So why no mention of the pregnancy rate? Does this just simply indicate that teens are having fewer abortions or what?

If you let the TV and entertainment industry “raise” your children, this is the outcome. garbage in… garbage out.

I pray that I am wrong, but I expect this, and increased violence to babies, to only increase.

The one main issue is that we as a society have dumbed down and cheapened the meaning of life. Young people consider babies as mere pets that when they tire of them the can just cast them off to the government to raise and continue a regular teenage life.
As a society we do more to protect polar bears than newly born humans.

I think this is coming from parents just not being engaged with thier kids. They’re afraid to talk to them about sex and too busy to talk to them about anything else. Families don’t spend enough time together anymore, and the opportunities for stimulating and meaningful conversation between parents and kids are few and far between. We need to be discussing things in the media with out children (by the way, I don’t think Juno glamorizes teen pregnancy. I think it shows it in a more realistic light) and initiating conversation before teens are tempted to become sexually active, not after an not when they get pregnant or contract a disease.
We need to get our act together.

If teens are having babies in order to provide themselves with “unconditional love”, then that is an incredibly selfish reason to have a baby. What’s more, babies grow up to be children – children who have needs that a teenage parent with limited education and job skills can’t possibly provide. Sadly, most teenage parents aren’t Lorelei Gilmore, and most kids of teenage moms don’t graduate from Yale like her daughter Rory (from the popular tv show Gilmore Girls). I have a family member who was a teen mom at 16. The child has behavior problems, and I feel sorry for him with the parade of mom’s boyfriends coming and going, and it’s no better on the father’s side, where the word “work” is a four-letter word. And let’s not forget who is footing the bill for this teenage baby-boom – the taxpayers who work hard and choose to live responsibly. What a sad state of affairs.

Teenagers get pregnant because they can get welfare and not have to work.
Essentially, they can “sponge” off their babies’ benefits and if the fathers pay
child support, then BINGO! The girl has hit the reproductive lottery. She gets
to stay at home, not work, and still have an income of welfare and child support.

I like how Fox leaves out the detail that the pact was supposedly to protest their school’s policy not to distribute condoms. This is what happens when you deprive people of accessible birth control – they get pregnant. Also the article references the rising rate of teen pregnancy nationwide. Many experts believe this is due to the Bush Adminsitration’s push for “abstinence only” education. Which is really no “education” at all. Let’s face it, educating people to make informed sexual choices is more sensible (i.e. sex education) than sticking your head in the sand and pretending teens aren’t doing it (”abstinence only”). A closing thought – shouldn’t we be joining Dobson and the gang in cheering for these ladies, since they are carrying their pregnancy to full term??

These stupid ignorant teen girls all under 16 years old, cannot understand the magnitude of what they have done. Child Protective Services should take all their babies away from them and place them into decent home.

Aside from the other issues, when all the cool teen BS is over, good luck in interesting the REAL guy of your dreams after your body has been streached to hell and back and you’re dragging some other guy’s kid everwhere you go. It’s a harsh reality, but it is reality.

COULD THIS BE THE RESULT OF BEING A “TOLERATING” SOCIETY?
JUST A LACK OF BIBLICAL MORALS?
GONE ARE THE DAYS OF BEING TAUGHT ABOUT GOD’S PLAN, OR ABOUT BEING KNOWN AS A NICE GIRL. THE REPUTATION SOUGHT, SEEMS TO BE ONE OF SLUT, TRASH, EASY, OR WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL IT,THESE DAYS.

If the girls made a pact to get pregnant… then I find it doubtful that they are doing it to be “cool” or because of a celebrity. I wouldn’t be surprised if a mutual friend was singled out for being pregnant first… and the girls made the pact to show their support so she wouldn’t have to go through single motherhood alone. — either way, the school could have been handed out a million free condoms, and it wouldn’t have mattered. They were intentional seeking to get pregnant.

I was a pregnant 14 year old at one time, my son is now 10 and I remember how awfully painful, embarassing and horrifying it was to be pregnant at 14. It sure did make me get in touch with reality quickly!
My point is that these teenage girls don’t have a clue what they are doing getting pregnant on purpose. They think it will be neat to have something that everyone else doesn’t have, they will find out the struggle it is to be single and young with a child. My life is great now, but that’s 10 years along the way. So much more I could have accomplished.

