Bristol Palin did not set out to get pregnant. We live in a society today where sex is a way of life. In our society where everything is associated with sex how can young people disassociate themselves with sex. It’s in your face 24/7. Bristol is lucky to have the support of a loving family when she found herself pregnant. Our society has honored, and even applauded unwed motherhood. I hope for the best for Bristol and Levi.

By the way, you didn’t mention anything about Levi. Guess he had nothing to do with it. Typical male attitude!

Bristol Palin is a disgrace. She sits there and says she does not think abstinence from sex it realistic for teenagers. She needs to speak for herself. I have 2 22-year-old nieces who are still virgins. Just because she lacks self-control does not mean everone does.

“Our society has honored, and even applauded unwed motherhood.”

Having been born into a situation like this and dealing with the poverty that is more the norm than these young women, I can tell you it most certainly should NOT be honored or applauded! The women and those like them that can’t control the thing between their legs should suffer the disgerace and instability that their children will endure for the rest of their lives from not having a dedicated and committed dad!

I don’t fault these women for their age, I fault them for not being in a committed MARRIED relationship before “spreading the joy”!

As usual women are applauded for doing what they want with NO thought or care for what happens to the children that result and society from their poor examples.

And then we wonder what is wrong with America! As goes the family, so goes the nation!

corymac,

Everyone’s 22 year-old nieces, sisters, daughters etc are still virgins. It’s just other people’s that aren’t…

JB

I completely agree with you. I was 17 when I had my first child and friends were envious. Although I was married when I got pregnant, it was still very difficult. My husband was active duty military and sent out of country often-his longest tour away being 7 months. Therfore, I was essentially a single mother (we lived far from any relatives). I understand when Palin says she is happy-you live with what you get and make the best of it. It was a wonderfully difficult time-but 5 years later I had another son. Because of all of this I dropped out of high school at 16-I did get my GED a few years later. It wasn’t until They were much older I couold get back to school to becoma a nurse. Brandon, my oldest, is now in college at a very good university taking physics for premed; Dustin, my youngest, is excelling at homeschooling. For them I put my whole life on hold. Would I do it agoin? No-it was harder on me and them then it would have been if I would have waited.

Spears was a married woman over the age of 21 when she gave birth to her two sons. Teenagers having babies is nothing new has been happening for many generations. In the beginning is seems easy and like no touble at all. Once the kid starts growing up though, that’s when the problems can begin. Once the female finds a new male that isn’t the father, real nightmares can begin. All the males in prison were raised without fathers. All the females that get pregnant have no fathers or no relationship with their fathers even if they live under the same roof.

Parents need to be more involved with their daughters in order to avoid using the Palen’s of the world as role models. If the daughter gets knocked up, then the parents need to make their daughters 100% responsible for the care of the child for at least the first two years – that means no more going to school or any type of social life. If parents make it easy for their minor children with children, this will cause more problems and more illegitimate babies.

The males who impregnant these girls need to be forced to pay support – even if they are not yet working, the bill can be waiting for them when they become full-time working adults – much like the student loan concept.

I couldn’t agree with you more. I watched the first part of the interview and couldn’t believe my ears. I’m glad my 14-yr old daughter was not in the room. Ms. Palin certainly sounded like an advocate for teen pregnancy. She is fortunate to have a loving, extended family in close proximity that can help her. Much like Jamie Lynn Spears is fortunate to have enough money to take care of whatever needs she and her baby may have. Unfortunately these are the exceptions to the rule. If Bristol Palin and her boyfriend were forced to get out and work full-time to support themselves and their baby she would have a completely different perspective on becoming a teen mother.

Teenagers having babies is nothing new has been happening for many generations. In the beginning is seems easy and like no touble at all. Once the kid starts growing up though, that’s when the problems can begin. Once the female finds a new male that isn’t the father, real nightmares can begin. All the males in prison were raised without fathers. All the females that get pregnant have no fathers or no relationship with their fathers even if they live under the same roof.

Parents need to be more involved with their daughters in order to avoid using the Palen’s of the world as role models. If the daughter gets knocked up, then the parents need to make their daughters 100% responsible for the care of the child for at least the first two years – that means no more going to school or any type of social life. If parents make it easy for their minor children with children, this will cause more problems and more illegitimate babies.

The males who impregnant these girls need to be forced to pay support – even if they are not yet working, the bill can be waiting for them when they become full-time working adults – much like the student loan concept.

Trailblazers?? Motherhood at ANY age has been around for a long time. I think you underestimate young women when you presume that they’ll look up from “text messaging” and think “oh I’ll have a baby instead” because Bristol Palin did. This article is way too simplistic and short sighted.

