Teen Pregnancy in America

As a 22 year old first time mother, I remember how hard it was having just one baby in the house. When Dylan first came home from the hospital, all he would do was nurse, sleep, and poop. And then he'd do it all again 15 minutes later. I rarely slept, I changed diaper after diaper, rocked him, nursed him, and cried a whole lot. Now, at 25, with another child on the way, I feel a little more prepared. This time, I almost feel ready to have another baby.
What is really bugging me is society's take on teen pregnancy. First of all, the MTV show '16 and Pregnant' is not really a show I meant to watch. But after watching 'The Pregnancy Pact' on Lifetime (check it out!), I became curious as to what teens today are exposed to in terms of pregnancy and birth control.
Barely 15 minutes into the show, I started getting the feeling that I was watching little girls glamorize teen pregnancy. The girl I watched was skipping school, shopping for her baby. What in the world does that teach young girls today? That having a baby means a vacation from school, shopping for cute pink socks every day? That can't be right!
I'm afraid the innocence of youth can only be reserved for those under 10. Public schools are teaching sexual education at a much younger age now, and private schools don't seem to really teach sex-ed at all, much less the consequences of having a child too early in life, focusing on abstinence and the biblical principles behind it instead.
Having a baby is TOUGH! I was there, and I wasn't even a teenager! I can tell you all about it. There's diapers to buy, formula, toys, wipes, bottles, and clothes. There's constipation, vomiting, sleepless nights, and that's all BEFORE the baby comes. You don't sleep or eat when you want to anymore. You cry for no reason. You're at the mercy of a 8 pound bundle of poop and boogers. It's absolutely exhausting having and supporting a baby. My husband and I had almost no money; we could barely afford to keep the lights on in our tiny apartment. If it hadn't been for the blessings from our loving and generous families, I don't know how we would have survived.
These teen girls aren't married. Some seem to think the "baby daddy" is going to automatically take care of the two of them. But, let's remind everyone that the child's father is only responsible for the child. Now these girls have no one to go work to pay the bills for them while they stay home to raise the baby. If they're working or going to school, the baby is being raised by other people, not exclusively by the mother (which I find is more and more of a sad reality for hard working middle class families, but that's a topic for another day). Statistics are showing that more and more teen mothers are dropping out of high school, and even less are continuing on to college. These young mothers are doomed to a life of almost-poverty, with no education and no solid income, relying on the government food, housing, and welfare programs. Is that an environment that a child should be brought up in?
While it's true that no child is ever a mistake, some babies shouldn't have come into this world as they have, born to teenagers. These young girls and boys are barely able to take care of themselves! I applaud the boys and girls who do step up and face the consequences of their choices, but wouldn't it just be better if we taught our youth that teenagers are TOO young to be raising children?
So, MTV, instead of showing us what it's like to be '16 and Pregnant', shouldn't you be showing us why we SHOULDN'T be getting pregnant at 16?
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