So, are all these young girls going to rounded up like the Mormons? Just wondering….

Some are using this story as an excuse to criticize the school district for its stand against handing out contraceptives. Guess what, people who are trying to get pregnant don’t use them anyways. These sadly misguided girls are being raised by each other. No better than what their babies will get. The parents of the majority of our teens today have become irrelevant bystanders. They are not around as much as their friends. The friends are the guides in making choices, not the parents. Parents need to reclaim their kids. Most parents are gone until after 6pm and when they do get home, they are too busy to actually spend time anyways. There needs to be some tough changes or this sort of thing will continue. Teens and young adults need guidance and they aren’t getting it from the experienced population. They’re getting it from their friends and their favorite entertainers. No one should be surprised.

Best advice I ever got about having pre-marital sex came when I was 18 years old and just started college. My daddy said: “A woman should not throuhg her toes in the air until she can walk on her own two feet”. A real man does not get any ‘pork chop’ without the ABILITY and WILLINGNESS to pay the butcher.
I am an African-American woman. I earn my way through college (with my parents help) and I have traveled all of the world. The children benefit from me because of my income and my worldly experience.
I pray for the children and the children that are born to them.

To Condom Lady: What a great way to protest a school policy!! This mentality just shows how immature these kids are. Schools have no business handing out condoms. If a teenager is “adult” enough to be having sex, they need to act like an adult and not be embarassed to buy them in a drugstore or for that matter to go to a public health department. Heaven forbid they should actually ask their parents for help. I feel sorry for the babies of these babies.

Ok, so the Virgin Mary was supposedly around 13-14 years old (so I’ve been taught at Roman Catholic School)

Granted it was a different time/different crowd, but Mother Nature allows bodies to “pro-create” at a different pace.

Today’s society says we should do work/career first, but by the time our careers/bodies are ready to have HEALTHY children, – it is almost TOO LATE.

I’m NOT advocating Children having Babies (Heck I waited), BUT – it’s better than Abortion (In my Opinion)

Education is key w/this issue here.

E

It’s very sad that there are so many young people growing up feeling isolated and lonely. More and more people are learning to survive on superfical relationships due to the lack of time we all experience.

I wonder though what has happened the parents are so uninvolved with their own children that they wouldn’t be aware of their childrens’ desire to enter into some pregnancy pact. What is wrong with parents today? Why are so many parents so clueless about what is going on with their kids? Parents need to wake up and start taking responsibility for their kids and the sometimes dredful choices they make.

I’m also really SICK of the entertainment industry glamourizing all kinds of harmful behavior and making it appear that if you don’t approve there must be something wrong with you. Teens apparently are having casual sex on a regular basis, protected or unprotected. Drugs and drinking are all a “NORMAL” part of experimenting with your reality. It’s rediculous and it’s dangerously irresponsible. WE ALL need to hold the entertainment industry accountable to much higher standards especially when it comes to the depiction of young peoples behavior!!!

I love the lack of foresight in the belief that a baby will provide them with “unconditional love.” It’s ironic that in the same stack of headlines on FoxNews there’s a story about a 12-year-old taking her father to court over getting grounded. Teens aren’t wise enough to reproduce.

If you want someone to give you unconditional love, get a dog. You don’t have to pay for them to go to college.

Greta asked what would we do if this happened at our school? Move, talk to them or do nothing- I didn’t even wait for the story to end before I went to tell my 16 year old son about it, reminding him that some girls are more spice than sugar and innocent, so he’s going to have to think for himself (and maybe for his next girlfriend) when considering his actions. It’s a shame those girls didn’t just imitate one particular idea from Paris Hilton instead of Spears and get a puppy in a purse! Perhaps these girls should go visit an orphanage, and then some childless couples, to drive home that just because your body CAN create a new person, doesn’t mean you really ought to. 16 year olds still need to be parented; let’s quit abandoning them to their own resources before our job is done – our they will never learn how to be a parent due to our instruction-or lack thereof.

Having heard this story on Greta, I posted on her site and then looked on to others. My feeling is it has nothing to do with the town, the school or the location. It has to do with parents thinking that they and the children need stuff …the reason that two paychecks are needed. Children don’t need stuff, they need parents that are interested in raising them. Why, have children if you are not going to stay home and raise them?They need someone to love and love them. I am new to this opinion posting as I am not real good at the computer yet, but enjoy seeing just what people topics have interested people. One thing I do not see and don’t understand is that this country is crumbling from the inside out and it seems if there is little concern…We have lost our way….economically, financally,spirtuallly and have few morals or respect for ourselves or others. I am not a gloom and doom person but I do think some hard times are ahead and it seems like no one realizes it. Or have we have so much in this country that we think there is no end to it?

