Teen Pregnancy
One of the toughest jobs, in my opinion, is being a good parent. It can also be one of the most rewarding… but it’s not easy for the physically or mentally weak. In fact, it’s not easy for the strong of mind and body!
Before I had children, I could never understand child abuse. It just made no sense whatsoever. How could someone hurt their own child? Small, helpless, defenseless…
Then, I had kids. Three, in fact. I consider myself a relatively even-tempered, disciplined individual. But kids are kids. They do things… they keep pushing… they are relentless! Now, I’m amazed the level of child abuse is so low!
(I’m only half joking. Children, even fairly good children, can be very trying… especially when they’re young.)
Becoming a parent is easy… all too easy. And that’s part of the problem, I believe. Too many teen pregnancies. Even if they’re truly in love, the vast majority of teens are not mature enough to “manage themselves well” much less take on the additional responsibility of taking care of a baby. Sad to say, more often than not, the young mother is left to do the job on her own… the father “moves on”.
Now, we have a single parent family struggling to make their way in the world. Odds are very high they have a significant educational and financial disadvantage and will have difficulty making a living. Work becomes the major priority and, even if there is an extended family or support group to help take care of the youngster(s), time is finite… and the children take a back seat. This sets into place the likelihood of a repeating cycle: the children grow up with less guidance… and less mature guidance.
Happily, the rate of teen pregnancy has actually been declining in recent years:
Source: National Center for Health Statistics
Despite the decline, the burden is still very heavy for those who do become pregnant at such a young age. More significantly, the statistics show that it is much more common in certain minority groups… which compounds this situation with other, perhaps related, social problems.
There is no quick fix, of course, and we can only hope that programs to educate teens as to the critical impact becoming pregnant has on their lives will continue to drive down how often it occurs.
This is important not only for the young parents but for our country. We need responsible citizens… and, when they are parents, they should be teaching their children to become responsible citizens. They should be contributing members of our society and not dependents.
