Teen Pregnancy, Hollywood Style

before *they're married

sorry, language arts was never my thing :-P

It is not about being in the position. It is about knowing all of the consequences. Getting up in the middle of the night for those early morning feeding. If you are still in school then you have to think of staying up all night with your baby because they are sick and can't sleep because they have fever and then finally getting to sleep just before your alarm clock goes off to get to school. You also should know about the pain you go through while you are pregnant. Sore ankles, contractions that make your stomach feel as if someone was ripping it, and sometimes you have to be on bedrest so you don't lose your baby. Having a baby isn't about getting attention just because your pregnant it is waay much more than that.

I am a 14 year old girl and haven't met pregnant teens nor I am not a pregnant teen or was one. I think that the media does pressure the young teens to have sex before there married. These movies and shows don't show the teasing of the young mothers have to go through, the pain of whether to have an abortion or not, whether to give up the baby for adoption or not. Juno was a funny movie, but unrealistic to me. The parents reaction was very unrealistic to me, and at the end of the movie when she gives up the baby for adoption and never sees it agin, she's with her boyfriend and playing her guitar happily. The Secret Life of the American Teenager completely glosses over abortion. I am personally again abortion, but it's an individual choise for everybody. I'm also tired of the premarrage (I know that's not the right word) sex and children. Not mattter what age you are, I don't belive people should have sex before they are married, no matter how glamorized it is in the movies. I am not fully blaming movies and celbrities, tough, because it's part of the parents and teen's fault if they have sex or get pregnant or whatever else (drugs, stealing ect). It bothers me when girls are dating when they are so young, I know a girl who has had 4 boys and two-timed before and she is only 13 now. Boy I feel old writing this :-P. I recommend the Nikki Sheridan series if you want to look into the teen pregnancy business, truthfully. (sorry I'm rambling).

While I do believe all of what you guys are saying about the tv, movies, and media not showing you the real side of teen pregnancy there is acually one show that I have found that DOES in fact show you a little bit about it, and that show would be Degrassi: The Next Generation. This show is a Canadian show that is shown on The-N, it shows a lot of stuff that teens have to deal with in life and was actually founded by a teacher who knew this stuff wasn't being shown on tv so she took it into her own hands and decided that their needed to be a show out there that showed the best of a glips of what really goes on in the real world. This show has been around for a really long time there are actually characters in this show that are from the originally Degrassi and who are reasin there kids as well. This show shows us teen pregnacy (on more then one occation), mental illnesses, school shotings, vilance, one parent homes, eating disorders, deaths, being poor, gay people, rape, date rape, suicided, muit cultural homes, abuse, you name anything that we as people go through during our childhood, teens, and as adults it shows it. So really there is some hope out there and maybe some of you should check out this show.

The real question is when will we come back to the truth and righteousness? When will kids and adults stop satisfying their own selfish desires and do what is right? The problem is not that kids aren't using birth control and not being educated about sex. The problem is that they are having sex outside of marriage - completely uncommitted to their partner, and only wanting to satisfy their own cravings. And what comes most of the time after the pregnancy? The MURDER of helpless little babies. Sex was created by God to be a sign of our love to our spouse (ONE MAN, ONE WOMAN). It is beautiful and pure within the boundaries of marriage. May God convict our Nation for its evil and its deliberate turn from Christ and righteousness and pour out his mercy instead of the judgment that we deserve! I challenge all of you to read the Scriptures, to seek a relationship with Christ and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sins. All of us deserve Hell, and that is what we will get unless we believe on Jesus. May God have Mercy on us!!

The real question is when will we come back to the truth and righteousness? When will kids and adults stop satisfying their own selfish desires and do what is right? The problem is not that kids aren't using birth control and not being educated about sex. The problem is that they are having sex outside of marriage - completely uncommitted to their partner, and only wanting to satisfy their own cravings. And what comes most of the time after the pregnancy? The MURDER of helpless little babies. Sex was created by God to be a sign of our love to our spouse (ONE MAN, ONE WOMAN). It is beautiful and pure within the boundaries of marriage. May God convict our Nation for its evil and its deliberate turn from Christ and righteousness and pour out his mercy instead of the judgment that we deserve! I challenge all of you to read the Scriptures, to seek a relationship with Christ and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sins. All of us deserve Hell, and that is what we will get unless we believe on Jesus. May God have Mercy on us!!

I'm a teen parent and this article aggrivates me to no end. It makes a big deal over the fact that contraception is not dicsussed. If the girl is pregant what difference does condoms or birth control make now? What matters is the situation at hand and what to do with it. I think Juno was done wonderfully. If they added in any more of the trumatic events that you actually go through, people wouldn't have been able to watch it. It would have been too emotional to watch. So as mentioned in the article, yes Juno and those other shows are good ice breakers to talk to your kids about it. It's not hollywood's job to teach your kids about sex. It's called parenting.

And a comment to those that think every teen parent is on welfare-you're full of it! I don't receive any assistance what so ever other than my daughter's health insurance. I graduated high school without missing any time and I'm graduating college next spring with an associates degree. By the way, I paid for my degree by myself. Yes my parents have been and contnue to be extremely supportive. I also work full time. So to everyone who thinks all us teen parents are deadbeats and depend on the government, check yourself.

It's not the choices you make it's how you handle the consequences!

