What is wrong with our society that these young girls are making these choices?

Question

Please look at the link. I am sure we are going to hear more about this in coming days. But these girls seemed to have went hunting for boys and men to father these babies. I am wondering if custody of these babies should be left with these girls.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25272678/

Answer 1

In the past, the goal for many girls was to be married, preferably while still in high school or soon afterwards. They actually used to compete with each other for boys. Sometimes they even got pregnant so somebody would feel obligated to marry them.  It may sound strange but I don't really think times have changed all that much. Like in the past, these girls are not likely to go to college or even have a career.

Answer 2

Listen to what those girls are saying; can you hear their cries?  Society with it's being too busy with it's politics, the war in Iraq; has let them down.  This time it is not the fault only of Feminism, but Anti-Feminism as well; we all have our hands bloodied; we failed them.

Answer 3

i dont think that the girls should have custody of those babies.

from what know, some teenagers go wayward because of their parents. they dont care much about them, and they end up going the wrong way. i mean, those girls are under 16 and i dont think they can even take care of themselves, not to mention their babies. the babies might end up being like them.

i'm sure that i'm offending some ppl who have gone throught this. but this is the way i see it.

Answer 4

One of the fathers is a 24 year old homeless man?

How f**king pathetic.

Answer 5

The problem is that in an un-feminized society there was some shame and stigma attached to being an unwed teenage mother, now society celebrates them.

In the past a knocked up girl would be destitute, unable to finish school and suffer at least some kind of negative consequence of such irresponsible behavior.

Now , they are provided for by welfare, provided special educational programs, special breast feeding rooms and publicity and celebrity and the perks and advantages that go with it.

Feminism has made this type of behavior ,not only acceptable , but heroic, when in fact these girls should be shamed and sent to a private boarding school for unwed mothers.

Answer 6

Oh there you go again! Its because of professors advocating freedom of choice to do whatever you want with your life and your body. If it wasn't for certain professors and their liberal agenda leaking into high school textbooks we would not have this situation!

Answer 7

I think the real tragedy here is that these girls have an obvious lack of parenting in their lives. How very sad that they not only were able to plot and plan this but to also carry it out. How sad that the parents didn't notice that their daughter's friends were getting pregnant left and right and didn't step in. How very sad that many of these parents probably don't even know their daughter's friends. How very sad for the boys involved that now not only are they going to be responsible to support these children but may be in trouble with the law to boot. I am sure that more then one of these guys were lied too, told that the girl was on B.C.. And s****t of all? All these little babies who will be brought into this world not because mommy and daddy wanted a baby but because mommy was playing a high school game with her friends. In 5 years will these girls still want these babies or will they want to go out and party all night? Wow... I am just sick...

Answer 8

FEMINISM!

Just kidding. I figured I'd say it before 20 other people did.

Anyway, I don't really think it's OUR society that's the problem, but THEIRS. We should consider what went on locally that may have driven them to decisions like that.

Answer 9

Where are their parents?

Answer 10

As a young person myself, I can tell you that these stupid teenage girls who do this S**t see the thought of getting pregnant and raising kids as something that's "no big deal" and even glamorizing at times. They don't look beyond the pregnancy and the consequences, all they see is themselves as a mother just like in their younger years when they played with their baby dolls and pretended to be "mommy" but this time they want it to be the real thing and they are too stupid to realize that this is no longer baby dolls but the real world and thus fail to realize that this is going to bite them in the @ss in the long run.

Our society and our media only contributes to the problem. Hollywood produces these films that glamorizes teen pregnancy and portrays it in a positive way. They see their favorite celebs getting pregnant and so they think that getting pregnant is "cool" because this person's doing it. Sad.

Another thing that contributes is the bandwagon effect. These girls see all their friends and family getting knocked up left and right and conclude that they should get pregnant too simply because everybody else it doing it. Pathetic.

I agree with a previous answer. We need to stop rewarding this behavior by ending things like welfare service to these girls. Maybe it's time these girls know that getting pregnant just because they can is something that's NOT going to be taken lightly.

I hope these girls have a miserable future ahead of them.