The “experts” in this article are seriously misguided; use of Jamie Lynn Spears and “Juno” as examples that inspired these teenage girls is ridiculous and says nothing at all. Jamie had her baby on Thursday, for crying out loud! And I’m sorry, but I just don’t believe that a movie was the deciding facor in this case. I don’t doubt that the media may glamorize pregnancy, but simply removing that won’t fix the problem. Sex has always been sex, and people will do it, regardless of what they see or hear. Kudos to the guy below for pointing out that this particular incident was in protest to the school’s no-condom policy. What did they think would happen? As ill-concieved (no pun intended) as these girls’ venture was, it shows that they have more sense than the school administration. In order to become responsible adults, teens need a competent example. Incompetence by the school has bred the same with the very people they’re sworn to educate.
Time and time again, we stress responsible sex education, and over and over, some self-righteous prude puts the kibosh on it. What a wonderful generation we have at the helm currently: “Do what I think is right, follow MY values, stay in MY comfort zone, do only what I’M accustomed to, follow the gospel according to ME… ME, ME, ME, it’s all about ME!”
Thanks, Baby Boomers,
-Everyone’s Favorite Know-Nothing College Kid

We, as a society, have got to start making people face reality. We supply food and other support to folks and then wonder why they live on welfare for the rest of their lives. These teens must face reality. Do they have a job to pay for the medical problems that can accompany pregnancy; are they able to pay for the clothing the baby needs; is there money for they formula etc. for baby; do they have a place to live and someone to care for the baby while they are working if they should be so lucky as to have a job? and on and on. It is not an easy job raising children and these children need to have a serious reality check. Have any of them thought more than 9 months down the line when they have to get up 8 times a night to feed the baby and still go to school or work the next day? We, the people that teach these children, need to make them face reality!!!!

I’m a (former) teen mom. Had my son at 18, am now almost 24. Put myself through college, and am providing for my son on my own.

When I got pregnant, I wasnt “trying” to, but I wasnt “not trying” either. My life was empty and meaningless, I felt like I had no purpose, nobody really cared to understand or know the REAL me. I was always cast off as too much trouble. When I would tell my parents I was depressed and wanted to die… they’d say, “then why are you taking a shower? If you were going to kill yourself, you wouldnt care if you were clean” After years of promiscuity, injuring myself, and so much more… I had no sense of normalcy or right or wrong. I guess thats what happens when you’re raised by an alcoholic single mother and sexually abused by her boyfriends. I wanted to die, and I thought having a child might give me a reason to live.

I had my son, and he was a reality check. I couldnt just “die” if I wanted to, I HAVE to be here. And I OWE him the best opportunities I can give him. But, I also realize that having him makes all my other problems 100x harder and it was a foolish thing to do. I wish I hadnt become a mother so young, but its already done, he is 5 now.

If anyone had told me about birth control, it didnt matter… I had 3 boxes in my nightstand drawer thanks to planned parenthood. If anyone had told me about the harsh reality of being a young single parent, I wouldnt have understood- you cant explain this life in words, it has to be lived. The single most thing that would have stopped me from having a child young is love. If someone had stopped, taken the time to get to know me, care about me, love me, and support me…. I would have had a reason to live, and a reason not to have a child.

Take it for what it’s worth, from someone who was once one of “those” girls.

The problem is, in my opinion, caused by two factors.

1) Parental lack of involvement. If the parents are not around to teach right and wrong who will? Do not blame schools for not teaching morals, or put more accurately, not teaching YOUR morals. Schools are not churches, nor should they be the moral development of a child is the responsibility of the parent.

2) Abstinence only sex education. I will liken this to expecting kids to tell you why a sentence is wrong without reading the sentence. How can you expect children to understand the consequences of pregnancy and disease when we haven’t told them about it? I am 19, was raised by my parents and I honestly believe that teens should not be having sex. No religious reasons, I simply do not believe that we are emotionally responsible enough to realize the potential for harm.

