Every day, I find new reasons to be thankful that my teenage daughter worked out her rebellion years ago and cemented her own healthy self-esteem (albeit at the expense of mine) and is now a level-headed kid with academic ambitions and the ability to reach them. Because stories like this are the kind of stuff that no longer keep me up at night. (Well, not usually, anyway.)
LONDON — The newest fashion among schoolgirls is getting knocked up, according to one pregnant 14-year-old whose four friends are also expecting.
British teen Kizzy Neal says she’s been approached for advice from other pregnant girls her age ever since she conceived, reported London’s Daily Mail.
“When my friends see my bump they say they wish they could have a baby, then three weeks later they’re pregnant and don’t know what to do,” Neal said.
“It seems to be fashionable to get pregnant. … Teenage girls think babies are cute, but they forget the physical side of being pregnant, then having to give up your own childhood to look after a baby,” she told the paper.
Neal says she got pregnant the first time she had sex with her 13-year-old boyfriend.
Sounds like it’s about time to introduce teens to a truly vintage fashion accessory: the chastity belt.
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Saturday, February 24th, 2007, 1:21 pm | 
Parenting Bites, Sex Bites | 
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February 24, 2007 at 2:09 pm
Gawd, this makes me want to vomit. Babies as an accessory. A sure-fire way to attract attention and drama.
OMFG.
February 24, 2007 at 3:26 pm
14 years old? 13 years old? I guess after everything I am still too naive for the real world.
13-year-old boys WANT to have sex? really? tell the truth, guys.
February 27, 2007 at 12:00 pm
Anwyn…yes. We do. Lord knows, I did when I was 13.
I think it’s time to bring back a different vintage accessory…. PARENTS. This is an inexcusable failing on the parents’ part, and like David said, it makes me physically ill.
…partly because I have 3 girls and the oldest is 13.
February 27, 2007 at 4:28 pm
Parents???
You mean, those people increasingly known otherwise as Defendants or, at the therapists’ office, th Financially Responsible Party?
First thing we do, let’s sterilize all those who try passing laws dictating how parents may punish their children.
February 27, 2007 at 9:10 pm
Excluding examples like this, I’m in perfect agreement with you. I happen to know the Child Welfare worker in this case, she’s my best friend’s girlfriend, and what’s made it to the news is by far not the most horrific part of that case. Trust me, the truth is worse.
It makes me very sad every time I get a young person, out on their own for the first time, 18 years old or so, calling me, their worker with the Department of Human Services, to let me know that she is pregnant/he is going to be a father. For children 13-14, it’s the parents’ fault, it’s that simple. Never mind the inability to be omnipresent or omniscient – if one has done one’s job as a parent, children understand that sex is for adults, having children is for adults, and that both are to be left until they’re actually old enough to decide they want it and responsible for their own decision.
I get angry every single time I get a call from a grandparent on my caseload, letting me know that their grandchild is now in their full custody because their child isn’t responsible enough to assure the safety of their children.
I’ve often wondered why if you have to have a license to own a concealed handgun or operate a car in this country, being a parent doesn’t even require an open-book test. :-/
/soapbox
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