Bristol Palin IS NOT A DISGRACE!!!! She made a mistake corymac. I imagine you would have crucified her for having an abortion ??!!!!!. People, not just teenagers make mistakes in life and it is not for you to judge. It is great that your nieces are virgins but I have to wonder why you would be privy to that information. Since you are a guy I am wondering why you are not commenting on the father of this infant. Oh, I forget you are a male and don’t have to worry if you get pregnant.

Bristol is kinda hot

I couldn’t agree with Dr. Ablow more and had the exact same feeling while watching the interview. While abstinence may be unrealistic for Bristol and Jamie (and many others, I’m sure) there are very many young people who’ve made (and stuck with) that choice. They just aren’t represented in the entertainment media or, if they are, they’re depicted as hopeless nerds but never beautiful and intelligent (which is often the case).

Brave new world? Are you serious? What a joke! Calling the irresponsible actions of these individuals as a form of bravery is an insult. Glamorizing people for their lack of self-control and the inability to make wise choices in their life is also nothing more than a cop-out. Furthermore, to place someone in front of a live camera who obviously is unqualified to render an opinion on the merits of abstinence is also irresponsible. Finally, having someone in the medical profession who writes an article that portrays this reckless behavior as something they believe is the new social and cultural movement in our nation is beyond reason and logic. Regardless of the negative press and statistics to the contrary, there are many who adhere to the principles of abstinence, etc. It disturbs me to see how easily one makes assumptions that there is no place for abstinence in today’s world because that isn’t the case, far from it…

We, adults — but society as a whole, need to learn to be discering — not all cases are the same and cannot be lumped together.

Getting pregnant with a devoted father and responsibly facing the consequences is very, very different than sleeping around and ending up having a baby who has no idea who his/her daddy is and no daddy involved with said child.

Just like a loving, devoted couple usinf fertility treatments to conceive is not the same as a single mom with six kids using it — see we seem ablr to make out the differences when there are adults in the equation.

Girls who are desperate, and sleeping around, are almost always in a lot of pain and need a lot of help — much more serious than just just, “her’s a condom and how to use it” — sorry if she is desperate to be loved she isn’t going to use it.
Other girls, more like Palin, are stable and responsible and we can try to get them to be more forward-thinking; but teenagers are often not very good at that. At least she is a role model for taking responsiblity for her own actions.

We used this story in our house with our teenager to talk about how getting pregnant changes your life — but that we should always respect people who don’t run away from their actions or consequences of them.

Where are all the “boy-men” who father-ed these babies? Oh, that’s right! They’re sleeping over at their 8th grade history teacher’s house while her husband is away on business…

Our society is seeing an overabundance of self centered supposed-to-be-role-models who are more in love with “having it all” than with “being it all” to the ones who love them. Its the carnage of broken lives that selfish adults are leaving in the wakes of their selfish pursuits and our children are suffering. Fathers, be good fathers… mothers, be good mothers. Are kids are desperate for it.

Now this is a broad brush to paint with and not every unwanted pregnancy is the result of bad parenting. Plenty of decent hard working parents have found themselves in the same situation. What we see in this case is a family is pulling together during a tough time to help their daughter make the best of an unfavorable situation. Not ever teen mom has this support system…

The differences between Palin and Jamie Lynn from an average pregnant teen is that they come from very high income families that are willing to help them, thats why the look all rested in magazines and interviews because they can hire nannies and pay for their children education. This is the problem with America they are portraying these high profile teen moms to our society and make the average teen feel like they can too have their lifes complete with a baby.

The whole purpose of waiting to have children was
so that a young lady could accomplish her goals
of completing college and finding a job.
….but Now that the job market is not promising
and the cost of college is very high.
it changes the dynamics
of what you Really Want out of your life.
One thing is for sure….
we all want unconditional love and happy memories.
We all want to..”.be anchored to something genuine.”
Maybe schools could develope programs
for Enrichment of their social lives…instead of
just showing …”the blackhole of cyberspace”

I could not agree more with these comments. As an Obstetrician, I see daily the glorification of teen pregnancy. I see families that are very excited for their 15-17 year old with no means of support or even any idea of what they are doing. The teen and the family live in a fantasy world.

JB, you are right on the money with your comment. Many families believe that their children could never do such a thing. Be it teen sex, violence or bullying. The teacher or doctor or counselor is just wrong. Get a grip people. No matter how well you instill your values, teens have a way of making there own decisions, right or wrong. The Palin’s situation should make that very clear.

