The Case for Young Mothers at the Margin
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- ToBeNowhere
- added this
Ending child poverty means ensuring America's young mothers receive quality health care, childcare, affordable housing and reliable transportation.
As of late it seems like a there is a good deal of discussion and focus on the topics of abstinence, teen pregnancy prevention, adoption and even the search for middle ground on the issue of abortion. All are subjects worthy of thoughtful discussion, debate and collaborative problem solving, but I find the discussion a bit ironic given that we are facing the first increase in teen pregnancy in 15 years.
Perhaps the teen pregnancy rate is on the rise because we're focusing on the symptoms and not the root causes. Yet there's something else that bothers me about this discussion, something that's left out. We're not talking about how to support teen parents, the ones who have already gotten pregnant and whose babies are here.
A June 23 ABC Primetime special called " Family Secrets" did a good job of presenting the issues and challenges of one segment of the teen parent population. Nearly all the stories told in the special were of young mothers with family support to help them face the trials and to share in the joys. For these young parents, an unintended pregnancy is the result of absent, forgotten or malfunctioning birth control in the life of an otherwise "average" or even "model" young adult. Still, even for these teens, we saw in ABC's special how hard it is for them to make it all work.
For other young parents, however, a birth control failure is the most recent misfortune in a lifetime of poverty, abuse, neglect, addiction and violence. Traumatic experiences have left these young people searching high and low for safety, belonging, love and support. And sometimes, creating a family seems like the only way to get it.
Moreover, in many cases teen pregnancy is a long family tradition. We refer to these young women as young mothers at the margin, because they live at the edge of the American dream, working to break the destructive cycles into which they were born.
There's more at the link...
As of late it seems like a there is a good deal of discussion and focus on the topics of abstinence, teen pregnancy prevention, adoption and even the search for middle ground on the issue of abortion. All are subjects worthy of thoughtful discussion, debate and collaborative problem solving, but I find the discussion a bit ironic given that we are facing the first increase in teen pregnancy in 15 years.
Perhaps the teen pregnancy rate is on the rise because we're focusing on the symptoms and not the root causes. Yet there's something else that bothers me about this discussion, something that's left out. We're not talking about how to support teen parents, the ones who have already gotten pregnant and whose babies are here.
A June 23 ABC Primetime special called " Family Secrets" did a good job of presenting the issues and challenges of one segment of the teen parent population. Nearly all the stories told in the special were of young mothers with family support to help them face the trials and to share in the joys. For these young parents, an unintended pregnancy is the result of absent, forgotten or malfunctioning birth control in the life of an otherwise "average" or even "model" young adult. Still, even for these teens, we saw in ABC's special how hard it is for them to make it all work.
For other young parents, however, a birth control failure is the most recent misfortune in a lifetime of poverty, abuse, neglect, addiction and violence. Traumatic experiences have left these young people searching high and low for safety, belonging, love and support. And sometimes, creating a family seems like the only way to get it.
Moreover, in many cases teen pregnancy is a long family tradition. We refer to these young women as young mothers at the margin, because they live at the edge of the American dream, working to break the destructive cycles into which they were born.
There's more at the link...
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bluestranger
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All of my sympathy goes to the child not the biological mother or father. Abstinance has never worked and probably never will. There is a huge difference between having sex and procreation.There are even alternatives after the fact. In the overpopulated world that we live in, now more than ever failing to make proper and informed decisions is crucial.
- 2 years ago
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bluestranger
