Teen Parenting

By Laurie Willis

Help your readers to explore the issues surrounding teen parenting. The pro versus con format of the essays in this book presents diversity of opinion on the topic, including both conservative and liberal points of view in an even balance. Readers will evaluate several issues, such as whether the children of teen parents are disadvantaged, whether babies of teen fathers have greater health challenges, and whether teen parenting TV shows are realistic. Your readers will be able to make wise choices after learning these facts.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rosen Publishing
• Release date: Dec 7, 2011
• ISBN: 9780737764611

Book preview

Elizabeth Des Chenes, Managing Editor

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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Teen parenting / Laurie Willis, book editor.

      p. cm. -- (Issues that concern you)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-7377-5700-2 (hardcover)

1. Teenage parents. 2. Teenage pregnancy. I. Willis, Laurie.

HQ759.64.T417 2012

306.85'6--dc23

2011027147

Printed in the United States of America

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 15 14 13 12 11

Introduction

1.  Being Teen Parents Is Challenging

Melissa Daly

2.  Being a Teen Mother Is Particularly Challenging for Latinas

Betty Cortina

3.  Being a Teen Father Is Challenging

Wendy Grossman

4.  Children of Teen Parents Are Disadvantaged

Denise Rinaldo

5.  Babies of Teen Fathers Are Born with Greater Health Challenges

Jane Bainbridge

6.  Telling the Family Is a Challenge for Teen Parents

Joanna Gregson

7.  Teen Fathers Face Social Stigmas

Mark S.  Kiselica

8.  Teen Parents Are Helping in School Programs to Discourage Teen Pregnancy

Sharon Jayson

9.  Schools Should Provide Educational Services to Teen Parents and Their Children

Marilyn F. Scholl

10. TV Teen Parenting Shows Are Realistic

Jennifer Grant

11. TV Teen Parenting Shows Ignore Pregnancy Prevention

Liz Goodwin

Appendix

What You Should Know About Teen Parenting

What You Should Do About Teen Parenting

Organizations to Contact

Bibliography

Index

Picture Credits

I got to go back to school . . . to get a good job . . . but don’t know when. . . . I live with my mom. . . . I have to get a job, when the baby is older . . . so I can someday move out.

The above quote is from a teen mother who was interviewed as part of a study by Josephine DeVito that was reported in the Journal of Perinatal Education. The quote captures the sentiments of many teen moms. Although they may have a desire to finish school and get a better job, they have no specific plans to actually do so. The immediate needs of caring for a child take precedence, and they are not able to focus their energies on their own development.

A fact sheet by Child Trends gives the statistics:

Slightly more than one-half of young women who had been teen mothers received a high school diploma by the age of 22, compared with 89 percent of young women who had not given birth during their teen years. Furthermore, results of our analyses show that young women who had a child before the age of 18 were even less likely than were those who had a child when they were 18 or 19 to earn a high school diploma before the age of 22, although the rates of GED [high school diploma equivalent] attainment in the former group were slightly higher.

Although the data is clear that there is a significant difference when comparing the high school graduation (or GED) rate for teen moms with teens who are not moms, there are varying opinions about the underlying causes. Some say that teens who become mothers were already more likely to drop out of school, due to factors unrelated to their pregnancy and childbirth. The Child Trends study quoted above reports that "many teens who become mothers lag behind in school academically and that a substantial percentage drop out before their pregnancy."

Others say that having a child to care for is the chief reason that so many teen mothers do not complete high school. An article on the website www.teenpregnancystatistics.org highlights some of the reasons given:

• feeling embarrassed or awkward at school

• health concerns for themselves or their children

• finding daycare or childcare

• safety fears

• lack of support

• the need to work

• not knowing her options

• being behind in school

Some schools are specifically working to help young mothers continue their education. For example, Compadre High School in Tempe, Arizona, has a Teen Aged Pregnancy and Parenting Program, which, according to an article on azcentral. com, includes parenting classes, mentoring, free bus service, free child care and scholarships for private child care. An incentive program rewards classroom accomplishments with opportunities to shop for baby goods donated to a ministore on campus. The dropout rate at this school is only 8 percent, much lower than the national average.

School completion is just one of the many issues surrounding teen parenting. The viewpoints in this book examine some of these issues. They include the challenges of being a teen mother or father, how having teen parents affects children, how teen parents relate to their families, how teen parents are learning about the responsibilities of parenting, and how television and other media influence opinions about teen parenting. In addition, the volume contains several appendixes to help the reader understand and explore the topic, including a bibliography and a list of organizations to contact for further information. The appendix titled What You Should Know About Teen Parenting offers facts and statistics. The appendix What You Should Do About Teen Parenting offers tips for young people grappling with an understanding of the issues. With all these features, Issues That Concern You: Teen Parenting provides an excellent resource for everyone interested in this increasingly important issue.

There are many reasons teen mothers do not finish high school, among them feeling embarrassed at school, health concerns, finding affordable daycare, and lack of support.