The theory that this is a protest against the school policy on contraceptives is quite interesting. But these girls should realize, there are better ways of protesting than getting pregnant. To them I suggest they research Martin Luther King Jr while they are in the hospital recovering from giving birth. Maybe next time they want to protest they can learn how to actually accomplish something other than destroying their lives.

After they give birth I hope that the parents are supportive and helpful so that these girls get a chance to learn from their mistakes and can finish their education.

It is just another example of the lack of moral fiber in today’s families and today’s society.
Just look at all the disgusting smut on television, in magazines and in the movies. I actually heard a popular tv police-type show talk about anal rape…in detail….on prime time. I was agast at such filth on network tv. The real kicker is, parents don’t monitor what kids watch! They are exposed to this crap every day their entire lives! No wonder kids today are over sexed.
I would wager the parents of these girls are not involved in their children’s lives enough to know what is going on with them. Parents today think that children can raise themselves because they are too busy with their own selfish needs/wants to care about what their children are up to.
I fear for the future.

This is not so much about the desire to be pregnant. This is a desire to be loved and connected. Teens need to be taught how to live well. love well and marry well.

They need to understand that the child they are going to love and parent willl most likely be at a disadvantage because of this decision. Having your child live in poverty and not have the benefit of a safe and stable family and an involved loving father puts a child at risk.

That is not a loving thing to do to a child.

Joneen Mackenzie RN

This new “craze” is not entirely Jamie Lynn Spears’ fault…although that situation doesn’t help matters.
No, PREGNANCY IN GENERAL has been glamorized by celebrity magazines. Expectant and recently-delivered stars are regualrly featured in People, US, and other publications…often gracing the COVERS (babies in tow). The general public is “treated” to multi-page spreads featuring the celebrity babies’ nurseries, clothing brands, stroller brands…even baby food choices! Maternity clothes are quite en vogue these days. (And those fashions are regularly modeled by celebrities, too!)
This trend is wrong on so many levels…the celeb babies are being EXPLOITED by their press-hungry parents at an egregious level, all while being a poor influence for our nation’s youth.

I don’t have enough info on the specific girls to judge them. Maybe they’re irresponsible. Clearly they knew what sex is. But this isn’t all that shocking and may not be bad behavior.

First, it’s common and functional for poor teenagers to give birth. IF they wait they often aren’t healthy enough to bear healthy children. Traditionally the girls had children and their parents raised them; these girls must have lacked parental support or thought they have a better chance to get ahead by working together.

Second, this society provides one and only one route out of a bad family situation to teenaged girls – having and bearing children, and marrying if they are old enough. Make it easier for teenangers to leave home, and I think we’ll see more constructive decisions.

Third, in teenagers who lack middle class routes to success adn upward mobility, a pact by a sizeable group of girls to have and raise children together is the path to career success and upward mobility. It took considerable creativity and intelligence to put together this plan. If they planned this as a means to escape from impossible home situations and unpromising futures, they should outright be congratulated. If they haven it together enough to stick with it and work together, they can manage to care for their children, attend school and train for jobs,a nd support themselves and their children. I’m not saying they necessarily will do that, but they could do all of that if they want to.

Girls with the means and parental encouragement to go to college ordinarily wouldn’t do such a thing because for them following the straight and narrow is the path to success.

So let’s not jump on them with all ten Puritan feet without even knowing them.

I’m also annoyed at the talk about one of the fathers being a 24 year old homeless man. “Homeless” is a big category of people, and anything could be true of this man and of that relationship.

Parents shouldn’t be baffled at this. It is with their permission that the older boyfriend spends the night in their 13 year old daughter bedroom several times a week. Principals shouldn’t be baffled either. When their is a game going on in the gym, the other students are released also and all the building is open. Students hide between coke machines and feel each other etc. They go underneath the stairways, and around everycorner, across the park from the school. If parents don’t teach their children that they are precious and their bodies are not to be taken lightly of course this well happen. No moral values at home and no structure in the High Schools. Govenment programs such as WIC, food stamps, welfare, daycare, child support and planned parenthood easily available no wonder this is happening. Everything should be under the guardian of this Child bearing a child. Perhaps this would stop if they would still be under the guardianship of the parent.

