun 21, 2008 8:13 PM
|
After all, there's always someplace you can drop a kid off and stop being a parent for a little while.
WHAT?!? There is?! Why has no one told me about this?! I've spent MAYBE 20 hours, at most, away from my daughter in the past year. Clearly, I missed a memo or something... 
As for the media glamorizing teen pregnancy, I really don't think it's as big of a factor as people would like to think. There may be a few kids out there who are easily swayed by virtually anything, but when I was a teenager, not so very long ago, the only thing that mattered is what "everyone" was doing at your own high school. So, girls were having sex with their boyfriends because their friends were...or they thought they were. At Gloucester's high school, it sounds like girls are getting pregnant because their friends are, not because they see Juno or Jamie Lynn Spears being pregnant. Stupid? Yes. But that's teenagers...
|
|
Jun 21, 2008 8:48 PM
|
|
|
