Those Who Naturally Gravitate Towards Parenthood

[Scarlett]

I was thinking about my time at secondary school, and the girls in my class who were deemed 'promiscuous'. ie they had boyfriends at 13 or 14, often had older brothers or sisters, and were WAY ahead of me in the worldly stakes. Then there were those like me who weren't ready for boyfriends until MUCH later, who revised hard and planned to go to university. The girls with boyfriends were taught home economics and childcare, and I was taught A levels. The school often seemed to look down at these girls, preferring the more academic ones. Those girls who were ready to have sex at an early age, and had boyfriends invariably got pregnant pretty soon after they left school. In many ways I think they were far more advanced than me- they got to do the real life stuff much earlier than I did. They seemed switched on to what life is basically about- pairing up and reproducing, and they were ready for that really early. Do you think that girls like this are often looked down on, by getting pregnant early, when actually it's probably just their calling?

[Sqad]

Good point souldark, I agree with Woofy.........but I do wonder if that is the whole story?

This teenaged pregnancy phenomenon wasn't as prominent 50 years ago and now,when the prospects for girls has been improved in most facets of society...........pregnancy and promiscuity have increased.

[rowanwitch]

I think I know what she means, years ago there was less support for single and young mothers. But there were more two parent families, so an increased risk of a relationship with at least one adult, parent or grandparent. Now with fractured families, mum perhaps does not look up from her phone long enough to see her daughter is struggling. She might already have body image issues so why wouldn't she fall for some lad who tells her she is pretty, or at least wanted . Then when he scarpers she might want the child to love, knowing that a child will love her for who she is. It might already be too late to terminate if she has been frightened to tell her mum. I think it is so much more down to social media and peer pressure and how this impacts on self image. A child is the ultimate proof that someone wanted you. Even if you lied to the bloke or it was an accident.