Kids with Kids

I happened to catch a video on youtube titled, “Kids Having Babies” and it was about just that. It began by stating that a school in America had 17 girls get pregnant and that it was “no accident”, after this statement they showed a clip from the film "Juno", where she playfully remarks on the "positive" marker on her pregnancy test (so much fun!) So it's no surprise that the video began mentioning teen pregnancy and the media.

Since so many young people grow up in front of a television set, it’s pretty damn important.

Then, text comes on the screen stating that the U.S has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy of all developed countries. Afterwards, it follows a 14 year old girl who appears to be quite far along in her pregnancy and films the nurse speaking to her. The girl talks about how her friend can see the baby moving on the stomach and that she can’t, indicating that pregnancy is not uncommon in her group of friends. The nurse says that teen pregnancy is such a large problem because people like her - people who belong to the public health sector, have not done enough in terms of birth control education. From what I hear about the U.S, sex education is not very comprehensive.The nurse states that once a month girls come to her for pregnancy tests, at the end of every cycle. This obviously is illustrating that these young girls are having sex and risking pregnancy nearly every time, likely from lack of sexual education.

I dolefully remember that in high school, some of the girls in my grade were having sex as early as grade 7 and 8 (I’m not kidding). I would ask how they stay safe and they would say condoms or the “pull out” method. None of them seemed to be on the birth control pill until much later, which I assume has a lot to do with them not wanting to tell their parents or doctors that they were indeed having sex. However, I don’t think at 12 or 13 years old that anyone, male or female really grasps the concept of sex and probably assumes a condom will work 100% of the time or pulling out is a good form of birth control. Since I had a small class, only a few girls got pregnant, the youngest being 15.

Nevertheless, in the video the nurse talks about the girls actually wanting to have the children; to have someone to love them unconditionally. I have heard this a lot and I clearly can’t say this is true for every young girl - I don’t work with pregnant teens and I don’t know the exact statistics. Regardless, I think this whole idea of “wanting a baby” comes from a lack of education on sex, birth control and relationships. Often, at least from what I remember of sexual education, we as girls were never talked to about forming sexual relationships or about boys pressuring us into sex, particularly older boys. It seemed to me that most of the girls who were having sex in my class were having sex with older boys, not with their peers.

The young girl in the video tells the nurse that the baby was a plan, she and her 17 year old boyfriend had planned to have a child. The nurse asked if she was happy about the plan, and she said “kind of”, she said she felt she was too young but did not feel that way until after she became pregnant.

What upset me the most was when the nursed asked, “Will he be there for the birth?”
The young girl responded, “No.”

Now, I’m not speaking for everyone, but I know I was a hell of a lot different at 14 than I was at 17. Both are young, but 14 is just a baby, most girls have just started their period a year prior to that. I believe not only is there a lack of birth control options and education but also a lack of communication surrounding relationships. There’s so much pressure at this age to feel the need to impress the opposite sex, to feel desired or loved. I think it’s horrible that we are to feel this way as young girls, it shouldn’t be so. It seems from the time you hit about 12, life becomes about getting attention, competing with other girls and hating your body. It depresses me just to think about my self-concept at 14 years old.
Yet, the nurses, doctors, teachers, and parents want to pretend this isn’t the reality for young girls, and because of that they cover their eyes and plug their ears. The result is that these girls are getting into abusive relationships, becoming pregnant, and spending their all of their energy trying to look “sexy” instead of having fun and getting an education. Caregivers will repeat like broken records that it is "normal young female behavior." It's normal for young girls to spend all their time obsessing about sexual relationships, buying and wearing pounds of makeup and starving themselves. I think it's bullshit - not some natural phenomenon.

The video claims that America’s teen pregnancies are on the rise for the first time since 1991. This is sad. What caused the decline for such a long time and what is causing the increase? I speculate the lack of comprehensive sexual education in ALL states and the amount of new media emerging since 1991. The influence of the media and how it tries so hard to sexualize girls has huge implications. The media is powerful in changing minds and behaviors and since the message to young girls is “find a hot boyfriend, please him, and make sure you’re sexually attractive”, the adolescent forecast is looking pretty stormy.