Teen Pregnancy on the Rise?

Everyone's in an uproar because of 17 girls in some "pregnancy pact" in Massachusetts. I don't get the big deal. Teens get pregnant all the time, and I'd surely question the "statistics" that have been kept on this issue for decades, because there are a number of variables that determines when a pregnancy is reported, and to whom.

Anywhoo, it occurred to me recently that the girls involved must be primarily white. The reason I think this is because you haven't seen ONE picture of any of the ones involved. History (and my own experience) tells me that's because they aren't people of color. If they were Black or Hispanic, their pictures, along with captions and video snippets of them talking about how proud they are to be pregnant, would be shrewn all over the web! Since I don't see that, I make the assumption that they're white. Sure, eventually time will tell if I'm right or wrong on this.

What pisses me off about this whole thing, is not the sad fact that a group of girls under 16 have decided to have babies, and negatively alter their lives, but the fact that the media is so quick to blame "popular culture" and movies like "Knocked Up" and "Juno". That's RIDICULOUS! Teens have been getting pregnant for decades, and you can't just immediately place the blame on idiots like Jamie Lynn Spears. Place the blame on the PARENTS who don't teach their kids values and morals and help them plan for the future! It's pretty obvious that Britney's parents failed her and her siblings in a number of ways, it's just sad that their family dysfunction gets plastered all over the news!

Teen girls have been getting pregnant for the same reason today that they did 30 years ago: THEY WANT TO BE LOVED! No girl with a future and dreams wants to be a parent at 16-17. No girl that truly has a loving, caring family ruins her future by getting knocked up before she's 18. Yes, being a teen parent these days doesn't mean that you automatically fail in life, as it used to mean many decades ago, but it does limit your potential. Not to mention adding the EXTRA PRESSURE of HAVING TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANOTHER LIFE to your list of "life worries".

This whole situation is sad, but regrettably nothing new. I think the worst of it is these girls are now NATIONAL CELEBRITIES. Even though we in the national audience can't identify who they are (yet), those in their local community know who they are, and I'm sure the attention they're getting is exactly what they wanted when they got knocked up. They'll get special baby showers, and I'm sure the town will come together and put up a fund for the mothers (and the kids) to go to college and pay for diapers, etc. Chances are, most of the father's WON'T get charged with any crimes, except maybe for the "24 year old homeless man" that everyone keeps talking about. Grown men have been having sex with underaged girls since way before R. Kelly was pissing on them!

Though this entire scenario is sad, it's more so indicative of a "slow news week", since people are tired of hearing about $4+/gallon gas prices (that don't seem to be getting any lower, by the way). I imagine in the next few weeks, Angelina Jolie's bastard twins will be the cause for the next "brouhaha" (and yes, I called them "bastards". It's unpopular, but it fits! LOL). Oh well. IT IS WHAT IT IS!