Teenage Pregnancy

[Waelith]

This topic was suggested to me by Scarlet... I think it would be an interesting topic to have in this section, as I think it would make a good debate. It is also something which I have a few issues about myself, and a lot of what is happening with teenagers getting pregnant is very true. I live in an area where teenage pregnancy is indeed rife, as are a lot of STD infections among this age group.
What do you think needs to be done about this? Should it be condoned, or discouraged by the authorities? What do you think the schools, parents, and government do, and should do to try and sort this problem out?


                                    Teenage Pregnancy: By Scarlet

 
Natasha, Jemma and Jade Williams with children Amani, T-Jay and Lita 
Three schoolgirl sisters have given birth aged 12, 14 and 16.
The Williams sisters, who live with their mother in a council house in Derby, feature in a BBC3 documentary called Desperate Midwives.

Natasha, the oldest, Jade and Jemma, the youngest, are reported to receive £600 a week in benefits.

Their mother Julie Atkins, 38, who said the girls were too young and had ruined their lives, blamed schools for providing poor quality sex education.

Jemma was first to give birth, to T-Jay in February last year, and weeks later Jade and Natasha discovered they were pregnant.

Natasha had daughter Amani in November and Jade followed with Lita in December. The younger sisters are still at school.

Mrs Atkins told the Sunday Mercury: "I don't care what people say about me. I blame the schools - sex education for young girls should be better."

The sisters feature in the BBC3 series Desperate Midwives: The real truth about childbirth, starting from 9pm on Monday.

Episode seven follows a midwife from the Derby City hospital as she helps the family prepare for the third child.

Mrs Atkins told the Sun that she still found it difficult to believe what had happened.

"They are still little girls and now they have babies of their own," she said. "But I don't care what people say, I love my kids and I'm here to help them.

"If I could turn back the clock, I would prefer them not to have children. Their education is so important."

Two of the girls are no longer in contact with their children's fathers.

Jemma is quoted in the Sun as saying: "I only told my boyfriend David, who was 14 at the time, but I didn't want to have an abortion.

"He was my first love but now I'm gutted because he doesn't want to have anything to do with me or T-Jay."

My Opinion
I read about this in The Sun sometime last week and I thought that the three teenage girls who had kids at such a young age is not only appalling but irresponsible. It's reported that each of them earn £600 a week from benefits which is approximately £30,000 a year and
apparently, we have to pay part of our taxes just for girls like these.

I cannot believe that the mother Julie Atkins is blaming the school
for providing poor quality of sex education. Maybe the school do have some part to play in this BUT I think that the mother should be just as
responsible for letting this happen to her daughters. No mother would
let their 12 year old daughter get pregnant and in my opinion
(I know this sounds harsh) she does not discipline her daughters.

I do think it's horrific how they get so much benefits from this and
especially if we do have to pay part of our taxes for them. I did
discuss this with a teacher before as we get on well and we do
debate about things. I did think why should we pay for their benefits
when we work hard and they don't have a job and have a rent-free
flat HOWEVER two of the girls are still in education and not old
enough to go out to work.

I would like to know your opinions about this. Who do you think is
to blame for this predicament? The school or the mother?

What do you think about the girls who got themselves pregnant
and also about the mother?

(Contribution by Scarlet)

[Blaen]

I blame neither the school nor the mother 100% although they may have contributed slightly. I blame the girls themselves, it's not as though they didn't know that if you have unprotected sex that you get pregnant, they did. The mother cannot be entirely to blame as she cannot watch over her children for every second of every day, and you cannot entirely blame the school either as they cannot stop people having underage and unprotected sex, they can only do so much.
      I find the amount of benefits they get a year sickening! Both my parents together only earn a little more than that a year (My dad is on incapacity benefit and recieves little in comparison to these girls). Underage sex is against the law yet these girls have been rewarded for their actions with vast sums of money. It's disgraceful.

[Jezebel]

When I was at school, there was plenty of sex education...I believe we were taught about it about three times a year.  I don't know what it is like now because I haven't been at school for 4 years now but you cannot blame the school because I believe that the majority of schools have a pretty good thing for sex education.  I would be surprised if they didn't.

The girls themselves are to blame.  They know the consequences about sex and what it does if you are not protected, and even if you're not, there are plenty of birth control methods for after the event has taken place.  I find it quite sick how there is a 12 year old who is pregnant!  She's not even a teenager yet and she's having a kid!  By the time she is 20, the kid is going to be 8.  I have no respect for kids who have sex at an early age and get pregnant.  They try and blame it on other people when it's them thats at fault.

