Teenage pregnancy seems to be a growing problem in todays society. The stereotypes that come along with being a pregnant teen have also grown. Most teenage mothers today are labeled as irresponsible, and at time are considered bed parents without being given a chance. It is true that careless decisions had to be made in order for the mother to have ever become pregnant, but it is completely unfair for all teenage mothers to have to carry these normal stereotypes. I believe that all teenage mothers should be given a chance to prove that they too can be responsible parents.
I have met societys stereotypical teenage parent. Heather Goode was a very close friend of mine in high school. At the beginning of our senior year, I found out that Heather was pregnant. She continues coming to school up until two weeks before Blake was born. After Blake was born, I never heard Heather talk of him, and I definitely never saw her taking care of him. He was always with her parents. Blake is about six months old now, and Heather still hardly spends any time with him. I see Blake every now and then, but he is always being taken care of by Heathers parents. She has certainly fit right in to societys typical teenage mother role, but two of my other friends have not.
I would like to introduce you to Aubrey Shelton. Aubrey is nineteen years old, and she has an eight-month-old daughter named Bailee. I often spend time with the two of them, and it amazes me how mature Aubrey has become since Bailee was born. Before Bailee Aubrey was a cheerleader in high school, and has big plans of moving away to go to college. When she found out she was pregnant. She decided to complete her first semester of college before Bailee was born, and then to take the next two semesters off in order to spend time with her daughter. Aubrey has not put the responsibility of taking care of her child on her parents. Instead, she spends most of her time loving and caring for her daughter. It is a very rare occasion that I see Aubrey that she does not have Bailee right there with her. Even though she admits she never wanted a child at her age; she does everything she can to be just as good of a mother as someone who has planned their children.
Melissa Seaver is also a very close friend of mine. At the end of our junior year of high school, Melissa found out she was pregnant. Melissa continued coming to school until Paige was born, and returned to finish our senior year. Her story is a little different than Aubreys though, because she married Paiges father Brandon, and they moved out on their own. Melissa is not the only teenage parent in this situation. Brandon is also involved. If you were ever to meet their daughter Paige you would instantly fall in love with what I considered to be one of the happiest babies I have even been around, and I have been around a lot of children. Sometimes Paiges grandparents take care of her, but not because Melissa and Brandon ask them to. They do it because they want to spend time with their granddaughter. Melissa goes to school and holds down a job, and Brandon also has a full time job. They have both adjusted to being parents. Paige knows who mom and dad are, and if she could talk, she would tell you what great parents she has.
Society like to look at mothers like Heather Goode and put that kind of label on all teenage parents, but the truth is some teenagers can be responsible. Aubrey Shelton and Brandon and Melissa Seaver should not have to live with societys narrow-minded views. They should be given the chance to be looked at as good parents to their children. They made a careless decision, and they should be given the chance to redeem their selves. So instead of putting them to shame, maybe we could offer them support and love. Just as we would any other parents who have a newborn child, because one careless mistake should not have to stick with them for a lifetime.