Parents get involved with your children’s moral value. Teach them that they are special and need to love themselves. Schools need to provide more structure. You would think that as many security guards and police officers in the campuses they would make their rounds and look between coke machines, underneath stairwells, in the corners and lock the buildings so that students don’t have access to them when a game is going on at the GYM. They should only have access to the classrooms if there is teacher supervision in them. Government needs to stop giving WIC, food stamps, welfare, Medicaid, and daycare at the schools and in daycare centers to these girls. Their parents need to be made responsible instead of the tax payers. All the parents do is wash their hands at work and give no guidance to these girls.

For more years than these girls have been alive, nobody has ever told them this is WRONG! We’ve been over backwards on “acceptance,” and we’ve lost our social sense of shame. Shame on all of us!

I once taught a class on parenting where we had a nursery at a high school. A position I took because the school had lost two teachers in the first two months. My specialty is foreign language, so this class was additional and brought me up to full time. At the time, I was unmarried, had no children, and was severely depressed. I often look back and wish that I could have taught the students so much more. One of my students got pregnant and lost the child. As a result, she will be unable to bear children. Another had her baby and her mother took in the baby, the boyfriend, and the girl. She brought a beautiful album of pictures to school of herself with the baby in the hospital including the utlrasound photos. I just remember thinking, “here is a baby with a baby.” Since I had no children, they assumed that I knew nothing of child rearing. In my state of depression and low self esteem, I couldn’t tell them that I knew much more. Quite often, I would like to go back and tell them that pregnancy may seem easy in our society, but it is fraught with hidden dangers. The scientific explanation of a zygote would be to call it a “parasite”–a very ugly term that reveals the truth of the relationship. A baby lives off the body of the host–its mother. Some parasites can be harmless. Others can do great damage, as it did to one of my students. Also, teen pregnancy can have an adverse effect on the child–causing learning disabilities and other issues. My niece’s child, born when she was just 15, is an example of this.

I also noticed that many of the young girls seemed to think it was cool to be pregnant even without a pact. Teenagers are at lengths to define themselves and so many parents are unwilling to provide the needed guidance. What I noticed during my years of teaching was that many parents are unwilling to discipline their children, blaming the teacher when the students didn’t behave. Yelling at children or embarrassing them in front of their peers is unfashionable and considered bad parenting. Having been a foster parent, which is really uberparenting, I can tell you that children need discipline, as well as love. Discipline has to be immediate. You cannot wait until you have a quiet place away from everyone to have a discussion. A parent has the right to be angry and the right to yell. It is normal, just not all the time. Life isn’t perfect and certainly not a smooth ride. Children need to know that. Children also need routine–dinner as a family, brushing teeth at the same time, going to bed on time–every night, even weekends. If parents establish this when the children are young, it will make it much easier on both the parent and the child in later life–and on the community that has to deal with them. Parents need to assert themselves as masters of the household and that seems to be the missing factor in so many families today. I have much more to say, but this is enough for now.

I wish these young girls in Massachusetts well and their children, but I also wish the girls hadn’t done this.

I am not condoning teen pregnancy, but this is very interesting. At least they are not having abortions. And Jamie Lynn Spears announced that she is going to marry her boyfriend, which is good because it shows that they are showing SOME responsibility. As a pro-life, pro-family, pro-straight marraige teen, I say that nobody shoud have sex until marriage; but if someone gets pregnant out of wedlock, be responsible and DO NOT have an abortion, at least be responsible, if you must leave out morality.

Talk about utter foolishness. These stupid teens have no idea what it is like to raise children. I became a father when I was 30 and the role of being a parent demands extreme care of you child. These girls are going to find out that their babies are not going to give them love but demand it from them. They are not raising a pet but a human life which they are completely responsible for. I do think movies like Juno give the wrong message in terms of what teen pregnancy is like. The young woman in the movie is portrayed as being bright. Of course because she is reading a script written by adults! All of these stupid girls are going to find out that college is going to be put off for a long time if ever; parties are a thing of the past since a baby requires 24 hour attention. Lastly you can’t turn off a baby when they scream. I agree with TimZ when he says there will be more violence committed against babies. As far as birth control, the old saying “you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drink” stands strong in this case. I bet most of these girls will be receiving government assistance because they don’t have the means to take care of their children. I put a monies bet many of them give up their babies because they don’t have the mental capacity or maturity to raise a child. Peace

Keep in mind that these are basically the same kids that are trading nude photos of themselves via cell phone. At that age, sex was all I thought about. No wonder these kids wind up in bed together. “Juno” and “Spears”..ha! What a joke!

