Teenage Pregnancy
This came around simply because of a short I penned which is based on the subject of teenage pregnancy. But then it occurred to me that I know very little about teenage pregnancy or parenting. Why you ask? Simply for two reasons:
- I’m no longer a teenager.
- I’m not a parent.
But teen pregnancy is something that I’ve always found enigmatic. As a teenager I never knew anyone my own age that had a kid. I knew people who knew people who had kids, but that was as far as it ever went. My only interpretation of a teenage parent was Sarah Platt from Coronation Street (played by Tina O’Brien) who falls pregnant at the age of thirteen. At the time I remember being flabbergasted with the storyline, she was only thirteen. I never knew thirteen year old girls could even get pregnant. Obviously my sexual knowledge at the time was limited, very limited. I’m talking no internet limited, therefore my knowledge of sex consisted of Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct and whatever film Channel 5 were showing late on a Friday night. That’s not to say I wouldn’t watch television and feel sexually attracted to women. Christina Aguilera, Cameron Diaz (in The Mask) and Kim Cattrall (Don’t act like you didn’t skim through episodes to see her sex scenes).
Sure we learned a bit in school about how babies are made and stuff. But in all honesty aside from giggling at hearing my teacher say ‘penis’ or ‘vagina’; I had no interest in the subject of babies. I didn’t want any nor did any of my male friends or girl friends. Back then, well at least in my eyes it wasn’t a thing. Fast forward ten years and literally it is really not that uncommon to see a teenager pushing a pram. Apparently teen pregnancies were at a record low last year according to the BBC, but I still feel the number is quiet high.
Now I’m not here to judge or condemn. I understand alluring factors in having sex. I was a teenager once and I know what those desires are like. I would look at girls in school and think about all those sexual desires that raced through my mind during Science classes. Every guy has had that unfortunate incident of having his mind run wild only to result in an erection under the table. In our minds we are Gods of the sex arena but in actuality we are ashamed and there is no way in hell we want a girl to see it unless she promised two things.
- Not to laugh it.
- Not to compare it to someone else’s.
Embarrassment.
Those are deal breakers in any agreement!
I guess the main negative connotation that comes with teen pregnancy is the fact the parent’s are still only kids themselves. According to society they aren’t supposed to have firsthand knowledge of parenting duties. The struggles that adult parents live through are almost doubled when it’s a teen whose worries should mainly focus on GCSE’s and college choices. That’s not to say teenage parents are no good at doing their job. I love hearing stories of teenagers who have had babies and still managed to pass their GCSE’s. My point through all of this is that teenagers should just focus on being teenagers. Easy for me to say being a balding 24 year old man, but I was a teenager too. I remember what it’s like.
Greg J Allman
Tis Life And All Its Perils! 