Why do so many teenagers seem obsessed with having babies???

[Scorpion Fury]

There are also 35 year old women who do this.

 

If a teenager wants children for the right reasons and is able to provide for his basic financial, emotional and spiritual needs, then I see nothing wrong with that. And I think that many (or even most?) teenagers have those resources. Children don't need alot of money, they need alot of love. And teenage girls are perfectly capable of giving that.

 

I see what you're saying about anyone that can provide for a baby should be able to have one. The problem is that a lot of teenagers can't.

 

You say that most teenagers have those resources, but those resources tend to come from their parents and/or welfare. Teenagers don't have the education and job skills to support themselves financially, much less a child. Their education and skill level don't extend much beyond food service or maybe retail. They aren't likely to make much beyond minimum wage, and that's not enough to live on. And to add childcare on top of that. Some of them have a family member who will watch the kid for them. That family member might not necessarily want to, but they feel obligated, so they do every day. They can make more money sitting on welfare, so that's what a lot of them do. Or they become financially dependent upon their parents.

 

so while I agree with your statement about anyone being able to take care of a baby should be able to have one, I gotta disagree with your statement about most teenagers having the resources to do so.

[RockabillyLove]

I see nothing wrong with teenagers having children. It is natural for teenagers to want children, since, typically, women historically began motherhood in their teens.

 

 

Yes, but they often died before they were 25, so they HAD to have children earlier and earlier. Compare the life timeline now, and we can live to over 100 quite easily, and it's better to have children in our 20's and 30's.

Also, they didn't go to school and women were expected to stay at home and have kids.

 

There's NOTHING good about a child under 15 having a baby in modern society.

And any parent that teaches their daughter that they can have kids at 11, 12 or 13 and not have to face up to the responsibility cannot possibly call themselves a good parent.

[rocio]

 

There's NOTHING good about a child under 15 having a baby in modern society.

 

. I agree.

[babygirl1991]

sometimes teens end up haven babies.. yes they can try to provent it but sometimes it happens... and people will just have to deal with it.. my LITTLE sister is pregnante..

and shes 15

[babii doll]

well i dont know about anyone else here but i got pregnant at 16, not intentionally. i think alot of it has to do with lack of sex education, my mom never told me about birth control or condoms, i thought birth control was "pulling out" at the time and would go with what i would hear from friends or on tv.

 

if you educate your kids i dont think it would be so many teens having babies.

it became a big problem at our school that they had to put a daycare on school property just so students would finish school after having their babies.

 

theyve also started a class where teens would volunteer at the childcare center to get a better experience of what its like to take care of kids, think thats a wake up call as well to have safe sex for alot of teens.

 

i had my son at 17 and was able to finish thankfully, it wasnt easy, when i see teens who are preg i am in no position to judge, im 24 now and have lived that experience of being a teen mom, there may be different circumstances that led them to where they are.

 

for me it was being naieve and uninformed about sex in general that got me in that situation.

[babygirl1991]

Babii doll-

how do i deal and help my little sister? He boyfriend is a major screw up.. he smokes pott.. drinks all the time..and treats her like crap. She's adopted and my father her like adoptted dad killed himself in oct. and a few mnths after that BAM shes pregnante...

 

how the heck idk wat to do... me n her have grown sooo apart now

[miss_chris]

I think a big reason for this is their parent's don't have this sort of talk with them. Wheni got my first boyfriend my mom was always reminding me that if i decided to have sex that i should ALWAYS be safe because having a child at a early age ruins your whole life. Parents really need to step in here and make their children realize the reality of having a baby and the responisbility that comes with deciding to have sex. At 20 years old my mother still will ask me if i am practising safe sex lol. Just shows her concern about it i guess even though i am old enough to realize myself the conciquences. But when i was younger, those conciquences that i learned have come from her teaching me about them. I think a lot of parents are embarrassed about talking to their kids about sex and what can happen. When i was younger my mother scared me into thinking that if i had sex i will get pregnant lol which isn't what she told me but it's the thought that i had got in my head.

