It really gets UNDER my skin......

I was watching an episode of the oh so wonderful television programming that MTV has to offer us. The show 16 and Pregnant was on last night and I stopped on it as I was flipping through the channels. First of all, I have HUGE issues with TV shows like this. I am not saying that I have anything against someone who has had a child as a teenager because I have a few friends that did. But my issue is more along the lines of how the topic of teen pregnancy is being presented in this show.

The episode last night was about a 16 year old girl named Leah who had been dating her boyfriend at the time (and future baby daddy) for only a month before she found out she was pregnant. I caught the episode after it had been on for about thirty minutes so the girl's twin baby girls were already born and the focus was now on the relationship between her and the father of the children and the drama between the two of them. I have issues with the fact that the show is showing these idiot girls that are horrible parents to their kids and in this girl's case, she complains constantly about how she just wants to be a teenager and go out and have fun with all of her friends. Sure she is changing their diapers and feeding them but she complains to her friends about how horrible it is and she just wishes she didn't have to do those things. The father of the twins in this case is older than her, has a job, and actually has stepped up to the responsibility of taking care of his children. Usually, you don't see the father actually wanting anything to do with the kids! So props to the guy in last night's episode for being a real daddy to his girls!

I understand that the show is trying to portray how hard it is to raise kids when you're still a kid yourself but I really don't feel that they are doing a good representation of just how much work it takes. A TV series isn't going to get it through a teenager's head that raising a baby is freaking hard to do when you can't even take care of yourself on your own. I guess it just frustrates me because I know of people who have had kids before they were ready to and I have seen first hand how hard it is for them to raise these kids. These teens don't think about the emotional impact having a child will make on them. I know that shit happens and that sometimes people get pregnant even when they take the proper precautions but geeeeeeeeeeeez. There are far too many girls in our country alone that actually think having kids at that young of an age is something that they want to do!

I am 26 years old and I am still not completely at a financially stable point in life where I could support a baby with no problem at all. I make enough money that I could do it, but there are still things I would like to have before having a baby. Like be married, get my car paid off, buy a house, etc. I can't imagine being able to plan any of these things around a child. I would obviously if I had to but I just can't imagine bringing a child into this world knowing that I am not ready for him or her to even exist.

We need to educate teens about safe sex instead of preaching to them that they should remain abstinent because we all know that is not going to happen. The resources are made readily available to these young girls so that they can take the precautions to be safe but I don't think that there is enough being done to educate them about it. Just one of the many problems with society that I know will probably NEVER get resolved but this  is something that I know I WILL teach my children about one day. 

That is my rant for the week. Thank you and good day.