re: why you don't want to be a statistic in wikipedia

Quoting Mara:“ please read carefully through all of this thread and you will see that the statistics cited from wikipedia ... [snip!] ... teenagers as well. there's just a higher probability of neglect and abuse occuring if you're a parent during the teen years.”

yea and a resource that schools in pa arnt allowed to use because it is unrliable and can be tampered with and 90 percent of statistics are made up anyways
so it doesnt matter what u put up 90 percent of the time its wrong
ru a teen mom r u in there situation u have no idea what its like and have no right to gide ppl with a 90percent possibility that its wrong exspecially with wikipedia and go look at other cites i did my senior research paper on it i know what im talking about so yea

Quoting mommytobeagainhopefully:“ yea and a resource that schools in pa arnt allowed to use because it is unrliable and can be tampered ... [snip!] ... exspecially with wikipedia and go look at other cites i did my senior research paper on it i know what im talking about so yea”

well, to quote myself and other sources:

i just picked a well known source and kept it simple for the sake of my readers.

these statistics are sadly (for many teens and their children) not bull at all.

here are some other studies/sites for you that reaffirm/back up wikipedia:

talking about poverty and teens and how their kids are not graduating from high school: http://www.pregnantteenhelp.org/articles1.html

• Unmarried teenagers having children account for 24 percent of all unmarried expectant mothers.
• More than 2/3 of all teenagers who have a baby will not graduate from high school.
• Billions of dollars are spent taking care of teenage mothers and their children and they are more likely to be in the poverty bracket. On the flip side, millions of dollars are spent in prevention programs.

from the official site that is the national campaign to prevent teen pregnancy
you can download full length studies that look at the cost of teen pregnancy on the mother and on their children ... in summary they state:

"Teen childbearing in the United States costs taxpayers (federal, state, and local) at least $9.1 billion, according to a new report by Saul Hoffman, Ph.D. and published by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. Most of the costs of teen childbearing are associated with negative consequences for the children of teen mothers, including increased costs for health care, foster care, and incarceration."

The Abstract for "Care of Adolescent Parents and Their Children" as published in the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2001 states that:

"Adolescent parents and their children represent populations at increased risk for medical, psychological, developmental, and social problems, as previously described.1 In 1997,there were 489210 live births to 15-to 19-year-old females in the United States.2 The myriad concerns associated with adolescent pregnancy and potential obstetric and perinatal complications are summarized in a separate statement.Prevention of adolescent pregnancy and identification of factors that improve outcomes for parenting adolescents and their offspring are gaining increased visibility as the numbers of younger adolescents in our population are increasing.

anyway, if you'd like more information on just why this is not bull i'll be happy to keep posting.

wikipedia is not always a reliable resource on all things out there, but on such a well-studied and wide spread phenomenon as teen pregnancy, they have no problem (as i did w/ google just now) accessing reliable sources for surveys and statistics which -- not surprisingly at all, indicate that teens are not in an optimum position to be parents.

but that's obvious-- an adolescent is not financially, mentally, or emotionally mature -- they may be relative to others in their peer group, but relative to themself, every single teen mother out there who's lived to see her twenties will tell you that it was a difficult journey and one they would be better equipped to take if they had waited.

reality is: pregnancies happen b/c teenagers have sex so i've posted this to open the eyes of those teens not yet ready to face the magnitude of the responsibility they face as parents-to-be.

it's a struggle to be a good parent even if you've got all the money in the world, a stable home environment, and 25 years of living experience under your belt.

if you'd taken the time to read this thread you'll see many young women on here who've defied the statistics... who've put their nose to the grind stone and done their damnedest to raise their kids well despite having few resources at their disposal.

the statistics aren't bull, but neither are those women who've defied them. it's important to educate yourself to know what you're facing. that's all.

ps. being a teen parent does not make you an expert on statistics about being a teen parent anymore than being a drunk driver makes you an expert on the statistics about car accidents.

i don't have to have an idea of what it's like to be a teen parent (although i can well imagine) to understand the risks and challenges that each teen parent faces.

and i have every right to post these statistics-- especially since they're realities that we need to change.

i'm not sure what you did your senior research paper on, but if it's teen pregnancy, i would really appreciate it (and so would all the teen parents who're offended by the statistics i've posted) the resources and data you have if they contradict what i've posted. i'm very interested in hearing good things about teen pregnancy, b/c these days there's not much good to hear at the statistical level.

on the other hand, i know of several very respectable hard-working teen mothers-- but i've only met them on here. and funnily enough, none of them are offended by the statistics i've posted.

you can stop posting that  
noone wants to read it.

Quoting aidens_mommy_5808:“ you can stop posting that   noone wants to read it.”

i'm not sure what you're referring to, but i am confident you're wrong about the fact no one wants to read it (whatever "it" is) -- seeing as there are thousands of people that visit BG every day... and i'm sure you don't know most of them, much less what they want to read.

