I find it completely unfair to the child. Having a mother who had two children with only a high school education and had to go back to school to get her associates and works at a job that she hates to take care of us, I know first hand what these "accidental pregnancies" can do to a child growing up. Granted, my mother wasn't a teenager, but she was not financially and mentally ready to raise children. She's done a great job, but things would have been different if she had gone to college, gotten a steady job and then had a child.

Like I said, it's unfair for the child. Children should be able to live in stability, and teenagers really cannot provide that. Not only that, but how can a child raise a child? I don't look down on the mothers for what they did as if they're sinners who will go to hell. I just find that it's selfish and cruel to put a child through the issues it will most likely go through because mommy and daddy couldn't wrap it up.

Doesnt matter what grade you made in sex ed(if they even give grades),how many times youre told to use protection,or seeing issues that you could possibly face in the future from television. People are going to do what they want to do no matter how crazy it seems to others. You cant make a person change if they dont want to change themselves. The thought of ejaculation...inside of me..no thankyou

@iiinfinitesimal@xanga - I had an argument with some idiot on Youtube about identical twins and about how it's nearly impossible for identical twins to be of opposite sexes.

Go figure. Youtube is the idiot magnet of the 'nets.

How widespread is the strategy?... of

"Let's get tested 2GETHER B4 we have sex,

for A VARIETY of STDs."

Do sexual health checkups reduce ambiguity and can they be

like anything else POTENTIAL sex partners do together?

See also
http://notb4weknow.blogspot.com
http://continuedat.blogspot.com

how do i feel about teen pregnancy? it's really unfortunate. most teens aren't even responsible enough to be having sex because they think nothing bad can ever happen to them. but i don't feel bad for them at all. they got themselves into that situation.

PUT ON A DAMN CONDOM. it's not that hard.

I have known some people who really don't seem to know even the basics that you'd think a person should HAVE to learn in sex ed, so I don't know. And at the same time, I know people who knew it, all of it, and still didn't follow what they knew. Maybe it's a mixture of factors. It's very sad, all the misery, shame and sickness caused by unsafe sex.

Well, for a lot of people I feel there is a lot of worrying done for the CHILD not the mother. she could've prevented it, she had a choice... the kid didn't. I know most teenagers probably aren't mature enough to handle raising a child, and it also takes A LOT of maturity to do what's right for the child and put it up for adoption which is often a better option for the kid. To me, I feel like when people feel like it's such a horrible thing, it's usually not about the sex, or the girl being pregnant, but the fact that the child has to grow up in an enviroment that's most likely not going to be ideal for a child. I mean, I'm not saying teenagers can't be mature, but as a psychologist I know once said "teenagers are NOT miniature adults"... how can a teenager raise a child, if they're still a child themselves?

Like with my cousin... she was fourteen when she got pregnant. The baby-daddy's family is completely crazy, they control her every move by saying "well, if you don't do this, we're gonna take that baby from you". The boy is an asshole to her and all that, but I really worry about her kid. Living a life in a broken messed up "family" like that will most likely be hell for him. The two families always playing tug-of-war with him is terrible. Not to mention, they SMOKE around him. At a week old my cousin took him to a wrestling match, because she didn't want to miss out, and that's no place for a kid, let alone a baby that young. She's not mature enough to make sacrifices to take care of that child. And honestly, I don't feel bad for her. She had a choice. But her sweet little baby boy never did.

So I know, at least for me, when I hear about teenage pregnancy, I could care less about the risk the mother took, or the fact that she had sex, or even that she's pregnant, I just feel bad for the kid.

That being said, sure it's dangerous and the person engaging in unsafe sex could get an STD, but in the end it's their choice. Every teenager I know who is sexually active who DOESN'T have safe sex, it's just because they're immature and have that "well, it won't happen to ME attitude"... they know about STDs and they could have safe sex, but they don't just because they don't want to.

Don't have sex, because you'll get pregnant. AND DIE.

First the only absolute way to prevent pregnancy or contracting an STD is abstinence, but if you are going to have sex always use a condom.  Ladies condoms can break or have spillage if put on improperly, so use birth control in conjunction with the condom.  

they know the consequences but remain ignorant. it is like driving under the influence, dui, who do it anyway because they think they are invincible I have no further comments without being censored lol

okay first of all im a teen mom and didnt make it thru high and im married to my babys father and we are doing damn good to be such a YOUNG family we have our own place that we worked damn hard for we have three cars and two dogs and my child is my WORLD and i can't find one reason why i would not want my baby. and in the year coming up i am going to get my GED and going to school for ultrasound tech. and fyi- i didnt quit school because i got pregnant i got pregnant AFTER i quit and had been living with my boyfriend for 9 months and being  INDEPENDENT and im still doing that now- :)

I would say over 90% of teenagers are not prepared to be parents. That is generous, I think. We need more comprehensive sex education in schools and easier ways to get ahold of birth control and condoms.