So I was reading on this forum, which I assumed was a bunch of grown-ups discussing their pregnancies. http://forum.baby-gaga.com/forum-9.html There are 13, 14, and 15 year old girls pregnant!! And not just one or two, but several. My kid will be 11 in November, and I can guarantee you that she hasn't so much as kissed a boy, much less be thinking about sex! What happens to these kids? How are they getting "alone time" in order to have sex? Why are their parents not talking to them. Babies having babies...........wow..............
I was scared to death to bring home any "unauthorized" grandchildren, my parents would have killed me! Maybe that's what is missing, a healthy respect brought on by corporal punishment! :shock:
I don't understand the "2 working parents" or "fam's sep. by divo" concept, ken. That sounds stereo typical of you to say that. I'm with you Jen... I hadnt' even kissed a boy until the very very end of my 8th grade year. And I was quite embarassed of that too. Most of my friends had already done that kinda stuff, but I wouldnt' dare let on that I hadn't. I'm thinking once kids go to High School is when most ventured into experimenting. It blows my mind to see these young girls getting pregnant too. New day & age is what I guess. :?
At some point parents have to be more involved in their childrens lives.....My 12 yo doesn't go anywhere unless I talk to the other parents and make sure parental supervision is where she is going..she says I'm mean...and btw she's never kissed a boy either! We do however, have a very open relationship..she knows she can come to me about anything...we talk openly about sex, etc....I think it is the uneducated, unprepared kids who don't understand what sex could lead too.....
Both my parents worked too, but I was a chicken, lol. My grandparents put the fear of God in me, and my mother constantly preached about how she waited till she was married and I could too. Now after my freshman year in high school, things changed for me, but 13? :shock:
I don't know I didn't want that responsibility...plus I had the fear of God in me from my parents..they found out everything I did...I was 18 and graduated from HS...on bc pills and had a box of condoms when I decided to become sexually active...it's all about education and parenting....
Absolutely! My guess is, though, most of those "babies having babies" are not fortunate enough to have parents like you and Jen (& others - don't mean to leave anybody out!). Kids need somebody they can talk to, and somebody who cares what they are doing. But if the parents are too busy, or too strung out, or too absent, or too sick, I don't think there are enough big brothers/big sisters to go around. There are wonderful programs to provide mentors and role models for kids, and the kids that can get into those programs are fortunate. But what about the rest of the kids? What's the solution? I don't think it's the responsibility of the schools to raise our kids, but I do think it would be helpful if they could teach real sex education, instead of "abstinence only until marriage." Of course abstinence is the best and safest way to avoid unwanted pregnancy and STD's, but some kids are going to have sex anyway. Shouldn't we at least teach them how to protect themselves? If I'm not mistaken, a lot of school systems these days only allow the "abstinence only" kind of sex ed -- which, imo, really is not sex ed at all. Clearly, it's the parents' responsibility to instill values in their children, and parents who spend time with their kids are doing that. Kids who are not so lucky in that way surely need a helping hand from somewhere outside the family.
Wow, I dont even know what to say. Reading some of their posts is just mind boggling. Some of them discuss their pregnancy like it is nothing bigger than a zit in a bad place. I not only feel bad for them but for the children they are bringing into this world at such a young age. It is sad.
teen pregnancy The youngest child "parent" I ever taught was 11 and in the sixth grade. Her son was five months old when she moved into my classroom that year. I taught a 14 year-old whose mother was 28 and grandmother was 40. Do the math. Some parents think it's ok to drop a child off at the skating rink during one of the 5-midnight skates...most of those children leave with high schoolers and return around 10:30 to make sure they're back before their ride is there. Think about what they're doing during that time. If you don't believe me, go watch tomorrow night! It's a workday so all the middle schoolers have passes from Interskate. (I had 2 students who become mothers during the last three years who did that to see their boyfriends. Their parents said they weren't old enough to date, but trusted them unsupervised for several hours at the skating rink!)
Not that I let my kids go to all night skates... but they advertise that they dont let them leave. Are you saying they never actually go in, or that they do in fact leave??
They go in and then leave. The people who work there are busy. If a group says "my ride is here" they are not going to stop them from leaving! I do know one parent who stayed in the parking lot the entire time and watched over a dozen students leave with high school students and come back an hour or so later. My suggestion would be NOT to drop off your teenagers there. Stay with them instead, even if it means you stay in the car while they are inside.
Children now are desensitized towards sex and pregnancy. When young kids are led to believe - via music videos, movies, etc - that it's perfectly acceptable to have sex as a young teen they think its no big deal. When these kids see so many other children born out of wedlock, they don't see any stigma in it. It's terribly, terribly sad.
Yeah, I guess the skating rink is a breeding ground for trouble. I can tell you one thing, mine won't be there unsupervised.
I agree with many of the postings. However at what point do you let your children grow? Do you believe you have done the best you can? I held off on my 18 year old driving because of such things as all those accidents. I still won't let her drive when we have snow, which we actually had this morning! I know my ex-dh has my son and is protective with him. He goes to the movies, he is 15. I trust my children and have to trust I have done my best in teaching them to be the best young adults they can be. That they can come to me on anything. I am open to talk to them about sex and drugs. I talk openly about drinking and the dangers behind it. My daughter was babysitting at 13. She had taken a course for babysitting. At what point do you trust your judgement and that you as a parent have done your best that your relationship with your child and you have to let them grow?
Good point chik. There is a very thin line that only you can determine between letting them grow and smothering them. Unfortunately, sometimes the tighter you hold them, the more they struggle to be free and end up making more mistakes.
Well..I don't smother mine...that's for sure, but I do act like a parent and I am responsible for them. I just think there are too many parents who don't know where there kids are on any given night or what they are doing. It is my responsibility to set limits and boundaries...and when they get a little older..if they show they can handle the responsibility of certain privaledges..then they will receive them.
