To think that if 16 is not old enough to smoke or drink alcohol why is it old enough to make a baby?

[panthera]

Does this reflect society's low priority on the importance of children and parenting? I have always thought that 16/17 is too young to have children. I am not arguing that under 18's make bad mothers but is it sending the wrong message to young people?

Scorpio, obviously not every single person is going to fit the general pattern. It sounds like you were unusually mature- so maybe you were just following your inside age rather than your biological age.

And I'll add Idobelieve to my List of Reasons for not Banning Teenage Pregnancies (as if you could, anyway!).

Cory - i do think my inside age is much older. Mum says i have wanted babies since i was about 5 and that they weren't suprised when i told them.

Oh and thanks flubdub

I don't think dd is on there though...

I agree that education is the way to stop teenage pregnancies.
Did anyone see the program a few months back about sex education in Holland, I think. They started teaching it at about 5, but the focus was on respect and relationships as well as the biology. Consequently I think they have one of the lowest teenage pregnancy rates in europe.
I just find the discrepancies between what you can do at 16, 17 & 18, bizare, what age are we adults?
I have friends who have had babies as teenagers and they are great mothers. I just think it's better for young adults to experience freedom before being restricted by children.

scorpio1...my mum said the same, i was very much into dolls and prams, always getting baby clothes off my mums friends for my baby (only had the one doll) and fascinated with babies that came to visit...much more than my sisters ever were who thought they were ugly and boring!..lol

Idobelievefairies - how old were you when you had your first then? sorry if you've already said and i missed it.

its very strange
to say you are old enough to get married have children but not partake fully in adult society..
dont see what good it would do raising age limit either,
far better to explain fully and simply again and again the responsibilities that can arise from unprotected sex ...

round of applause to all the positive teenage mum stories here, my hat is off to you guys!

Oh and i will be supergluing condoms on my boys, lol and me and DD will be having big chats - my life isn't bad at all but i want DD especially to do her things first.

Sex is already open game subject here - having just hada baby they wanted to know ALL about it (3 & 6)

nappyaddict-just turned 18 when she was born.

tbh - as long as they aren't still in school then i think having a baby young is not as huge a issue as everyone makes out. age is not that important as long as you are a responsible parent. however if they raise the leaving age to 18, it might be logical to raise the age of other things to that aswell.

YANBU. I can't stand it when I hear that 16 year olds aren't children any longer. They are very much still children.

a very small number of people will be mature enough to look after a baby at the age of 16.

Most are not up to looking after a hamster at that age.

And even those who are will probably have a much easier time of it, financialy, if they wait a little.

a good mother at 16 is still goinf to be a good mother at 18 and will have an easier time of it

I think on the whole that society is too accepting of teenage pregnancy.

20/30/40 years ago, getting pregnant at 16 was nothing to be proud of. In fact it was something to be ashamed of. And if you got pregnant then you generally had no choice but to give up the baby for adoption. The teenage pregnancy was nowhere near as high then as it is now.

Now, I'm not saying that teens should be forced to give up their babies for adoption (although in some cases I'm not opposed to the idea) but I do think we've gone too far the other way, where we almost embrace these children having children.

Maybe if there was still some stigma attached to having babies at such a young age they might think twice before getting pregnant.

And I realize that lots of teens don't get pregnant on purpose, but I do think they're on the whole not as careful as they should be, because they know that if they do get pregnant, the state will provide.

I think there is stigma attached to having kids young, it's being displayed here for exqample in the way some posters are being so judgemental.

Hey, get this.

At the age of 16, you may make a porn film with your parent/guardian's consent.

You may not then view the film you made.

It's because, basically, the laws were made by old men, and old men want to fuck teenage girls. Dress it up how you like, but that's what it boils down to.

'Teenage pregnancy is I think every parents nightmare.'

Actually, drug use is more of a concern to me when my girls enter their teen years.

People assume that because someone is young they won't be a good parent. Many young mums do a great job, and go to college/work a few years later, thus paying back in taxes whatever the got from the system in the first place. Not all teen mums dream of a council flat and living off the state you know.

"the laws were made by old men, and old men want to fuck teenage girls"

All old men? Jeeze!

Expat - couldn't agree more!

I was a mum at 15 (pg at 14), married at 16, and now 10 years later have 5 lovely dc

Although not desirable, a baby is not the worst that could happen.

Drugs have got to be worse

I've got a fourth cousin whose schizophrenia was caused by drug use.

He is institutionalised, a huge threat to the public if released because he has homicidal tendancies and the damage is permanent.

Being a teen mother isn't hte worst thing in the world.

not all teenage parents live off the state. i never have depended on them.

also agree with expat.

A baby is also the nicest thing you can catch from unprotected sex nowadays....

no, not all but a lot of old men do.