Teenagers 'choosing motherhood'

Floh · Jul 17, 2006

This is very disturbing, i feel. what chance do the children of these teenagers have of growing up with greater ambition?

The study, for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation suggested girls as young as 13 choose motherhood to be independent and to create "a loving family".
The researchers said their findings show teenagers are not ignorant about contraception, as is often assumed, and actively plan to have a baby.
The UK's teen pregnancy rate, the highest in Western Europe, is falling.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/5186614.stm

at least the figure is falling, but not fast enough, IMO.

tennessee · Jul 17, 2006

The teenagers I have seen/heard of locally (thanks to my daughter) are proud to be having babies and they do plan on getting pregnant. :waitasec:

In my day, there was still a stigma attaced to being an unwed mother. When did that change? I wish they would wait until they can better afford to have these children. I was a working, single mom at 21 and it was hard. I don't know how they are doing it.

Floh · Jul 17, 2006

tennessee said:
I don't know how they are doing it.

Welfare benefits. :furious:

kidzndogznme · Jul 17, 2006

A lot of these kids feel deprived of love from their parents, and rightfully so. They think they can have a baby and instantly have someone to unconditionally love them forever. I know. I was one of those teens. I never did have a baby because I never became sexually active that young. But the urge was definitely there. At 14, it makes perfect sense. You don't think about finances and nights spent without sleep or not finishing school or being social outcasts (a baby is a wet blanket to the party scene), etc. You only feel the empty hole of needing someone to love you. I filled that need by taking care of other teens' babies that I knew. I would watch them while they worked, keep them for the weekends so they had some time to themselves.

lizziedripping · Jul 17, 2006

Floh said:
Floh said:

Welfare benefits. :furious:

Click to expand...

Oh don't get me going Floh.... Welfare benefits and tax payers, what a great ambition in life!!! :furious: :furious:

Floh · Jul 17, 2006

lizziedripping said:
Oh don't get me going Floh.... Welfare benefits and tax payers, what a great ambition in life!!! :furious: :furious:

Yup. have a baby, get an appartment. get some money from the government (tax payers). get loads of things.

won't be rolling in it, but you'll be 'independent'.

the teen dream.

which reminds me, i wonder how that pregnant 11 year old is doing in Scotland?

http://websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39388

lynie · Jul 17, 2006

I have to agree with a lot that kidz. says.

My son has a girlfriend that is 14 (he is 14 as well)...she is from a family that is not, well, not bad, but not real supportive either. She has told my son that she would have sex with him. Her mother has told me that she would prefer that the girl would get married and have babies AFTER she is 18, but the mom had her first at 16 so it's not the end of the world. The mom is now 32...the same age I was when I had my FIRST child! The mom is still a kid herself and treats her daughter with disrespect...yelling...no activies together etc.
The girl I am sure would love to have a family for herself so that someone really loves her, even though we all know what that would lead to... :banghead:

My DH, 2 teen kids and I are very close...we do a lot of family things together and enjoy each others company. The girlfriend thinks this is strange and cannot believe that my son is very happy spending time, eating dinner or going places with us. That is not her world. He is a smart, sensitive guy and we talk all the time about what she is up to. They are never ever left alone. Never.

I cannot help who he likes but surely can determine what they do!

I feel so sorry for her and would love for her world to be better, for her to have confidence in herself so that her way of thinking changes. But not at the expense of my son or our family. :snooty: :snooty: :snooty:

Lynie

Floh · Jul 17, 2006

lynie said:
I have to agree with a lot that kidz. says.

My son has a girlfriend that is 14 (he is 14 as well)...she is from a family that is not, well, not bad, but not real supportive either. She has told my son that she would have sex with him. Her mother has told me that she would prefer that the girl would get married and have babies AFTER she is 18, but the mom had her first at 16 so it's not the end of the world. The mom is now 32...the same age I was when I had my FIRST child! The mom is still a kid herself and treats her daughter with disrespect...yelling...no activies together etc.
The girl I am sure would love to have a family for herself so that someone really loves her, even though we all know what that would lead to... :banghead:

My DH, 2 teen kids and I are very close...we do a lot of family things together and enjoy each others company. The girlfriend thinks this is strange and cannot believe that my son is very happy spending time, eating dinner or going places with us. That is not her world. He is a smart, sensitive guy and we talk all the time about what she is up to. They are never ever left alone. Never.

I cannot help who he likes but surely can determine what they do!

I feel so sorry for her and would love for her world to be better, for her to have confidence in herself so that her way of thinking changes. But not at the expense of my son or our family. :snooty: :snooty: :snooty:

Lynie

I wish you and your amily well.

i had a horrible childhood raised by my grandparents and at no time ever did i think a baby would be a solution to my woes.

i am, however, now 46 and childless and believe i had the opposite reaction to my circumstances.

i'm not someone who (self-awaredly) misses having children. just saying.

Marthatex · Jul 17, 2006

It's not really healthy physically for teenagers to have children. Not to mention the lack of mental maturity. I have a feeling alot of grandparents end up helping out, not to mention the welfare and all.

If girls want to have babies that young, there must be some other things missing. (goals, ambitions). Also lack of being able to delay gratification.

lizziedripping · Jul 18, 2006

Floh said:
Floh said:

Yup. have a baby, get an appartment. get some money from the government (tax payers). get loads of things.

won't be rolling in it, but you'll be 'independent'.

the teen dream.

which reminds me, i wonder how that pregnant 11 year old is doing in Scotland?

http://websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39388

Click to expand...

I was wondering that myself Floh, I have tried to find an update but came across nothing new, I hope the baby is ok and think we may have heard if there had been any bad news.

Apparantly the new 5 bedroomed house is coming along nicely for the Mum, kids and grandkids to move into (only joking) but I bet I'm not that far from the truth - glad to see my money is going to a good cause!! :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

luvbeaches · Jul 18, 2006

Floh said:
Welfare benefits. :furious:

And that's the big problem. I don't want to see innocent babies suffer, but at what point do we say, enough is enough?

Teenagers 'choosing motherhood'

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