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Overcoming Teen Pregnancy

© Trula Brekcenridge

In Cleveland, Ohio, recently the baby of a teen couple was beaten to death. The father stands accused. His age? 13. The mother's age? 14. The buzz around town is that it's all about teen pregnancy and teen parenting. When talking to people about this tragedy I get shrugs and a dismissive attitude. Often people will remark, "What else was going to happen? They were kids, way too young to be parents!"

For most young teens, this is certainly true. I don't want anybody to think I am advocating that twelve and thirteen year old boys father babies, or that young girls purposely get pregnant. But I can't help but feel that not only their families but the social services system failed these two young parents miserably. What kind of help was available to them? What kind of intervention could have prevented this tragedy? More involvement, from their families, social workers, their community?

As a teen parent I was flat-out told that if my baby managed to survive infancy and childhood, she still had staggering odds against her just by virtue of me being a teen parent. I was told she wouldn't be as smart as other kids or socially well-adjusted, and that as she became a teen she would probably become drug-addicted and sexually active at a young age, resulting in her becoming a young mom herself. I was given very little encouragement or hopeful forecasts for my child's future.

I was determined to beat the odds. My daughter is twelve now and nothing like the terror she was predicted to be. She has been a good student all of her life and is very social. She behaves well in public and is a warm, friendly child. As befitting her age she still has the mind of a child and has no interest in dating. Although I am hardly done raising her, there are still many years to go before she reaches eighteen, I know that she is a great kid, not in spite of me being a teen mother, but because I learned how to beat the odds.

Here are things you can do to give your child an edge over the 'disadvantge' of having a teen parent:

- Read to them everyday, from birth. Not only does this help them to learn to read easier later on down the road but it tends to give them a love of books and learning that will aid them in school and life. It's also good quality bonding time, holding your baby, toddler, or small child on your lap while reading them a story. Even older children benefit from being read to.

The copyright of the article Overcoming Teen Pregnancy in Teenage Mothers is owned by Trula Brekcenridge. Permission to republish Overcoming Teen Pregnancy in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.