In the movie Juno was a responsible young lady seeking by herself parents for the child she was about to give childbirth to. Jamie Lynn Spear has her boyfriend who is standing by her side and her babies side. These two cases don’t compare to the irresponsiblitiy of the girls, their parents, and the school system. No moral values being taught at home. No structure at school.

I’m gratified to see so many recognize the fact that had these girls been given condoms, it still would not have made a difference. And, it is true what Dr. Ablow says,also. We can blame the parents, the entertainment industry. But lets not forget the advertising industry.(that would be television as well) who use sex to sell everything from soap to cars to Depends Undergarments. As a parent I’ve done all I can to teach my young sons about faith and morals, but I’m afraid I’m the only voice they hear that discourages pre-marital sex. And my church,but they are only there one hour or two a week. There is much to be done to clean up our society. One thing we can start with is holding the television networks and the corporate interests accountable for the trash they put on the air.
Also, as a pro-lifer, I take issue with the notion that somehow, if we just make birth control accesible,or promote abortion these issues will go away. I’m forty-nine years old, so remember a pre-Roe society. The rise in, and availabilty of abortion, the availabilty of contaceptives, and the rise in acceptance of out-of-wedlock births, coincided. That wasn’t suppose to be that way. One was suppose to insure the other wasn’t a problem. Boy, we had that wrong!

The taxpayers get another screwing.

Why is no one speaking out against all this? The media is making it out to be OK. When Jamie Spears got pregnant, she should have immediately been ostracized and Nickelodeon should have pulled her off the air with a statement. Of course teen girls want to get pregnant, with all the idols doing it without getting married.

Besides, there is too much sex on TV in addition. Having sex and babies is something that is done without any thought or preparation or, heaven forbid, a mature, loving marriage!

It used to be that to have sex was somewhat taboo for teens, even though many did it anyway, but now sex is not taboo and having babies is. Teens will defy whatever standard is established.
If this story bothers you, then perhaps you should not support the lowering the standard.

Whether it’s teens beating each other, young children plotting to kill their 3rd grade teacher, or this newest pregnancy story, the common denominator is sadly the same: lack of adequate social skills and the character development that should go with it.

Our kids are frequently growing up in a vaccuum of positive modeling so that they understand how their choices will affect their lives immediately and downstream. The media, as pointed out, isn’t doing much to help. Ironically, O’Reilly called for “values-based education” in the school systems just a week ago, yet there’s been nothing in the media that SHOWS that such programs exist, are implemented, and are having great results on all fronts, including personal and academic

We have to stop seeing these stories as “just another tragedy” and start getting upset enough to want to ask the tough questions — and then seek answers. All the tongue clucking and “gee, that’s a shame” we’re doing around the watercooler is doing nothing to turn the tide.

…and then we wonder when the “next” big outrage hits the news?

Despite the availability of abortion on demand, contraception education, STD awareness/prevention education, abstinence only education, teenage pregnancy, teen suicide, teen drug abuse, teen STD rates are steadily on the rise. With fewer parents being able to afford to spend time at home with their kids because they have to work just to barely make ends meet, it has become easy to leave kids to themselves to raise themselves. Even for parents who do the job of being involved in their kids’ lives, teaching them moral values, still have to compete with media, peer pressure and an increasing politically incorrect society that places more value on polar bears than kids…….

One other thing….to assume that government aid (AFDC/Welfare, Section 8 Medicaid) is a cash cow….think again. I know too many people who will tell you the absolute truth that its no jackpot, and they struggle just as hard, if not more, than others. Further, to denegrate these girls as stupid or ignorant or ostracizing doesn’t even begin to solve or intelligently address the problem, any more than the glamorization by the media. This is not a liberal or conservative issue – this is an American issue that should concern the entire nation. Our future is being gambled away and we spend more time sermonizing and finger pointing than coming together as a nation to try to solve or adequately address the issue.

Where are the parents?? When I was 16, I could drive, but my parents saw to it that I didn’t get to go just anywhere. The teenagers these days have so much more freedom to do whatever they want with “no consequences.” When I was in high school, a couple of girls my age got pregnant; the catch however, everyone shunned them. Now, because of celebrities, it’s “cool” and “trendy” to be young parents. The last thing I needed growing up was to father a child at my age. I’m finishing college in less than a year, and I’m still not ready to be a dad. I can’t wait for the day that happens, but not now. Teenagers need to realize there are consequences for their actions. When the day comes that I get to be a responsible father, I will raise my children just like my parents raised me. Not how the sons and daughters of America are being raised today.