I see then 2 choices: shelter your child from the world until they are grown and can make adult decisions or protect them from themselves. The first option makes no sense as they will be exposed to the world at some point. The second involves education, openess and a great deal of listening.

I wish her the best with her new baby, but about the comment that abstinence is unrealistic is her opinion. I personally made it through high school and college without being sexually active, and i believe it depends on the person and their beliefs and values, i was 22 years old when i did, with the one and only person my husband. For me, i didn’t care what everyone else was doing, and i wasn’t worried about being popular because my personality made it easy for people to like me or dislike me. I really didn’t care. My mom sat down and had the talk with me when i was in middle school, and wasn’t even thinking about sex or even kissing boys……i was shy and only had crushes/boyfriends. But never anything serious. I think parents should step up more in there children’s lives. Some young adults know how to say no to sex, and some don’t because they want to fit in or want a guy to like them…………the teaching and talking to comes from parents.

Well I guess Ms. Palin finds the use of controceptives is also unrealistic! How in the world could she even get pregnant with all of the birth control available in this country or do they not have condoms in the Frontier State of Alaska!?

What a bunch of bull!!! Asking Bristol or Jamie about absentience is like asking a drunk how to stay sober. You probably think alcoholism has been solved. As a counselor, I deal with people every day that are suffering with their choices around sex. Come to Chicago and talk to un-wed mothers about the “joys” of raising children alone.

Bristol Palin says that abstinence for 18 year old girls is “unrealistic”. Upon hearing this, the first question I would ask as a parent is: are you still having sex with Levi Johnson? And are you still having unprotected sex? It is clear she feels no urgency to get married, “not right now” she says when asked of her plans. Either the parents are still teaching no sex before marriage to their daughter or they are allowing their unmarried teenage daughter living under their roof to continue to have sex with the guy who knocked her up. Which is it?

I did not get from the interview at all that Bristol was advocating that other teen girls get pregnant and have babies. She said several times that she would rather have started a family in about 10 years and her advice to other girls would be to do the same. The family could have talked her into an abortion and swept it all under the rug (those records are sealed) but they were honest and straightforward about the whole situation AND chose life. We often run into situations in our lives that are not the best but we have to make the best of them and that is how I see the Palin family dealing with this. Like Sarah Palin I raised my kids the best as I could and my opinion is that “But for the Grace of God there go I”. This can happen in any family and I can’t be the judge of the Palin family and the choices they have made.

I am the mother of a wonderful young man that was born when I was 17 years old. He is now 26 years old. Although I am in no way advocating teen pregnancy, I would never consider my son’s birth a mistake. We chose to focus on making our situation right instead of only focusing on the lack of judgment that put us in that situation. My son’s father ( he was 20) and I decided to marry and we have worked hard to provide a loving, happy and stable home for our family. We do not have wealthy families and have never accepted financial support from either our families or the government in any way. We have been married nearly 27 years and now have 3 children. Our oldest son has a college education that my husband and I worked to pay for and our second son will be starting college in the fall. We have worked hard to make sure our son’s life was not negatively impacted by our untimeliness.

I will agree that teaching abstinence is the ideal, but I have also tried to teach my children that actions and choices come with consequences and responsibilities.

I did not view the interview but had the same impression as Dr. Keith. I was 33 y/o when I gave birth to twins (married for 10 years). I can’t count the number of hours I have cried, feared, sleepless nights. I wonder how young people can raise children when I had (and still have) so many insecurities. Maybe teenage parents don’t know what they don’t know, and think the world will be kind to them and their offspring. Where those of us who waited, realize how cruel this world and other people can be.

*Hurrah for Bristol Palin not encouraging early motherhood .,This is trickey as many teenagers will only see the glamourous Bristol , handsome boyfriend and cute baby” Notice how the little sister , Piper, is mothering way beyond her years while Sarah is out grabbing headlines!! My guess is that they all lack in getting what they need emotionally from THEIR mother . Hope Bristol can keep the focus on being an advocate and not let Sarah steal all her press.

Probably the greatest contributor to the problem of teen pregnancy lies in our society’s refusal to accept the idea of personal responsibility for actions. When we saturate the culture with the idea that our every wish is some kind of entitlement and that we are owed rescue from every bad choice we make, why assume that anything is considered a risk? The fact that Bristol did not abort the child and that her family helped her to assume the responsibility for her actions is counter-cultural, but you are correct that her appearance probably sends the wrong message to teenagers. At least she is trying to make the best of her mistake by realizing that this baby must have the same love and devotion as a child born later into a more desirable situation.