Answer 11

i think the surrounds in life makes us think that- ie jamie lynn and the movie Juno. i think it's riduculous that these 18 decided to do this. they don't know what they are in for!

i swear, if i meet someone like this i'm gonna go insane.

Answer 12

They don't need kids. Seriously they are using kids for some sort of social standings thing. OMG!!! The state needs to come in take the kids and force the parents into parenting classes and shrinks.

Answer 13

I actually posted something similar to this yesterday.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

It is absolutely horrifying to think that they'd want to do something like this. I'm only 17 and I know that having a child right now would be something that could mess up my plans for the rest of my life. Some girls have made it, sure, but not all of them. I'm still just a kid and I want my time to live for myself. These girls just don't seem to get it...

A baby sounds nice and cute and all but I'd only take one right now if it had an "off" switch when I needed. :P

Answer 14

I think the article touched on it...these girls are looking for love.  They think that means s*x.  s*x makes babies.  They probably also think "at least my baby will love me" not realizing the amount of sacrifice they will have to do to make that happen.

Answer 15

The media's obsessive coverage of young celebrity pregnancies is certainly partly to blame.  I did notice that these young girls were all white.  Teen pregnancy in minorities has been big for a long time, with teens intentionally getting pregnant so that they can take advantage of the welfare offered only to mothers, at a time when they will soon be too old to receive welfare benefits through their own mother.  This has been called the welfare trap.  So, intentional teen pregnancy is nothing new.  It is only getting recognition because it is white, middle class teens this time.

Answer 16

oh no, is the state going to come and RIP them away from their families like they did in Texas?

Answer 17

Sign of the times

PROF for a start, the donors should be exempt from child support thats the real issue here, that men can be so easily trapped into an 18 year sentence with the threat of jail time.

unfortunately we have to treat all accidental pregnancies and reports of dv and rape as suspect.

isn't there a 2k incentive for babies these days?

our birth rates are so low, somebody has to pick up the slack, and it is going to be these kinds of girls, their kids will end up slaves as the west tries to compete with the developing world.

@ 50s, very good.

Answer 18

Who are we to tell women or girls what to do with their bodies.

Answer 19

there really isn't any good solution to this problem i mean you can't force these crazy teen girls to wear chastity belts so what can you do?

Education helps but to leave s*x education up to the parents when they themselves might not know anything about the subject. Simply telling them not to do it isn't going to work either so the  only real solution is to reform s*x education and make it mandatory.

Answer 20

Well with freedom and power must come equal and proportionate responsibility or in other words maturity.

I dont see that in the young lasses and lads today especially the below 21 group.

We have given them the freedom but sadly we have forgotten to teach its value or its sanctity.

And you can bet of those girls want child support they will get it.

Such is the system!!!!

Answer 21

"Who are we to tell women or girls what to do with their bodies."

But we do have an obligation to educate young people and encourage them NOT to go down this particular path.  I see a lot of blame for feminism here, and I have to say, as a feminist I am appalled by the behavior of these girls.  As a feminist, I believe girls should go to college and earn some type of degree, should get job and should be financially independent, and that they should wait until they are able to support a child before they have one.  It's not feminism that brought these teenagers to this point, it's lack of parental involvement/guidance in their lives.  It's lack of self-esteem and the inability to see anything better in their future.  As one poster said, the parents probably couldn't even tell you who their daughter's friends were.  Ask my mother and she could tell you all the people I hung out with and their parents and probably go into their family tree - and yes, my mother worked (lest anyone think that working mothers don't have time to be involved in their children's lives).

I also feel very sorry for the young men involved.  But honestly, anyone OVER the age of consent should also be held responsible (to whatever extent a 24 year old homeless guy can be held responsible) - you had s*x with a teenager.  If they knew the consequences (as evidenced by the fact that they WANTED to get pregnant), the older men surely knew the consequences, too.  And even the high school boys probably realized what these girls were up to.  A pact like that doesn't remain secret for long in the halls of a high school.  People whisper and people point and surely the rumor spread that these girls wanted to get pregnant and have a baby.  What were they young men thinking?  Easy s*x?  I admit that the boys may have been tricked, but both parties knew the consequences.  Which brings me back to my original point: we do have an obligation to educate young people about responsible s*x and consequences for your actions.  And then we need to send these girls - and their parents - to therapy, because they clearly need it.

