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If only teenage pregnancy was an olympic sport
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=0EQKOWWEVBPBHQFIQMFCFGGAVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2008/01/03/npreg103.xml
More than 20 schoolgirls are becoming pregnant every day, fuelling fears that the Government's sex education strategies are backfiring.
Figures released yesterday by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) revealed that underage pregnancies rose by four per cent to total 7,462 in 2005 - the latest year for which data is available.
This leaves England and Wales with the highest birth rates for under-16s in western Europe. However, the DCSF said the number of under-18s becoming pregnant was now at its lowest in more than 20 years.
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You might end up attracting some right kinky buggers!
Problem solved.
What's wrong with Anne Widdecombe? I reckon he's quite handsome.
:yuck:
That said I'm turning 22 this year and I think I'd actually start crying if I found out I was pregnant. A kid in the picture is so far-fetched from my reality - just can't see myself with that responsibility, and aspects of life I'd have to give up with a kid in the picture at the moment. How these girls cope so young I don't know.
Bring back the birch!
SOME cope alright. SOME don't. You just don't see the one's who don't.
Coping with a newborn baby at a young age isn't about what the government gives you. The government doesn't give young mum's free nanny's, extra hours sleep per night and easy, laid back babies. It doesn't support them practically on any of the physically hard things young mums and any new mum comes across. OK, so the government ensure the young mum has the money to bring the baby up; but that isn't the reason why they cope. They cope because, on a whole, they work damn hard and cope with the struggles and strains of being a parent like all other mum's; regardless of age. I don't think they get enough credit for what they do - generally talking there is far too much critism about a girl who has a baby in her teenage years. Yet it's alright for the lads to not parent the baby, and when a 20 year old with no home, in a promiscous relationship gets pregnant they don't get the same kind of dirty looks and judgment.
It really pisses me off. Lots of my friends and people I know have had babies recently or are even SHOCK HORROR trying for a baby at 17/18/19. And they are the best mum's ever. They deserve more respect than they bloody well get.
Rant over :razz:
Added on later: Before anyone attempts to jump down my throat, let me suggest some alternatives. Firstly, sex education needs to be improved. It must teach about far more than just the mechanics of sex, or how to put a condom on. (at least that's what my sex education seemed to consist of) Teenagers need to be taught about relationships and about different contexts in which sex can happen - one-night stands, in a long-term relationship, deciding to wait until you're married - tell them all the options. TheSite believes in giving young people all the information they need to make an informed choice, and so do I. Secondly, I know it's not illegal for those under 16 to obtain condoms and the like. Any law that would attempt to change that would be pointless, and I'd oppose its introduction. I don't oppose outright those who are under 16 and sexually active having access to contraception, but as I previously state, they must be informed about their choices and the risks. Fundamentally, I think that more education on the subject is probably a good idea, but it must be good education, not the dreadful mish-mash postcode lottery that exists now. (incidentally, at this stage I withdraw past comments where I suggested there was a link between an increase in teenage pregnancy and an increase in sex education. That comment was clearly wrong.)
Also, I'm not convinced that a one-size-fits-all sex education system would work. Kids grow up at different rates, they advance in school at different rates. Sex education has to be tailored towards that particular pupil. How you do this, however, I'm not entirely sure. Finally, I would have no problem with parents taking teenagers out of state sex education lessons if they wished to teach their own kids about sex in their own way. However, it's precisely that - if they're going to teach them themselves. Making kids live in ignorance of this because of any "cultural" or "religious" reasons must not be a valid excuse.