OUpearlgirl
Ideal_Rock
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I find this story incredibly sad. I don''t even know how to put into words how this made me feel..
Article
Article
Date: 2/13/2009 6:56:59 PM
Author: FrekeChild
But did he have a kid at 11 or 12?
Agreed. It happens all the time. When I was younger a pregnant 12 year old lived next door to me. By the time seventh grade rolled around, two others were pregnant. All three of them were friends, which I think had a lot to do with it.Date: 2/13/2009 7:37:52 PM
Author: ksinger
While it IS pretty tragic, I wonder why this deemed worthy of such a write-up. Girls get PREGNANT at 13 and 14 fairly often which I consider equally tragic, yet it hardly registers as a blip on our consciousness anymore, let alone being front page news. It''s probably because he looks like a 3rd grader....
Date: 2/14/2009 3:18:08 AM
Author: Po10472
First off, The Sun is a tacky, tabloid, sensationalist newspaper which essentially relies on sex and scandal to sell. Lets just say that it still has page 3 models in it and for those that don't know what a page 3 model is, its a semi naked picture of a woman! Its still back in the 70's where its mysoginistic, has politically unstable views and well its just a shocking tabloid which sadly sells millions everyday. This kind of story is totally believable tho and although I disagree with The Sun, it does tend to highlight these really sad stories, its their bread and butter so to speak.
What I find absolutely shocking about this is the fact that this poor baby will be caught up in the system and will no doubt be brought up by the grandparents, if they're around. I understand that mistakes can happen and there are young mothers and fathers out there who do a good job but lets be honest here, why at 13 and 14 are they having sex???? When I was that age, if a boy talked to me I blushed so sex was not on my agenda. Different generation, different pressures sure, but they're more informed, have access to better resources and have more money than we did to buy contraception if they do decide to go down that road, so why are teenage pregnancies on the increase??? - rhetorical question.
When I look at that wee boys face it makes me really sad cos he looks the same age as my 8-year old niece! What the hell do they know about life to bring up a life at 13!
Honestly, I'm not trying to be snarky here, but before you make statements like that, you should check a few facts to see if your opinion is actually borne out by them. (Variations of this discussion have been had in here ad nauseum, to the point that I have some of these stats actually linked into my favorites, I've checked them SO many times...) The teen pregnancy rate overall has actually been falling for more than a decade, in spite of popular perception to the contrary. The rate of decline has apparently been slowing, up until 2006 when some groups showed signs of increase again. It's still not known if this is a blip or a genuine trend. But suffice to say, the teen pregnancy rate has NOT been going up, until perhaps 2006, in spite of the increased sexualization of our society, which has also not just been going on in society "today" but has been going on for quite awhile.Date: 2/14/2009 8:45:24 PM
Author: steph72276
Just personal opinion, but my thoughts on why the teenage pregnancy rate is going up...Kids are exposed to sex everywhere in our society today. It's on network television, daytime television, entertainment news, magazine covers....they are bombarded with it, so it is normal for them to want to experiment with it. And parents are not being parents these days....too many want to be the child's 'friend' and not enough want to discipline. And not enough are teaching kids to have good values. There are no penalties to bad behavior. Also, most kids these days grow up as latch-key kids. Which is fine, I'm not saying there is anything wrong with 2 parents working, and realize that it is a necessity for many, but they have access to homes with no parents, and all these things combined lead to stories like these....
Ok, so you are giving me facts between 1990 and 2002? And it has risen since 2006? I''m confused since we are now in 2009 and it has been back on the rise for 3 years. Even if the rates were steady, do you not think 750,000 teenaged pregnancies a year is a huge problem? Just seems like you are into arguing with people.Date: 2/14/2009 10:54:01 PM
Author: ksinger
Honestly, I''m not trying to be snarky here, but before you make statements like that, you should check a few facts to see if your opinion is actually borne out by them. (Variations of this discussion have been had in here ad nauseum, to the point that I have some of these stats actually linked into my favorites, I''ve checked them SO many times...) The teen pregnancy rate overall has actually been falling for more than a decade, in spite of popular perception to the contrary. The rate of decline has apparently been slowing, up until 2006 when some groups showed signs of increase again. It''s still not known if this is a blip or a genuine trend. But suffice to say, the teen pregnancy rate has NOT been going up, until perhaps 2006, in spite of the increased sexualization of our society, which has also not just been going on in society ''today'' but has been going on for quite awhile.Date: 2/14/2009 8:45:24 PM
Author: steph72276
Just personal opinion, but my thoughts on why the teenage pregnancy rate is going up...Kids are exposed to sex everywhere in our society today. It''s on network television, daytime television, entertainment news, magazine covers....they are bombarded with it, so it is normal for them to want to experiment with it. And parents are not being parents these days....too many want to be the child''s ''friend'' and not enough want to discipline. And not enough are teaching kids to have good values. There are no penalties to bad behavior. Also, most kids these days grow up as latch-key kids. Which is fine, I''m not saying there is anything wrong with 2 parents working, and realize that it is a necessity for many, but they have access to homes with no parents, and all these things combined lead to stories like these....
