Striped Toe Socks
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Freakin' Ridiculous
Jamie Lynne Spears gave birth to a baby girl this week. She is seventeen and her baby daddy is nineteen. I'm sure you've read this or this already, since it's been covered by the media since she first announced her pregnancy. I was not too familiar with Jamie Lynne prior to this, but my nine year old niece was. My niece, Christina spent the night this week and we were watching The Today Show while we got dressed. They announced the birth, did s short summary of the story and wished everyone involved well. OK, I get people are interested. What killed me was Chrissy clued to the TV. When she heard she wanted to know if the baby was a boy or girl and she watched the whole story with rapt attention. This is not by any means her first exposure to teenage pregnancy. She has three cousins who at eighteen or younger had a baby, one is now pregnant for the third time at twenty-two. Her mother has told her numerous time how hard that is, reminds her that isn't the life she wants to have. I'm not sure how much that really sinks in. Now someone she knows and looks up to on TV has a baby.
The other "wow this pisses me off" story of the week was the "pregnancy pact" girls. A group of girl at Gloucester High School in MA made a pact to all be pregnant together. Now seventeen of them are. The teen pregnancy rate at this school is high enough already to warrant free on-site day care for students. A luxury often not provided for working mothers.
I can't help but feel frustrated and saddened by these stories. My own issues in trying to get (and stay) pregnant aside, what is going on here?
Is it the "trend" of pregnancy that has boomed in the last decade to blame? In 2006 the pregnancy rate when up nationwide for the first time in fifteen years.
Where are the parents of these girls? All of whom are under sixteen.
The issue of handing out contraception in schools is a large one, but what about girls trying to get pregnant?
I'm trying to feel some sympathy here, I really am. I'm sad that the only way these girls think they will feel love is through having a child who has to love them. Mostly I just feel heartbroken for the babies of these little girls.There are so many people in the world who want a child and cannot have them. They want only to welcome a child into a home where they can not only be loved, but be provided for by stable adults.
What kind of society is my niece growing up in? What about my own children?
What happened to feeling ashamed to be fifteen and "knocked up"?
Thoughts?
The other "wow this pisses me off" story of the week was the "pregnancy pact" girls. A group of girl at Gloucester High School in MA made a pact to all be pregnant together. Now seventeen of them are. The teen pregnancy rate at this school is high enough already to warrant free on-site day care for students. A luxury often not provided for working mothers.
I can't help but feel frustrated and saddened by these stories. My own issues in trying to get (and stay) pregnant aside, what is going on here?
Is it the "trend" of pregnancy that has boomed in the last decade to blame? In 2006 the pregnancy rate when up nationwide for the first time in fifteen years.
Where are the parents of these girls? All of whom are under sixteen.
The issue of handing out contraception in schools is a large one, but what about girls trying to get pregnant?
I'm trying to feel some sympathy here, I really am. I'm sad that the only way these girls think they will feel love is through having a child who has to love them. Mostly I just feel heartbroken for the babies of these little girls.There are so many people in the world who want a child and cannot have them. They want only to welcome a child into a home where they can not only be loved, but be provided for by stable adults.
What kind of society is my niece growing up in? What about my own children?
What happened to feeling ashamed to be fifteen and "knocked up"?
Thoughts?
posted by Ginny at 12:58 PM
1 Comments:
What kind of society? One that has done a huge disservice to our kids, and older folks. We have removed too many of the veils that add mystery, that allow discovery, that offer some protection from the outside world.
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