A girl barley 18 is preganant and the either goes in for an abortion which sometimes is hazardous or sometimes decides to have the child but the father who is most probably a boy is not be seen anywhere.
Where are we heading?Is this a paradox : Individual freedom versus teenage pregnancies?
Individual freedom seems to be code for ethical hedonism(ethics being a persons proper code of values and hedonism is the pursuit of pleasure without pain. Ethical hedonists claim the proper value is whatever gives you pleasure minus the pain).
We blame teaching abstinence and we blame sex education. The fault lies in the fact that we don't teach responsibility, self-control and consequences. If a person isn't taught responsibility can we really expect them to be responsible enough to use birth control? If they aren't taught self-control can we really expect them to abstain? If they haven't been taught to deal with the consequences of their actions can we really expect them make a decision while taking into consideration the ramifications?
We live in a society that believes we have no responsibilities other than our personal happiness. We talk about how powerful and important we are but we don't teach how to handle that power or to reign in our importance for the well-being of others. We teach young girls that they have reproductive rights but do not teach them their reproductive responsibilities.
We are heading towards a world where we are willing to sacrifice anyone (including the resulting children) who stands in the way of our hedonistic pursuits. Actually, I believe we're already there.
If it feels good, do it. Consequences be damned.Is this a paradox : Individual freedom versus teenage pregnancies?
I agree with you that although children are being encouraged by media etc to be reckless they are not taught to be responsible in terms of dealing with the consequences. I am not saying that all teenage girls are terrible parents but the odds are not in their favour with being able to provide a child with a stable home life especially economically.
As a society we need to spend more time and money intervening and educating on behalf of our children. These are the most important resource in our world and societies are also judged by how they treat their most vulnerable citizens. The sad fact is that one in eight children lives in poverty in Canada and to me that is far too high.
Would you rather go back to the way things were handled when teenagers became pregnant 50 years ago? Teenage pregnancy wasn't a rarity in those days. What happened was the girls were either made to marry the fathers, shipped off to homes for unwed mothers to have their babies which were then put up for adoption, or taken away somewhere for a secret abortion. Sometimes, the mothers of these girls would have them keep their babies but pretend that the babies were their own. There were a lot of children who grew up believing that they had a much older sister and their grandmothers were their mothers. The reality was that their sisters were actually their mothers and what they thought were their mothers were actually their grandmothers.
What's ultimately frustrating for adults is that teenagers are chomping at the bit to be recognized as adults, themselves, when they very clearly (to all but said teens) are not.
They can try to make whatever case on freedom that they like, but the simple fact is that teenagers do not have the full set of freedoms (read: rights) that adults do.
There's no paradox, but matters have become so twisted that, to many, there appears to be.
That's where we're heading -- a society in which facts don't matter, but perception is king. We've been on that road for a long, long time.
I do not view irresponsible sexual decisions and the destruction of the resulting offspring while it's heart beats in the womb as freedom.
I view that as indicative of how the ';self-esteem'; movement and lack of parental presence had ruined this country.
Used to be, one parent dedicated themselves to the raising and guidance of the kids, held them accountable, and kept them from destroyign themselves. Now, parents are afraid to keep their 13 year old girl from screwing for fear it would stifle their ';freedom';.
Parents aren't around, they're out making the almighty buck,,so the kids raise themselves on a pop culture of self-indulgence, irresponsibility, egocentrism, hedonism...fosters the immaturity and prepetual adolescence of these kids...then want mommy and daddy to bail them out when they're in jail or knocked up again.
Where are we heading? Nowhere good. What's especially alarming is the people who insist that teaching teens to be abstinent is a mistake, even though there is ample proof that teaching them how to fornicate safely is not working out so well. Honestly, I've been told by so many other moms that I am irresponsible for planning to teach my kids about abstinence. It's beyond frustrating!
But that is what happens when you cast aside morals and choose to follow your heart instead. This is what happens when you teach teens how to have sex and don't teach them the value of morals and chastity, when you replace those morals with the advice to ';wait until you feel ready';.
The vast majority of early teen mums in uk do it because you get a life of luxury for doing nothing. I know quite a few girls that got pregnant when they were between 15 - 18 so they could get a free house until the government stop giving away free tuff girls will keep getting pregnant on purpose. I
live in an affluent part of the country and the houses and flats you get given are really high qualityI know one teen mum who has a flat with a seaview! I dont think its fair and it annoys me as me and my husband work hard or what we have.
I think it's madness to give babies the right to raise babies.
We should try to make teenagers aware of this tragedy. Moreover, abortion cannot be a solution but rather a crime against the baby and everlasting psychological disorder for the girl.
Too many people are confusing individual freedom with lack of personal and social responsibility. Society may give you the freedom to make your own choices, but you have to be responsible enough to live with the consequences.
Check this link
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/73318鈥?/a>
one UK judges opinion.
snufkins is right. in the UK we shower teenage mums with benefits. they live in better accomodation than i do (though that's not saying much)
To hell in a handbasket.
Yes, it's self-evident that teenaged pregnancies are bad, but I don't see the paradox or conflict. Teenagers have always had sex. Teenagers have never been particularly responsible about contraception or anything else; we all have an invulnerable ';it won't happen to me'; attitude as teens. We're probably hardwired that way.
Individual freedom has nothing to do with changes over the last 20 years. We had the same freedom 40 years ago and teens weren't becoming sexually active as early, or drinking as early, which tends to lead to fewer inhibitions about sex.
Our culture has changed in terms of the sexualization of teens and even children in the media. For whatever reason, by the 1990s, the sex and substances some were trying at 16 or 17 in the 1970s had become routine at 13 or 14. I think we have problems with the culture at large, but most of us as parents are still teaching our children good values. They're just abandoning them for those of their peers or what they see on TV when they get to middle school. Perhaps they come back to them later.
Freedom vs. control isn't the issue. Any parent of a teenager who misbehaves has learned the hard way that you can't control another human being and that a teenager will find ways to do what they want even if you're watching them every hour you're awake.
As for where we're heading, I tend to think we're already there. Kids are becoming sexually active at puberty; it's not going to get younger. Society is becoming more accepting of single parents and will probably become more so. The U.S. seems to be pretty holding quite steady in terms of opinions about abortion policy in polls. It is sad to me, fine with others, and I'm just glad my daughter's made it almost to 18 without a pregnancy.
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