From the first link I gave, the first part of the summary page:
Each year, almost 750,000 teenage women aged 15–19 become pregnant. The teenage pregnancy rate in this country is at its lowest level in 30 years, down 36% since its peak in 1990. A growing body of research suggests that both increased abstinence and changes in contraceptive practice are responsible for recent declines in teenage pregnancy.1
• The teenage pregnancy rate among those who ever had intercourse declined 28% between
1990 and 2002.
• The teenage birthrate in 2002 was 30% lower than the peak rate of 61.8 births per 1,000
women, reached in 1991.
• Between 1988 and 2000, teenage pregnancy rates declined in every state and in the
District of Columbia.
• By 2002, the teenage abortion rate had dropped by 50% from its peak in 1988.
• From 1986 to 2002, the proportion of teenage pregnancies ending in abortion declined
more than one-quarter from 46% to 34% of pregnancies among 15–19-year-olds.
• Among black women aged 15–19, the nationwide pregnancy rate fell by 40% between
1990 and 2002.
• Among white teenagers, it declined by 34% during the same time period.
• Among Hispanic teenagers, who may be of any race, the pregnancy rate increased
slightly from 1991–1992, but by 2002 was 19% lower than the 1990 rate.
In general, states with the largest numbers of teenagers also had the greatest number of teenage pregnancies. California reported the highest number of adolescent pregnancies (113,000), followed by Texas, New York, Florida and Illinois (with about 37,000–80,000 each). The smallest numbers of teenage pregnancies were in Vermont, North Dakota, Wyoming, South Dakota and Alaska, all of which reported fewer than 2,000 pregnancies among women aged 15– 19.
The article I linked showing an increase in 2006 didn''t go past 2006, so I don''t know if the rate has continued to increase or not. The article did say that it was too early to know whether it was a trend or just a blip. I suspect is IS a trend, but there are not any stats I can find - and I have looked - for 2007 or 2008 to bear out that suspicion. As for the second highlighted statement, you just don''t know that. As for attributing a (debatable) increase in teen pregnancy rates to exposure to things sexual in the culture, it doesn''t work very well because it would have had to have worked as an "increasing" pressure in the 90''s and early 2000s too, but it clearly didn''t. Unless of course your exposure to things sexual only began in 2006. And yes, I do think teen pregnancy is a problem.Date: 2/15/2009 8:40:33 AM
Author: steph72276
Ok, so you are giving me facts between 1990 and 2002? And it has risen since 2006? I''m confused since we are now in 2009 and it has been back on the rise for 3 years. Even if the rates were steady, do you not think 750,000 teenaged pregnancies a year is a huge problem? Just seems like you are into arguing with people.Date: 2/14/2009 10:54:01 PM
Author: ksinger
Honestly, I''m not trying to be snarky here, but before you make statements like that, you should check a few facts to see if your opinion is actually borne out by them. (Variations of this discussion have been had in here ad nauseum, to the point that I have some of these stats actually linked into my favorites, I''ve checked them SO many times...) The teen pregnancy rate overall has actually been falling for more than a decade, in spite of popular perception to the contrary. The rate of decline has apparently been slowing, up until 2006 when some groups showed signs of increase again. It''s still not known if this is a blip or a genuine trend. But suffice to say, the teen pregnancy rate has NOT been going up, until perhaps 2006, in spite of the increased sexualization of our society, which has also not just been going on in society ''today'' but has been going on for quite awhile.Date: 2/14/2009 8:45:24 PM
Author: steph72276
Just personal opinion, but my thoughts on why the teenage pregnancy rate is going up...Kids are exposed to sex everywhere in our society today. It''s on network television, daytime television, entertainment news, magazine covers....they are bombarded with it, so it is normal for them to want to experiment with it. And parents are not being parents these days....too many want to be the child''s ''friend'' and not enough want to discipline. And not enough are teaching kids to have good values. There are no penalties to bad behavior. Also, most kids these days grow up as latch-key kids. Which is fine, I''m not saying there is anything wrong with 2 parents working, and realize that it is a necessity for many, but they have access to homes with no parents, and all these things combined lead to stories like these....
From the first link I gave, the first part of the summary page:
Each year, almost 750,000 teenage women aged 15–19 become pregnant. The teenage pregnancy rate in this country is at its lowest level in 30 years, down 36% since its peak in 1990. A growing body of research suggests that both increased abstinence and changes in contraceptive practice are responsible for recent declines in teenage pregnancy.1
• The teenage pregnancy rate among those who ever had intercourse declined 28% between
1990 and 2002.
• The teenage birthrate in 2002 was 30% lower than the peak rate of 61.8 births per 1,000
women, reached in 1991.