It is about time someone says something about the parents. I was 18 when i first had sex and the reason why i was 18 was because my daddy had a strong hold on my decisions. Everytime i thought abot it there was my daddy in my head telling me not to. I am 24 now and i have a two year old i am married but there isn't a day that goes by that i don't think about my decision two and a half years ago. Parents we really need to step it up in today's times or the abortion rate will rocket and the number of teen parents is going to sky rocket. Don't pass up the chance to talk with your children tell them how you feel about it and don't hide your feelings. Don't be scared to tell them whats right. Thank you. Sharon Joiner ,Meridian Mississippi

When it comes to sex, drugs, violence, and alcohol, the media (movies & television) does not show the complete story. They only show the excitement and the thrill. They may at times show the negative conseqences, but only if it will help sell the story. Teens should be growing and becoming independent slowly. Having a child as a teenager is not slow. It is havng to face the reality of adulthood at too young of an age. Why do teen want to grow up so fast?!! Why not enjoy being young and free without all that responsibility? The time will come when you are bogged down with so many responsibilities that you can only wish you had time for fun with your friends. That is not even mentioning your education. Education comes first. I have four children. Three sons and one daughter. Two of my sons are18 and 19. I have told them to wait until marriage for sex. One of the mains reasons is money. It is expensive to date and they do not have the money right now. I tell them to go out and hang with their friends. When they are mature enough to face marriage and fatherhood (after college graduation),then they can think about getting serious with a girl. Each human has been given a beautiful, unique gift from God to be shared with their marriage partner. If it is saved for that one and only person, the gift is the most precious gift that anyone could ever give another.

I'm a single teen mom and I'm still going to school. There is no where in the rule books saying you can't be a mom in school. I've got lots of people that help me out, sure, but in all honesty, I'm doing it alone. Her dad has her two days a week and that's all. I still live with my mom but after graduation my daughter and I are moving out and making a life for ourselves. Just because I got pregnant doesn't mean my mom is not a good person or a good parent. I was on birth control, I could talk to her, and I was still blessed with my 7 1/2 month old daughter. I decided to stay in school because that's what was best for my daughter. Just because someone gets pregnant in high school doesn't mean they're a bad person or a bad role model. And if the person in question who gets pregnant decides to keep their child and go on with life as best as they can, they should be looked up to because they made the right decisions. Age can't decide how good of a parent you are.

My question is this... when do we start talking about sex and it's benefits and it's comsequences. This past year at the middle school where I work 5 out of the 22 that I work with ended up pregnant and one, a 13 year old, dropped out and another one was glad that she at least made it past the eigth grade. When I spoke to my girls, they had no concept of their own body, no idea why women go through the changes or how their bodies worked. When do we start re-educating them about basic biology.

I don't think our society helps in this situation or any other as far as that goes, we have become an individualistic society and truly our concerns are more about "I" not the "US". Trying to solve this and put the blame on someone can't be done. We "Our Society" is to blame. We aloud this to happen, we encouraged things like this to happen. It is a time for change and for us all to look at our country as a whole and make and take the effort to help the teenagers, through this difficult times. Not let hollywood let this be a style, cause as you know we all don't have it like these individuals. Something has to change, or things will continue to be out of hand in our world,

I think we've got some screwed up ideas in this country--that it's impossible to practice abstinence before marriage, that marriage should wait until you're "mature", and others. The media shows us so often that it's alright to have sex, alright to produce children, but that it's sooo wrong for teenagers just to get married. Maybe if we preached a little less safe sex and a little more that it's okay to just committ completely and totally, we might have fewer teen pregnancies--or maybe they wouldn't matter any more because they'd be the pregnancies of Mrs. So and so. A little about me to justify this radical viewpoint--I got married at 18 after dating my husband for a year. We have been married nearly 8 years and have 2 wonderful children. We both graduated from college and hold professional certifications along with our degrees. Not bad for a teenage marriage, eh? Oh yeah, both of us were virgins when we married.

I'm 19 years old and I have a 16 month old daughter. I have been married for over a year to the father and I can honestly say that God has blessed us immensely. Yes being a teen parent is hard, but it's not impossible. You just have to grow up and that's not at all a bad thing. I love my life and I wouldn't trade it for the world. My husband and I both work full time and are getting ready for college. Age doesn't make a difference if you are mature enough to handle it. I did drop out of high school around the same time I found out I was pregnant but it wasn't because of the baby. It was to take care of my mother before she passed away. God gave me this gift, a child who helped me to cope with my loss and to carry me through to live my life to the fullest. I buried my mother when I was 4.5 months pregnant but I had no other choice but to press on and turn to God. He has done wonders for us as a family. My husband and I are both saved and we may be 19 and 20 but we don't act like it. We pay our own bills and we live as adults should. We don't drink, we don't party, we don't do anything that we can't do with our child. She is our world and we're very excited to have our future children as well and to live the way God intended.

We know several other teens who are parents and unfortunately almost all of them are single and if not single, they might as well be. They don't want to grow up. Our biggest struggle as young parents is finding other people our age with the same maturity. Hence why our friends are all years older than us. It can be frustrating to see the mistakes they are making. They don't want to work or go to school. They'd rather dump their babies on their parents while they go party. It's rediculous. If you are a teen who's pregnant then either grow up and do the best for your child or give them to someone else who will give them what they deserve and that's a real chance at life.