Quoting Mara:“ i'm not sure what you're referring to, but i am confident you're wrong about the fact no one wants to ... [snip!] ... are thousands of people that visit BG every day... and i'm sure you don't know most of them, much less what they want to read.”

well im pretty sure they dont want to : )

Quoting aidens_mommy_5808:“ well im pretty sure they dont want to : )”

that's alright then.

you're entitled to that feeling ... and i'm entitled to continue informing teenagers about the known risks associated w/ being parents at such a young age.

either way, i hope you and your little munchkin are doing well.

This thread has over 26,000 views.

I'm pretty sure people want to read it.

I found this article very interesting and informative. I will be a teen mother (within 11 days or so!)

This is Mara's website so really, she's entitled to do whatever she wants and post whatever she likes. There's obviously a good reason she has a teen pregnancy forum on here. I don't think she's posting this to put anyone down but to inform everyone and I guess if you have a problem with it then you don't have to read it.

I feel bad for Mara for having to explain herself over and over and over...

Read the entire thread before you get offended.

Quoting Sugar Mommy 2 More Weeks:“ I feel bad for Mara for having to explain herself over and over and over... ”

me too.  

what ages are these statistics talking about really? because if they are talking about "teens" over the age of 18 then most likely we have already graduated High School.
I think it sucks that "teen moms" are so overrated nowadays, if our last generation didn't do such a shitty job we wouldn't all be in this situation, having to defend ourselves.

Let me just make myself very clear to everyone other then Mara, I am not defending teenage moms saying it is OK to have children at the age of 14, 15, 16,17, etc. It just really pisses me off that us mothers who actually do what we have to do have to deal with this because we are put in this group.

I am 19 and I graduated High school at the age of 17, my mom had me at 17 and never graduated shes a statistic not me... the reason I had a baby is because I am married and we decided to have children so it wasn't just because "Ooops, he forgot to put the condom on"

• Unmarried teenagers having children account for 24 percent of all unmarried expectant mothers.

^^ not me because i am married

• More than 2/3 of all teenagers who have a baby will not graduate from high school.

^^not me because i graduated before having a baby and I attend college

• Billions of dollars are spent taking care of teenage mothers and their children and they are more likely to be in the poverty bracket. On the flip side, millions of dollars are spent in prevention programs

^^not me because I do not receive any type of gov't help

And I know Mara that you said if we do not fall into these statistic not to worry about it, but the fact is people still put us in these groups and it sucks!!


ps. being a teen parent does not make you an expert on statistics about being a teen parent anymore than being a drunk driver makes you an expert on the statistics about car accidents.

I am not sure who you were referring to but I don't think anyone is saying they are an expert but personally it sucks being generalized

Quoting MoMMa SuZii:“ what ages are these statistics talking about really? because if they are talking about "teens" over the ... [snip!] ... sure who you were referring to but I don't think anyone is saying they are an expert but personally it sucks being generalized”

But, you are already atleast one statistic. Your mom was a teen mom, and now here you are...a teen mom.

Quoting MoMMa SuZii:“ what ages are these statistics talking about really? because if they are talking about "teens" over the ... [snip!] ... sure who you were referring to but I don't think anyone is saying they are an expert but personally it sucks being generalized”

i was referring to mommytobeagainhopefully's statement about the fact i don't what i'm talking about since i'm not a teen mom...

generally, teen pregnancy stats are looking at women under the age of 19... so yeah, that will include some that do graduate, but many that don't.

and as i've said, i'm not pointing fingers, i'm just stating the facts that are out there. i'm not saying that teens are going to be bad parents just b/c the statistics show that many are already.

i believe that there are many conscientious teens out there who're raising their children well, but ironically, those are the ones who aren't lying to themselves and saying their situation is marvelous and that they're "proud" to be a teen mom.

they're smart enough to know that being a parent as a teenager is more difficult than it would be later after they'd finished their education, figured out themselves, etc.

it's a challenge to be a parent period-- but teens already have a lot of challenges in front of them that become that much harder to cope w/ when they have to divert all their attention and financial resources to a tiny baby.

well i support teen moms 10000%

Quoting aidens_mommy_5808:“ well i support teen moms 10000%”

Just out of curiousity....if you weren't a teen mother would you still support them 10000%?

I gave birth to my daughter at 18, so I am in no way bashing teen mothers, there are some wonderful ones out there, but I am just curious as to why people feel the need to be so scared of these statistics. They are all very real.

Quoting JenRoyce:“ Just out of curiousity....if you weren't a teen mother would you still support them 10000%? I gave ... [snip!] ... out there, but I am just curious as to why people feel the need to be so scared of these statistics. They are all very real.”

yeah actually i would.
i dont support 14 year old TTC but the ones who have accidents and get pregnant and take control of their actions i DO.