 

We also had education at school about it, which i think helped out quite a bit too for those kids who's parents didn't talk to them about it. For me it was like, yeah i already know this stuff lol. It may be embarrassing at the time, but it definatly is worth it if you can save a child from having a child.

[JadedStar]

I personally do not think lack of education is the main reason for teenage pregnancies. I think hormones are. Even decades ago i knew how one would get pregnant and i was educated enough to know how to prevent it. I still got pregnant early. I got married and was not a statistic, finished college and like to think i was a very good parent, but fact is i knew i could get pregnant. I threw caution to the wind.

 

All the sex Ed in the world won't make a kid never throw caution to the wind.

 

And thank God but none of the teens i know are obsessed with having babies. those who are just weren't prepared and didn't practice safe sex.

 

And to those who said what is wrong with a teen having a baby if she is financially and emotionally prepared, i counter that to say not many a teen is emotionally prepared for such a huge responsibility. I was an anomale in that I was very mature for my age and i willingly gave up a lot. Most teens won't and are not and it is rose colored glasses thinking to believe most of them are. And if i could do it over again i would have done it later.

[miss_chris]

I personally do not think lack of education is the main reason for teenage pregnancies. I think hormones are. Even decades ago i knew how one would get pregnant and i was educated enough to know how to prevent it. I still got pregnant early. I got married and was not a statistic, finished college and like to think i was a very good parent, but fact is i knew i could get pregnant. I threw caution to the wind.

 

 

Horomones are part of the problem, but if you are a well raised child with morals and sense of knowing right from wrong, you could have all the horomones in the world and still not get pregnant. Its responsibility. Simple as that. Yeah we all make mistakes but mistakes like that are so easily prevented IMO. It's just dumb. Maybe the way i was raised, i dont know. But what i did know as a younger teenager is that if i did get pregnant, (with saying that i mean consciously knowing what i was getting into, being raped is diff) i would get my ass kicked lol

[miss_chris]

I'm not saying you cant prevent them all, but with all that are happening a LOT of them can be prevented. People don't always take all the actions that they can. If a condom breaks, you go to the pharmacist and get a plan B. I always check the condoms after i've had sex to make sure there are no leaks or breaks in them. Sometimes people don't take all the precautions that they can, thus causes an unplanned pregnancy. My parent's raised me that its not acceptable to have a child outside of marriage. I would be scared to have my ass kicked and in my ways of parenting i think it's the best thing because if your child is somewhat scared of you and scared of what your gonna do if they do something bad then they take EXTRA EXTRA precaution to what they do and how they do it. Just my opinion. It's how i was raised, and I' think i've become a pretty good person and responsible person because of it.

[JadedStar]

i hope you never have any accidents! You honestly act like people never get pregnant even when they were doing their best to plan against it. LOL Life in eutopia.

 

i still say fear of having your ass kicked is not the best evidence of perfect parenting.

[miss_chris]

never said it was perfect, but it sure taught me how to be responsible and watch my actions about serious and important stuff like that. happens yes of course, but my point is not all people take all the precautions that they can. I'm surprised about a lot of my friends don't know about the whole Plan B thing. If a condom ever broke when i was having sex i'd be at the pharmacist in 2 seconds lol and if it wasn't open i'd make it my first priority in the morning to go there. Just the way i am.

[Mythical_Suicide]

Even if i did wind up pregnant, i wouldn't put the blame on myself for not taking all the actions that I could have took, because I would of done all of them.

 

So who would you blame? The baby?

[miss_chris]

I wouldn't blame anyone. Infact if I would potentially have anyone to blame, it would be myself for not dealing with it properly. But i know i would deal with it the way I think is most suited, therefore no one would be to blame.

