16 and Pregnant

So, one of my students showed me a text message from his girlfriend today.  The text message stated that she wanted to have his baby . . .yep she wants to be pregnant.  How old is this girl?  Just 14 years old!!  He of course told her that it wasn't happening, then she proceeded to tell him that if he loved her he would give her a baby.  WTH?!   

I remember that my best friend was pregnant at our high school graduation.  It was a total embarrassment and she hid it for as long as she could.  Even though we were graduating, people still talked about her and made comments about her promiscuity.  She realized that her life was going to totally change before it really got started. 

Television has totally glamorized teen pregnancy.  With a show like "16 and Pregnant," teenagers no longer have a negative opinion of teen pregnancy.  America is really failing our youth.  I know that critics feel the show makes teenagers see that it is hard to be a teen mom, but the show is having an opposite effect.  It is causing teenage girls to want to become pregnant.  "If I become pregnant, then I may have a chance to be on TV!"  A Memphis, TN  high school reported earlier this year that 26 percent of the girls enrolled at that school have gotten pregnant this year.  With the lack of involved parents, the television is raising a lot of kids.  Television shows have a lot of sexual connotations and it is the parents' job to make sure that students are not prematurely exposed to sex and ensure that they know the true consequences of becoming sexually active at a young age.

It's time for the parents to step up and raise their children!!!