Answer 22

As a 66 year old gma of 5 teenaged girls, I think society has too much to offer, allowing these girls to be involved with more mature situations than ever before. IPods, MY Space, picture phones, computers that talk to you and way too many other things than I can think of that disrupt their normal thinking and offer too many outlets. Teens can escape from the "norm" anyway they want, with very little supervision. Parents are losing to progress, at the expense of their kids

Answer 23

While I think this "pact" is terribly wrong, I hope that a majority of them come to their senses and start taking responsibility for the situation... this means staying in school and continuing their college education.  

Someone made a comment that none of them will attend college, I am optimistic that some of them will..only because that was my story.

I was 17 and a senior in highschool when I got pregnant, however, my mother was adamant about me finishing not only my highschool education but also obtaining a college degree.  I worked a fulltime job and took care of my son, while attending night school at a prestigious university and took online courses.

It took me about 6 years to graduate, but THANK GOD I did it.  Soon afterwards I was able to leave my job as a secretary making $30K (which was pretty good) and start a real career.  Three months after getting my degree in Computer Information Systems, I started as a Business Analyst with a HR firm and had an official professional career.  I've gotten a promotion and I'm now a Benefits Operations Manager.

I own my own home and my son is 14 yours old... I've come a loooonngg way, but with my parents and GODS help and of course being persistent, I overcame the statistics.

Neither of my parents graduated from college, but I did and I'm breaking the cycle for my kids (oh I now have a 2 year old).  My 14 is now in all honor courses at school.  I'm so proud of him.

So in the end, there could be a positive ending for some of these girls.

Answer 24

That is just ridiculous and any girl that is stupid enough to do that cannot be responsible enough to raise the child in question.  My God those poor children.  

And those poor men who have been taken advantage of!!!!  I agree that they shouldn't be held financially responsible, they were trapped intentionally....that's just.....I can't even think of anything nasty enough to describe that kind of manipulation.

Answer 25

At their young ages, the idea of having a baby seems very "romantic" and "grown up". Once they start having babies who cry all night, diapers to change and all the responsibilities that come with motherhood it won't seem so glamorous. None of these girls are old enough to fathom what it takes to raise a child, much less how to feed and clothe one. I would bet within three months after they have their babies quite a few will just want to hand them over to get out from under the responsibility and go back to living as teenagers. It's just too bad that the babies are the victims.

Answer 26

Kids want to grow up too fast. They think that s*x means maturity. It doesn't. It means that both parties involved in such activity are responsible enough to deal with the consequences.

As for the children, I think their kids should be left with the girls. They did it, they should be able to handle it. I know three girls from my school who were pregnant at 16, they managed to turn their lives around for their children. It's truly remarkable what motherhood can do to a person!

Answer 27

I think our society is pushing babies again.  We see it all the time here young girls wanting to have 8 babies or more.  Its sad to think that this generation will become the next baby boomers and they will still be babies themselves.  I feel for the boys involved in this if they are 17 and under I don't believe that any judicial charges should occur but that they should definitely be held responsible for financial support.  The older ones should be charged judicially.  I think this needs to happen to discourage other boys and girls from entering into pacts like this.  I also think that parents should take this as a warning and talk to their children about s*x and teen pregnancy.  I really hope they get their daughters on birth control.  You may not always be there to stop s*x but you can ensure they take the pill or get their shots so they won't become pregnant.

Answer 28

I think alot of it has to do with the parents and how the child was raised!

Answer 29

Listen,i think that this is a sight of peer-pressure,imagine these girls made a pac,aren't they insane ?

Where are the parents,what is going to be done about these men who "RAPE" these little girls.

And i am sure that we are going to hear that some of the parents are going to make them have abortions.

Answer 30

It's your fault.

Answer 31

1) Why I hate the myth that Teenaged girls are more mature then boys

2)I'm a little sickened by the fact that these girls who went out and intentionally got pregnent are still considered the victims and the boys who impregnated them are still the victimizers

3)Welcome to the result of media and society in general glorifying s*x and diminishing its consequences

Edit-

4) Now they got thier 15 minutes of fame and will spend the next 20 years picking up the pieces