I Just Don't Understand

Last night I was watching a Lifetime movie, which was based on the real news story about the Pregnancy Pact article. I realize that this story is almost 2 years old, but I must have missed it. Or maybe I just couldn't believe it and blocked it out.

Seriously? Why would a high school student WANT to have a child so young? When I was 15 years old, I think my biggest concern was whether or not I could get the basketball star to like me. What else? Oh, my other concerns consisted of going to my part-time job to make spending money to pay for my phone and new clothes and hoping my mother would NOT nag me to death.

I'm not sure why there are so many teens having children now, but I just don't understand why our society thinks this is okay. Why are there shows like 16 and Pregnant? Why does it seem like we're glamorizing it? Yes, babies are cute. We love babies, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't show high school students there is more to life than just having babies. What about other dreams and goals? What about a future for themselves?

In that article, it talks about how the school provided daycare so the teen mothers could finish high school. I'm not saying there shouldn't be support services in place, but why were there only post-baby services? Why did this community think it was not okay to offer more preventative methods but okay to provide childcare services? It's almost like encouraging kids to have children: "Look. We've set it up for you! Have your baby, finish school, we'll take care of your baby in class."

Mind-boggling. And what's with all the movies and TV shows highlighting teen moms - like 16 and Pregnant. I've never watched 16 and Pregnant and I don't want to. Even if the point of the show is to show how hard it is, showing a child having a child? I don't think this will necessarily scare any girls from having children. They'll still think, "Oh, that won't happen to me. loves me. We'll be happy." Instead of these types of shows, wouldn't it be better to show more inspiring outcomes?

I'm just baffled. And a little horrified. While I'm not saying teen moms should be shot or anything like that, I'm just wondering why we don't do something to SOLVE the issue, not put a band-aid on it.

How disheartening. I'm afraid for my daughter....and maybe even me.