[redhearts]

I read on here somewhere, where a 14 year old posted that she was trying to get pregnant to keep her bf, as another girl wanted him. I cant find the thread, it was just a random post, but that just made me sick.

 

I know this a little later in the thread, lol, but thats to trap a guy. STUPIDNESS. I met this girl who was 13 I believe, she was bragging about how she lived with her older bf and his mom. How yes she was TRYING to get pregnant at 11 had a boy, 12 a misscarriage, and oh 13 with twins!

[abbynormal91]

the 11 year-old girl could have been raped.

[JadedStar]

I know this a little later in the thread, lol, but thats to trap a guy. STUPIDNESS. I met this girl who was 13 I believe, she was bragging about how she lived with her older bf and his mom. How yes she was TRYING to get pregnant at 11 had a boy, 12 a misscarriage, and oh 13 with twins!

 

Girls of that age trying to get pregnant in my firm belief probably have had one hell of a childhood. This is so atypical that they are probably desperately seeking something to love them, like a toy, and i find that more sad than able to get angry at them.

[littlestar]

seems like a celebrity thing teens like to follow.

[dragon lady]

I think a lot of people are forgetting that teenagers are physically more mature than earlier generations. The average age for a first period is now barely 12. Around this age girls get a huge surge in hormones that drive them to want to procreate.

 

I got my first period at 13 and I remember craving a baby at about age 14. Of course, I hadn't even had sex and I knew that my parents would have killed me if I'd gotten pregnant. I remember almost all my friends having similar feelings at around the same age. We would see babies when we were walking down the street and we would all just gush. None of us ended up pregnant and I attribute that to good sex education and mothers who got us on the pill as soon as we became sexually active. Unfortunately, for the girl who comes from a low socio-economic background without supportive parents, having a baby might seem like a way she can feel loved and accepted.

 

I know I certainly grew out of this phase pretty quickly. Now I can't stand babies and I NEVER want to have them. So, rather than berating these girls, try to understand where this is coming from. The best we can do is offer easy access to contraceptives and education on why having a kid as a teen is generally not a good idea.

[sharsachan]

I became sexually active at 14 [was 11 when i started menstrating] i was honest to my mother and asked her to take me to the doctor for birth control.

 

she refused. flat out refused to take me.

 

i'd never even heard of planned parenthood at the age [still not certain there is one in my town]

 

i was very lucky through my teen years that i DIDN'T get pregnant. i think part of it helped that i was 12 when my brother was born [and he had 6 months of colic-related screaming] so i had a very fresh idea in my head of just how much work a baby was.

[greywolf]

I think having a kid is the new cool things nowadays.

[chocolates]

You're right. BUT I've seen other pregnant 11 and 12 year olds as well as other teens up to the age of 17 and 18. I just cant see the allure. Also, I live in Virginia. Is this just an epidemic of bored "redneck" kids?? lol

 

In Australia anyone who has a child gets what is called THE BABY BONUS. So everyone is going at it hammer and tongs, and every second woman you ook at is pregnant Seriously.

 

Its about $5000 or maybe 6000 that you get.

 

SO ofcourse all the redneck bogan suburb teenagers are deliberately getting pregnant.

[RockabillyLove]

It's $5000 at the moment, rising every second year.

 

They'll get a nasty surprise soon.

From Feb next year you can only claim it if both parents are over 18.

[chocolates]

It's $5000 at the moment, rising every second year.

 

They'll get a nasty surprise soon.

From Feb next year you can only claim it if both parents are over 18.

 

 

Oh really I didnt know about that. Thats good. Because whats happening is that a whole generation of bogans are being bred, who will only repeat the cycle. I also heard they were going to means test it which is stupid because it means that educated/ financial ppl wont be eligible , when really they shoudl be the people having kids.

[redhearts]

HMM so if one is knocked up and the girl has it in feb, they aren't 18 they don't get anything? Thats a little crazy, especially crazy that they give money to people who have kids. =O