Why do we look down at our young mother?

Question

i was a young 17 yr old new mother and yes i do understand what your saying.there are alot like that but i never burden anyone else with my choice.i worked before i fell prengant to my partner of 4 yrs.

i am now 27 with 4 kids. and about to go back to school to be a teacher.. i love my life and my kids very much and if i didn't have them i think i would have made some very wrong choice.

Answer 1

I think a lot of people feel that having a baby at a young age hinders you from doing a lot with your life that you could have done had you not had a child.  

Some people view it as inappropriate to have children out of wedlock, which is usually the case with young mothers.  This goes hand in hand with the "s*x before marriage" thing.

But, if you think about it, a female is able to start producing around...12 or 13 years old, right?  Isn't that the BODY'S way of saying it's ready.  I think society has just changed the expected age of childbirth over the years.  Still, however, the body has not changed.  What does that tell you?

Interesting.

Answer 2

A young friend of mine (18 yrs. old) had great plans for her life, then she got pregnant and had a baby.  Her family kicked her out, she had an apartment for awhile, but was unable to keep it, so now is living with the 15 year old father's family.  Instead of becoming a pre-school teacher, now she is thinking about becoming a cake decorator because she doesn't have the support she needs to be able to go to college.  

That's why it makes a difference how old you are when you become a mother or a father.  Your life's goals have to be made with the baby in mind.  

For me, anyway, it is more a matter of feeling sorry for the mother, not looking down at her.  Both she and the father made a choice that has affected both their lives.  

Answer 3

a child cannot take care of a child.

seeing a teenage mum symbolises a loss if innocence, a sign of cheapness as they have sold themselves for way less than what they are worth.

it's a view into the society that we have now plunged ourselves into where a cycle will be and is hard to break.

its is a fear engulfing us and we cannot escape

Answer 4

You answered your own question.  How does a young mother care for her child?  If she's under 18, she will probably have to drop out of high school to care for the child, unless the state sponsers day care or her parents step up and care for the child.  If the parents are doing that, is the mother really caring for the child?  If she's over 18, how many hours can a single mother work?  A lot of these births are outside of wedlock and there's no father around.  The burden becomes the grandparents, not the young mother's.  This is what causes a great deal of animosity.  

Also, many times the pregnancy is unwanted or unexpected...in other words, an "oops" moment.  Age is a real factor because we have to be older now to support for ourselves.  Young mothers usually aren't thinking through the difficulties of being a mother, and even if they try their best, they'd do much better to wait and have a baby later on in life.  They're also sacrificing a great deal of their childhood or early adulthood to take care of a baby instead of enjoying life and experiencing things abroad.