I find it hard to believe that Britain has the highest teen pregnancy rate in Europe.  It just goes to show how many slutty chav-like people that live in this country.  It always seems to be chav-like girls who get up the duff too

[Elfy]

Agreed Jez.
I'l probably going to get some stick here cos I got pregnant with my first at 18, and was 19 when I had him. The difference is that I was in a stable, long term relationship and I was an adult.
I find it disgusting that these kids are having sex at such a young age. At 12 you know that having sex is how you get pregnant. And as for blaming the school well that's just stupid. The mother ALLOWED her children to have sex in her house, and also is it not her responsibility to teach her children about sex? Fair enough sex ed in schools could be improved, but the mother is obviously trying to fond someone else to blame.
I feel so sorry for the poor kids involved. They are going to grow up with slappers for mothers, and no fathers.

As for the benefits they get, I don't think they would get quite that much. As a single mum I get just over £100 per week. But I agree about them seeming to be rewarded by the government.

This really gets me riled so I'll stop now before I get too stressed out.

[Jezebel]

What gets me going is that us people that work have to pay for these slappers.  We have to work our fingers to bone while they get to sit at home all day doing nothing.  I don't mind if the money goes to mothers that need the money, but when people like them just get pregnant for the sake of it, thats what annoys me.

Them three kids who got pregnant that were mentioned in the first post will probably never have to work in their life ever again, if they did at all.  I reckon half these people only do it because they won't have to work for years and years...

[Elfy]

I think it's true that some little slappers will do it out of laziness. Sadly these kids don't know just how much hard work having a child is. I love my kids more than life itself, but there are times when I wish I could go out to work and earn my own way in life. As soon as my daughter goes to school, I'm going back to work.
Like you said Jez, most of them are chavs. And we all know what chavs are like.

[Sez]

I agree with all of the comments posted on here. I think it's disgusting how the girls get so much benefits from their condition. There are people who work their butts off and they don't get that much money a month. It's disgraceful!

I see what you mean about how the mother can't be to blame because she can't watch over her children 24/7 but people would think she's partly responsible because others would think that she's a bad mother. Some people would blame the school because they think that they don't teach their pupils enough about sex education.

I do think that the girls are responsible for their actions because they're the one who got themselves into the situation and they probably did know about contraception and how to get it. I know about Britain having the highest teenage pregnacy rate in Europe, it goes to show that something needs to be done but it's a question of how to stop the rate going up.

[Elenwe]

Well this is a very emotive subject. When it comes to who's to blame, well in my opinion, I think society, the government, their mother and the kids themselves are to blame. They are only children themselves, not yet equipped with the emotional strength and understanding to care for themselves let alone a baby! I don't know what school you went to Jez but I've found sex education on the whole to be absolutely pathetic. We wanted to tour a sexual health play but every school we talked to would only let us target year 10 and 11...bit late then isn't it! I think sex Ed should start in year 7 at the latest and involve emotional aspects of relationships not just the act itself! Nobody has mentioned the fathers yet either! Are they just allowed to get away with not carrying any of the responsibility for their actions?

How the hell do you discipline any young person these days? They are a law unto themselves most of the time. Kids are untouchable and as a consequence are ruled by peer pressure.

I doubt they'll be sitting at home doing nothing! I've had three children, all conceived within a loving, stable marriage and I have to say that it's the hardest thing I've ever done. Those girls are in for one helluva shock when they find out that babies are not all cute and cuddly. When the attention and the novelty wears off and they're stuck at home with a screaming infant, absolutely physically and emotionally exhausted from the pregnancy itself and sleep deprived and with no emotional support from the father (who'll be too busy impregnating some other stupid kid who thinks the only way to keep him is to give it up, yeah right )or friend (who'll be too busy partying to bother with them) that's when the penny will drop and those girls will realise what the hell they've let themselves in for...then the depression will set in!

[Jezebel]

Sex education started when I was in year 5....I'm not too sure if they still continue to teach it at that age but I was like 9...10 at the time?  I knew nothing about it before then, and our head teacher used to take us to this big room with a TV in like twice a week or something and we'd be taught all about it and how to prevent such things from happening.

We got the same sort of thing in secondary school too.  We were literally taught the subject at least three times a year in PSHE and Science.  I got a lot more than that because I was doing Child Development for GCSE as well, and my teachers never failed to get the information out to us.