“Pregnancy Pact” Draws Sharp Response from Teen-Help Author

Seventeen teenage girls make a pact to get pregnant. Parents and teachers ask, “Why would they do this?”

Richard Dudum, author of What Your Mother Never Told You – A Survival Guide For Teenage Girls, thinks he knows why.

Dudum says, “Parents are too busy providing the basics for their families, shrinking budgets limit the ability of schools to educate teens about sex, and as a nation we don’t talk to our kids about the consequences of sex. Only a handful of parents and schools have had the courage to face up to these issues.”

These are the very issues Dudum tackles head-on in his book, What Your Mother Never Told You – A Survival Guide For Teenage Girls. The teenage survival guide includes chapters “Don’t Act and Dress Like A Ho,” “Change Friends When It’s Time” and, “Respect Yourself.” All should have been read by the seventeen mothers-to-be.

Dudum’s advice to parents of teenage girls is clear and simple. “Talk to your daughter about sex. If that’s too hard, put a copy of What Your Mother Never Told You on her bed. It will give her the tools to make good decisions, decisions that define and reflect who she is and who she wants to be. The book will open the door to dialogue.”

Richard Dudum is a San Francisco lawyer, musician, Realtor, summer-camp director, community leader and cancer survivor. He’s been married for 25 years. ”What Your Mother Never Told You” offers clear-sighted perspective and no-nonsense self-help advice from a father with the ability to convey tough love in a kind and supportive manner.

Pregnancy is “IN” right now and teenagers are always ready to go along with the latest trends. For the past few years I have not been able to stand in line at the grocery store without seeing pregnant celebrities on at least half of the magazine covers. If not that, it’s the new babies. There have been several movies about pregnancy lately too… Babies are the latest hot Hollywood accessory right now and the media is all over it constantly stalking the pregnant women and paying millions for baby pictures.

As a sixteen year old girl, I can honestly tell you that you’re wrong.
Firstly, you’re over-analyzing messages given by the media. Juno was an attempt at bringing teen pregnancy to light. And teenage girls consider themselves too cool to actually give a crap about Jamie Lynn Spears.
Secondly, as a sentient human being, we can choose for ourselves. You scream and rant and rave about this and point your fingers at various sources, but when it boils down to the basics, this was the girls’ choice. It’s as simple as that.
Thirdly, it is not the media that has the biggest impact on what we do with our lives. That would be ridiculous? Unless your teenage daughter has scheduled her life around re-runs of Disney shows (highly unlikely, to say the least), chances are that she’s really not that influenced by television. The truth? It’s how we’re raised. Our parents are the ones who implant the seeds of morals into our brains. Not a cable company.

It is ridiculous to blame the media for this, especially Juno and Knocked Up, which do NOT glamorize pregnancy.

I wonder what people will think of Baby Borrowers on NBC. It seems to give a more positive message and attempts to dissuade teens from starting families too early.

I feel like teen pregnancy is the new cell phone or sneakers to our generation. Everybody’s gotta have one. I’m 17 and just graduated. I don’t understand how ppl can try and blame the school. Those stupid girls didn’t get pregnant in school! The parents could have been strict, controling, and known their child’s every move. But if we want to do something, we make a way, no matter what! I basically think all those girls are stupid! If it was a way to support their pregnant friend, they could have thrown her a baby shower. It doesn’t make much sense to get pregnant yourself to “try and help her” now they’re gonna have to hustle and try and survive when life for them didn’t have to be that hard. Well there’s no need in crying over spilled milk, let go and let God. Pray for those girls, and their families.

The focus should not be whether or not there was a “pact.” Our teens need tools and strategies to make informed decisions as opposed to pressured and anxiety driven choices. “What Your Mother Never Told You — A Survival Guide For Teenage Girls” written by Richard Dudum, provides those tools and strategies and opens the door to dialogue on sensitive teen issues. Check it out at http://www.whatyourmothernevertoldyou.NET and read the 30+ reviews on Amazon.com. High School and college are times to remember, not times to forget and regret. Leave this book on your teenagers bed. She will read it and will be smarter and safer.