Ask Me Help Desk - An epidemic?

I am only writing this because this concerns me greatly :confused:

I am not in any way trying to open a can of worms. Oh and Alty, I'm not trying to piggyback your question as this may appear to be a simular thread that you posted some time back :p This bothers me to the extreme and I want to know what other people think about this little story. I am open to any kind of opinions.

I spoke to my sister last week and she told me that she watched a show about 8th grade girls wanting to get pregnant. These are 13 and 14 year old girls! What is going on here? When I was 13/14, never in my mind did the thought of pregnancy come up. At that age, I thought to myself 'I will never have kids and if I do, it will probably be in my late 20's and after I'm married.' Obviously times have changed but that of that point of view still sticks with me.

Last weekend as I was walking around the mall, I heard a bunch of young girls behaind me say 'I want to get pregnant.' I didn't look behind me but with the immature tone of their voice, I could sense that they weren't older than 13. I wanted to turn around and give them my two cents but decided not to as that would probably cause a scene.

For some reason those girls in the mall got me so mad. Lately it seems as if that is all young girls think about. Even on this site we have girls 13-16 wondering if they are pregnant. It's most certainly normal for a girl to have dreams of having kids someday but to actually make it a reality at such a young age seems bogus to me.

*Just my opinion*

I don't know about you and the school you went to, but in mine, we had to "babysit" an egg for a week... you know the story, make sure it doesn't break, etc. etc. Do they still do that? Or, babysit a doll that has to be fed and taken care of? I remember my teacher telling us that this was just a small representation of watching out for a baby... and it scared me to death!

Also, I remember that I babysat a LOT - could be because my little brother was born when I was 10, but I remember always babysitting the neighbors children. (and reading Babysitters Club! Lol! But, I digress... ) Do teenage girls babysit today? I guess I'm not really in-tune with the whole being a teen in the 21st century, but it seems to me that they seem to have more spending money and free time... consequently, they seem to "find things to fill the time"... Babysitting is great - the kids could be demon spawn (and I watched a few!), but you always got to go home at the end of the night!

I don't remember any of my junior high classmates ever wanting to be pregnant or getting pregnant, for that matter! And, I'm not THAT old!

Quote:

Originally Posted by HistorianChick

I don't know about you and the school you went to, but in mine, we had to "babysit" an egg for a week... you know the story, make sure it doesn't break, etc. etc. Do they still do that? Or, babysit a doll that has to be fed and taken care of? I remember my teacher telling us that this was just a small representation of watching out for a baby... and it scared me to death!

Also, I remember that I babysat a LOT - could be because my little brother was born when I was 10, but I remember always babysitting the neighbors children. (and reading Babysitters Club! lol! But, I digress...) Do teenage girls babysit today? I guess I'm not really in-tune with the whole being a teen in the 21st century, but it seems to me that they seem to have more spending money and free time .... consequently, they seem to "find things to fill the time"... Babysitting is great - the kids could be demon spawn (and I watched a few!), but you always got to go home at the end of the night!

I don't remember any of my junior high classmates ever wanting to be pregnant or getting pregnant, for that matter! And, I'm not THAT old!

Lol! You don't seem that old History (can I call you that? :) ) I started babysitting at the wonderful age of 13 and that was for people who weren't younger than 30. It seems that teens now days do have more free time. Blame it on their nurturing, or school, or media or whatever. I remember as a teen having free time and that didn't count the constant chores, school work, jobs or babysitting so my free time was limited.

I believe schools still do the egg or doll project. I remember in my Home Ec class I had to do the egg. I don't think that that project has an affect on teens getting pregnant at such an early age. I believe that we all need to be taught and prepared for parenthood. I don't think the egg/doll lesson encourages young adults to get out there and start a family at 13 though. I wasn't thinking that when I did it. It was more like 'I need to do good on this project so I'll get an A.'

Sadly I wish there was a cure for such a seemingly epidemic. Maybe the media can cut back on sex a little but I doubt that will happen. Maybe parents should strictly enforce their children to only watch movies that are proper for their age.

:) Yes, you may call me History, or HC, or HChicky (as Alty calls me!) I'm in my late twenties.. . so no, not old!

I believe that the egg project showed me how NOT ready I was to even consider having a baby. But honestly, the thought of wanting to have a baby didn't even enter my mind when I was 13. As you, I knew that one day I would have a child, but that day was far in the future.

Honestly, I don't know what is going to stop the "epidemic"... maybe it is the media, maybe it's the free time, maybe it's the lack of instruction, I don't know...

I remember having free time (when I was done with chores, etc), but reading... I guess I was an odd child, but most of my free time was spent outside with friends or reading. And the reading was most commonly done in trees! :D

The world is a different place today than what it was when we were growing up.

We have something in common... we both love to read! Well for me not so much anymore. I'm trying to start the habit again but it's hard with work. I would say that 90% of my free time as a teen was spent reading. I was a true bookworm!

OMG I use to LOVE the Sweet Valley Twins!

I loved them because one of them had my name... I always thought that if I was a blonde, I'd be her! :) What was the club they belonged to? Didn't they wear purple all the time?

Wow... we've sabotaged your thread...

But you know... on second thought... we really haven't. Our generation of teenage girls were focused on a whole different world of things compared with those today. Sad, really.

Sweet Valley Twins... Got to love it!