• Between 1988 and 2000, teenage pregnancy rates declined in every state and in the
District of Columbia.
• By 2002, the teenage abortion rate had dropped by 50% from its peak in 1988.
• From 1986 to 2002, the proportion of teenage pregnancies ending in abortion declined
more than one-quarter from 46% to 34% of pregnancies among 15–19-year-olds.
• Among black women aged 15–19, the nationwide pregnancy rate fell by 40% between
1990 and 2002.
• Among white teenagers, it declined by 34% during the same time period.
• Among Hispanic teenagers, who may be of any race, the pregnancy rate increased
slightly from 1991–1992, but by 2002 was 19% lower than the 1990 rate.
In general, states with the largest numbers of teenagers also had the greatest number of teenage pregnancies. California reported the highest number of adolescent pregnancies (113,000), followed by Texas, New York, Florida and Illinois (with about 37,000–80,000 each). The smallest numbers of teenage pregnancies were in Vermont, North Dakota, Wyoming, South Dakota and Alaska, all of which reported fewer than 2,000 pregnancies among women aged 15– 19.![]()
ETA: Thank you PO, I believed we were talking about the UK as well since that is where the story originated.Date: 2/15/2009 10:51:42 AM
Author: steph72276
If you look at the comments above my first response, the person was wondering why this is such a rampant problem. In my first comment, the first line clearly states that THIS IS MY PERSONAL OPINION. In stating this, there is no need for you to come in and give me a bunch of statistical facts and figures on if the rates are rising, declining or staying the same because it doesn't change my OPINION on WHY we have this problem. Whether it is on the rise or stagnant, this is obviously an enormous problem and I don't see anything wrong with discussing the many reasons behind the issue.
By the way, if you start your comment with 'I'm not trying to be snarky', chances are you are being snarky and it will evoke an unfavorable response. There is nothing wrong with stating the facts and I appreciate you pointing out that the data is not available yet for the past few years (which seems odd btw that we can't get statistics up to date), but I clearly stated this is my opinion on the problem, I wasn't debating if there is a problem in the first place.
I really wasn''t trying to be snarky, in spite of what you may think. Maybe I just do it like breathing, although I suspect I would have been accused of it without a disclaimer. In any case, I apologize. I do think though, that you shouldn''t expect people to not challenge your opinions in ATW, or to not point out that they aren''t based in statistics or something other than conjecture. Part of your personal opinion was that pregnancy rates are going up. Until I did a bit of pointed research on the subject in the last year - in response to the endless threads on variations of this topic - I believed the same thing. But it wasn''t true, and I was a bit taken aback myself when I discovered that. THAT is what I was responding to. If the first part of your opinion (that teen pregnancy is on the rise - and if it is, it is after about a 14 year streak of decline) is questionable, then the second part trying to explain the first part becomes irrelevant.Date: 2/15/2009 10:53:40 AM
Author: steph72276
ETA: Thank you PO, I believed we were talking about the UK as well since that is where the story originated.Date: 2/15/2009 10:51:42 AM
Author: steph72276
If you look at the comments above my first response, the person was wondering why this is such a rampant problem. In my first comment, the first line clearly states that THIS IS MY PERSONAL OPINION. In stating this, there is no need for you to come in and give me a bunch of statistical facts and figures on if the rates are rising, declining or staying the same because it doesn''t change my OPINION on WHY we have this problem. Whether it is on the rise or stagnant, this is obviously an enormous problem and I don''t see anything wrong with discussing the many reasons behind the issue.
By the way, if you start your comment with ''I''m not trying to be snarky'', chances are you are being snarky and it will evoke an unfavorable response. There is nothing wrong with stating the facts and I appreciate you pointing out that the data is not available yet for the past few years (which seems odd btw that we can''t get statistics up to date), but I clearly stated this is my opinion on the problem, I wasn''t debating if there is a problem in the first place.
I agree, it is really sad. It is glamorized because they see stars all the time having babies out of wedlock and they think it is cool....but what they fail to realize is that these people live in multi-million dollar homes, have multiple nannies at their disposal, and can bring their children to work with them in many cases. Doesn''t really work out that way in real life...but by the time they realize that, it''s too late.Date: 2/17/2009 10:10:32 AM
Author: Tacori E-ring
I think it is very sad. I feel horrible for that baby! I think I grew up in a bubble b/c I was not aware of ANY sexual activity (of any sort) when I was in middle school. Now that I have a daughter it already freaks me out to think she might be sexually active at a young age!To me a 13 year old is still a kid. I remember seeing some talk show about a young girl (maybe 13 or 14) that desperately wanted to me a mom and was trying to get preggo. This was when my own daughter was a newborn and I wondered how and why motherhood is so glamorized to these young girls. Having a baby is HARD work. Teenagers are selfish by nature (which is okay and normal). I bet if these girls had to care for a newborn for a week they would be running to their doctor to get on BC pill.![]()