What makes it funny is...because of that...no one in our year got pregnant while they were there.  I believe that theres been very little teen pregnancies at my old school because they shoved so much information into our brains about it, and I think that other schools should do it too.

[Shadowfax]

My school gave us a fair bit of sex ed.   I believe that all teen pregancys are entirely the fault of the people in question....its nothing about *not knowing* .....sex leads to babies.....

One of my closest friends had a kid when she was fourteen, and boy has she got the stretch marks to show it.   Its funny because from the outside if i didnt know her through my work, i'd think she was just some townie chav tosser....but shes a lovely person and she loves her kid.   Although i do think that she had him because she knew that she wouldnt have to work properly, or get a proper education if she did....so really, shes just skanking off my parents money....and i would say mine but i'm damned if i'm paying tax.   

I think a lot of people do just have children as a ploy to get them out of work.  Its disgusting....and their kids are gonna grow up on some pikey estate and turn into the next generation of their parents.   We should just tell them there going to be on tv, put them in a room and gas them to prevent further breeding. 

[Cuthien, Wolf-maiden]

Teen pregnancy is a sad fact of our modern world.  There was this girl who used to go to my school.  She was always really thin, and loved to make fun of me, I think because I'm not and never have been.  Well, she just had a baby.  It's sad, really.  She still graduated from high school, so that's good, but to have to worry about a baby in your senior year?  I think that abstinence is the best prevention for everything.

[Elenwe]

Sex education started when I was in year 5....I'm not too sure if they still continue to teach it at that age but I was like 9...10 at the time?  I knew nothing about it before then, and our head teacher used to take us to this big room with a TV in like twice a week or something and we'd be taught all about it and how to prevent such things from happening.

We got the same sort of thing in secondary school too.  We were literally taught the subject at least three times a year in PSHE and Science.  I got a lot more than that because I was doing Child Development for GCSE as well, and my teachers never failed to get the information out to us.

What makes it funny is...because of that...no one in our year got pregnant while they were there.  I believe that theres been very little teen pregnancies at my old school because they shoved so much information into our brains about it, and I think that other schools should do it too.

Well then Jez, perhaps that's the way forward...better sex education for everyone...with all the facts thrown in for good measure

[Cuthien, Wolf-maiden]

Schools shouldn't really hand out condoms, though.  That just seems to be encouragement.  I just say wait until marriage.  That way if you do get pregnant, it's all good.

[andonewhitetree]

Schools shouldn't really hand out condoms, though.  That just seems to be encouragement.  I just say wait until marriage.  That way if you do get pregnant, it's all good.

Not really.  That statement assumes marriages are happy, stable and financially able to support a child.  Just because two people are married doesn't mean it's "all good" to have a child.   

I know 2 girl's who both got pregnant at 17, and had their babies at 18.  One of them is still with her boyfriend but the other isn't.  And they are both great mothers, and lovely people.  Not all teenagers who have kids are slappers and lazy.  That's just a stereotype.  It's true some people are like that, but not all.

As for who is to blame, well, everything could be improved.  I agree there needs to be better, more in-depth sex education at schools, particularly at Catholic schools.  I went to a catholic school, being catholic by birth (even though I'm not a practising catholic) and because they had a better reputation/grades than the non-catholic schools round here.  The sex ed was crap.  I don't think I ever learned anything useful about it, except in biology.  RE lessons were the worst.  Sex was only good if you were in a marriage and for procreation.  Now that's such an old fashioned view.  And the more they pushed this view on us the more poeple wanted to rebel against it.

The thing is, teenagers do have sex.  And not all of them who do want a kid, and not all of them who do are slappers.  I think measures need to go towards preventing pregnancy, rather than preventing sex.

[Sad]

Speaking from personal experience (under completely different circumstances though - I wasnt a slapper offering, it was taken.), I feel that the under 16s should be forced into an abortion. They don't have a CLUE the hard work thats involved. Its not right. Purely, Sex Education should warn them that if they get pregnant under 16, the law dictates that they must have an abortion. That'll teach them, That way they can have the mental scar of losing a child, not the physical demand of one screaming every day. I'm not saying one situation is better than the other, just that there is no way you can cope with a baby at that age. I couldn't.. my family had to help me... not that my mother and father would have anything to do with me. That situation was taken out of my hands though.

These girls are STUPID.. Well, not the 16 year old, thats her choice.. but 14 and TWELVE?!?! WILLINGLY having sex? NO NO NO NO NO!!! SLUTS!!!

*Calms self down* sorry, strong opinions here.

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