In today’s world, teenagers who are perfectly capable of making adult decisions and assuming adult responsibilities are kept in a perpetual stated of suspended maturation by a society that wants mainly to make money by selling them things that they do not need and keeping them out of the job market as long as possible. Add to this parents who essentially leave these children to raise themselves with the Ipods and the Internet as their nannies, and the whole perception that God, the Creator, is a four-letter word, and that is the recipe for the kind of consequences we see.

Dear Greta,

First of all I would like to say that I’m a fan of yours and a big supporter of Sara Palin. Having said that, however, I think you are overdoing this thing with Crystal Palin and her family. I really don’t think it is appropriate to flaunt or glamorize a situation which by most standards is unacceptable in our society. I realize that your response may be that this is reality and we must face up to it as it is certainly better than the alternative (abortion).This may be true, but the spin I think you are putting on it is that it is exciting and acceptable as long as you have a family that will support you. If you feel I just don’t get it, please let me know.

Furthermore, I don’t think you are doing Sarah Palin any favors if she still has any aspirations to run for a higher office in the Federal Government. The way you are portraying her is as someone who is a supportive mother and wife but not one who has the stature and necessary credentials to become president..
I hope you will take my comments in the positive spirit in which they have been offered.

I think that people, including doctors, hear what they want to hear. Read the transcript of the interview and count how many times Bristol said that she wished she’d waited 10 years to have a baby. And how do you know that Bristol is still having sex with her bf? And if so, how do you know it’s unprotected sex? Has she publicized these intimate details? Just b/c she has now realized the incredible joy of motherhood (and in response to one of commenters here … just b/c she has a supportive family who lets her live in their home), doesn’t mean that she is not living with the consequences of her actions daily. Besides the sleep deprivation, which she mentioned multiple times, she stated several times that the hardest part is learning that life isn’t all about her anymore. She has had to come to grips with the fact that life is forever changed. Life is now primarily about Tripp. So she’ll miss out on many teenage experiences that she would have been able to enjoy b/c now she has to fulfill adult responsibilities. Bristol is not an expert on abstinence education. She did her best and spoke from her heart. But it was clear that she thought that having sex before marriage is risky behavior with some negative consequences. Why don’t we just accept what she said at face value? Why does one statement out of the whole interview – perhaps one that she could regret later – make the headlines? Perhaps b/c we all hear what we want to hear.

I enjoyed the interview of Bristol Palin. Everything she said is true and very helpful for young teens. Not everyone has help with there babies and she is so lucky to have a wonderful family.
We all love the Palin family and hope one day Sarah will be our first lady President.!!!

Let’s back track and differentiate. Would most people advize a unmarried teenager in the middle of high school to have a baby, probably not. But when the same teenager becomes pregnant one has to ask what is the best thing to do in a not ideal situation. The teenager needs support emotionally, psychologically and economically .I have coucelled women for over twenty years. I have seen many women young and older in many challenging situations who then become pregnant I have not seen one woman sorry for the child they brought into the world despite the difficult things going on in their life at the time. A child is forever, life’s challenges and crisises come and go. When is the world community going to wake up and help one and another instead of blaming accusing another person in need. As Sarah Pallin said, let’s deal with what needs to be done. For those of you who think abortion might be an option you should know not only the emotional and physical damage of such an unhuman act on women act but that a large percentage of women who opted for that option “find themselves” pregnant within a half a year. Interesting statistic.

Look at the statistics – more teenagers are graduating from high school as virgins these days than the past decade. The message of waiting and respecting yourself and your body is getting out there – we just need to keep promoting healthy decisions. Just because a few semi-famous teen girls made poor decisions doesn’t mean we shouldn’t applaud all the non-famous teens out there making the right choice for themselves, their families, society, and ultimately their future family/children. SEX IS WORTH THE WAIT! worththewait.org

I may have missed this, but are these celebrity parents unwilling to talk with their teens about birth control? I know about, and do not agree with, the philosophy that parents agreeing to birth control perhaps encourages premature sexual behavior.

I thought the same things as you wrote. These teen mothers are becoming poster children for why to have sex and become mothers. Most teens are not going to realize that they do not have the support and “coddling” system that celebritys have.

I do not mean to sound harsh, but parents! financially supporting three generations sometimes four, is jeopardizing your independance in terms of health care and basic needs when you will need it most- as a senior citizen. Please, talk birth control.

I love how Bristol harps about her mother allowing her to make her own “choice”. Her own pro-choice. Forcing women into motherhood by attempting to repeal abortion laws was one of Palin’s political aspirations, so it seems silly to talk about choice in a positive way.

According to pro-life philosophy, isn’t it WRONG that she had a choice?