Teen Pregnancy

views of pregnancy and parenting.

When I first thought about studying a cultural scene I had chosen to do mines on teen pregnancy. This scene was apart of my life, because I was once a teenage mom. I asked around to a few women that had once been teenage mothers. Many women don't like to discuss their pass experiences as a pregnant teenager. I assured them that this will help me gain more knowledge of the information, so that I will be able pass other women stories down to my daughter. Four women were interested in giving me interviews about their life as a teenage mom. I arranged to meet the women at a park area on post that was quiet and relaxing. I explained to all of them the reason why I was doing the interviews and how their information could help other young women that may be in a similar situation. I asked the women to give me their experiences of being a mom as a teenager, what obstacles and challenges have they endured during that time. All the women were willing to talk to me and went out their way to help.

Who are Teen Mothers?

Tronda, a 30 year old Hispanic from Texas. She was very talkative and interested in what was her story could do to help other teen moms. She had spent a great deal of her life raising her 14 year old son Daniel.

Jazzmyn, was 15 when she gave birth to her 6 yr old son. She wanted to describe some aspects of her life that was new to her as a young mother.

Felecia, 18 has a one year old son Zane. She seems embarrassed to discuss with me her story. I told her my story of being a teenage mother. She soon realized that it was nothing to be embarrassed about and that her son is here and she should enjoy the life that was given to her.

Felecia, as a senior in high school, she had to make a very important decision. Did she want to have a baby and finish school, or did she want to get married and quit school. Although abortion and adoption were the right choice for some people, she knew they were not the right choice for her. Regretfully, she had chosen to drop out of school. Many teenagers in her neighborhood have been faced with the same decision. For each person the same choice may not be the right choice. In her case, she had seen friends pregnant in school who suffered criticism for deciding to have sex at such a young age and for not knowing how to protect themselves against pregnancy. She put emphasis on the truth that many teenagers do not realize is that some children do not have someone to talk to them about these things. She knew nothing about sex or protection and found herself in a position with someone who knew nothing about those things either.

She decided that she did not want to place herself in the position to be criticized by these things and quit school. Quitting school was a very hard decision for her to make. It forced her to decide what she was going to do with her life once the baby came. The father felt that he was too young to be a parent and his choice was not to be apart of the baby life. The financial responsibility that came with being a teen mom was overwhelming. Does she regret the decision she made? To answer that, "I would have to say that I do regret the decision to drop out of school but have never once regretted having the baby". It was not easy being single and a parent at the age of seventeen. There were times she felt like all the responsibility had been left on her, which made her bitter and caused problems when trying to bond with her son. There are times that she felt like she should have tried harder to make things work. She would not want to give her child that kind of life. To this day, she thinks that she made the right decision because her life is good and is getting better everyday. Many positive things have come from her decision such as discovering the things that are most important to her. She joined the Army so that she would be able to provide a good life for them. She also learned that she do not want people to remember her only because she got pregnant in high school and dropped out. These thoughts and feeling is what pushed her to get her GED, join the Army and enroll in college. Her plan is to pursue a career in education. She has learned that children are important and she wants to make a difference in their life. She wants her children to know the decisions that they will have to face someday, to know which decisions are the right ones to make, and to know the consequences of the things they may choose to do. She do not think she would have those feelings so strongly if she had chosen a different road. Who knows what she might be doing now? Do the things that have happened, mean I made the right or wrong decision? Was there even a right or wrong