Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 24, 1993 TAG: 9311250348
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
What you should be doing is interviewing teen moms 12 to 18 months down the road when the glamour has worn off, the baby cries all night, the boy-father is long gone, money is scarce, diapers are dirty, and she wonders where her childhood went. I've worked with quite a few teen moms who don't think it's so great.
You put a large, showy, color photograph on the front page of a major newspaper section, write a cutesy article complimenting two young ladies for being ``responsible'' and ``carrying themselves with dignity,'' and conclude by quoting their comments on feeling ``pretty.'' Are you tacitly implying to some teens that if they feel unworthy and unattractive, pregnancy will help them feel important and pretty?
I'm sure that Tasha and Shannon are fine young women and I wish them well in finishing high school, supporting their children, and becoming productive citizens in our society. But you've just helped these two young women become powerful role models to be held up for their peers to emulate. Experienced adults reading the article will see the possible future heartache. Some young impressionable teens will see instead only desirable media coverage of an ``event'' and wish to be a part of it.
I've always considered myself a liberal, an advocate for teens, an open-minded educator and high-school counselor. But I think you blew it on this one. Shame on you for not showing more editorial good sense.
ESTHER W. JOHNSON
ROANOKE
Taxpayers, babies, pay for the mistakes
IN RESPONSE to the Nov. 18 news story about the pregnant teen-age girls (``Pregnant and proud'' by staff writer Beth Macy):
It must be nice to be having so much fun. I'm very upset about the games these girl and boy are playing. Anyone can make a mistake, because I've made some. I've paid for my mistakes, and I've faced the consequences.
Thanks to all the teen-age girls who stroll their babies up and down the road while I go out to work to pay for them.
What about the boys who think they're men by making all these babies? They're fathers in name only, but they're not dads.
I have a 16-year-old girl, and if she gets pregnant, the baby will be put up for adoption. I'll not put any more burden on the taxpayers. I'm sick and tired of paying for my mistakes and everyone else's. Society is suffering, but, most of all, it's the babies who suffer. From what I read in the paper, it goes from generation to generation.
To the 18-year-old with four kids, you're lucky that you or your children don't have AIDS. The welfare department should only have paid for one child, if that much, and not any more. I've heard of a state that does that.
TERESA DeWEESE
ROANOKE
Girls are living in fantasy land
YOUR Nov. 18 article, ``Pregnant and proud'' by staff writer Beth Macy, seemed to elevate premarital sex and unwed motherhood to a new high. It should also help to elevate the number of cases of sexually transmitted diseases..
The girls who were featured are living in Never-Never Land in their minds and in the real world with their bodies. One said, ``I think a baby's gonna be fun. Me and my baby will be able to grow up together and have the kind of relationship my mom and me never had.'' The reality is that her child will grow up just like she did.
It seems that if you're in Alternative Education, you're to be admired if you're pregnant, especially if you're pregnant by one of the sought-after ``studs.''
Why not write about those who are good role models, who don't chase the studs, who stay in school, and who wait until there's a father in the home to have children? That might help break the cycle.
KENNETH PERKINS
GALAX
Put morals back into the schools
I REALIZE there's not a wide range of topics to report on in the Roanoke Valley, but please try to be more discreet with those items that you do decide to publicize.
It was appalling to open the paper on Nov. 18 and on the front of the Extra section to see a picture of two young kids announcing that ``they are pregnant and proud of it.'' Then, after I read the terribly depressing article by staff writer Beth Macy, it seemed like it was trying to glamorize teen-age pregnancy as the ``in'' thing to do.
Whatever happened to ``making love'' and its being done by two married people in the privacy of their own home? I work with a bunch of teen-agers, and all they ever talk about is sex. And any phrase you use is taken in a manner that's sexual, even though you never meant it even close to that.
Three things we need back in schools now:
Most important is to put God back in the classroom. I hope the lady who had the Lord taken out of schools can sleep at night when she sees the mess we have now.
Discipline. A good whipping like I got when I was in school is desperately needed by about every kid in school. It won't scar them for life.
Homework. This doesn't seem to be as prevalent as it was 10 years ago when I graduated from high school.
It's time to put morals back into our lives, and we must start in our schools. The world is in an uproar, but it could change one day if we start doing things the way they should be done.
I hope that when the kids that these girls will somehow raise become teen-agers they'll realize the problems that our generation has had and not make the same mistakes.
BRIAN WOODSON
ROANOKE
Showing no sense of responsibility
THE NOV. 18 ``Pregnant and proud'' article by Beth Macy, concerning two teen-age girls who're pregnant and proud of it, was the most infuriating piece I've read in a long time. Why did the reporter not ask the girls the hard-hitting questions regarding responsibility and long-term commitments? The mothers-to-be should've been asked if they're thinking about the babies they're having and their futures or just the teen-agers' own fantasies about motherhood. They should've been asked how they plan to raise and educate their children without homes of their own or jobs.
The series on teen-age pregnancies in Roanoke is a good idea, and the subject needs to be explored. But this particular article is a glorification of the two girls who are pregnant and happy about it, rather than realistic about their situations. Teen-age pregnancy is a problem, not a sign of status.
These girls' comments show a lack of understanding about the significance of their situation and a lack of awareness of what the real world is all about. The article indicates that quite a bit of counseling and assistance is available to the girls, but, of course, all of this is after the fact. Most absent from the girls' comments is their acknowledgement of a sense of responsibility.
JEAN T. REED
ROANOKE
Sterilization may be the answer
THE NOV. 18 article by staff writer Beth Macy on teen-age pregnancies (``Pregnant and proud'') made me physically ill. Parents and grandparents have assumed, apparently in error, that teens became pregnant because of ignorance, immoral behavior or going too far in a moment of passion. You confirmed that our system of welfare has, in fact, created a whole class of ``baby factories,'' immoral females who take delight in breeding with their favorite stud with the intent of creating illegitimate children, for which all society will be required to provide prenatal care, cover the costs of the birth, and provide food, clothing and housing for the rest of their lives.
I'm all for having every female who has a child out of wedlock being required to purchase a license similar to a dog tag. The second time she becomes pregnant, she's spayed, much the same as we do dogs and cats, and she remains sterile for the remainder of her life. That would prohibit an unwed girl of 18 years old from having four babies as outlined in your article.
In addition, the ``stud'' who impregnates these females should have to be registered and made to provide financial support for every offspring that results from his breeding activities. If he refuses, then have him spayed.
Girls who degrade themselves in such a manner and deny the specialness of their femininity are so disheartening. That we as a society would make being a ``baby factory'' apparently so socially acceptable and continue to support it with our tax dollars is disgusting.
RITA B. CORBIT
VINTON
by CNB