Cutting Edge: Pram Face

[VanishingLadyAppears]

Monday 9.00pm channel 4

I'm definitely watching this and I hate to admit it but years ago i was infact one of those ignorant people who thought young girls had babies to get houses, benefits etc etc. I saw the clips for the show and felt so sorry for the girl who was upset about her child living in a cold house, but i suppose there are going to be folk who say you made your bed lie in it. This is going to be a very interesting and sad watch

my DHs friend has a council house and they got a few hundred to decorate it themselves and got a new bathroom. My ex's parents aswell had a (now ex.) council house, but it was like a little cottage because he used to be sa bin man and played the system... such extremes.

when we bought this house we were so skint we bought a 10.99 tub of B & Q magnolia and painted the whole place magnolia.

Is the safe sex message not getting through?

Aside from the risk of disease is the risk of STDs which can seriously impair a young person's health, reproductive health and even life.

didnt amber say her contraception failed?

im not sure the safe sex messege will ever get through. When I had my abortion, the ward was full, and some girls were on their 2nd or 3rd, and used it as contraception. But I guess that makes me sound like a hypocrite?

I just wish BOTH girls and boys were taught to properly use condoms.

I used to teach sexual health class at uni and 90% of the students didn't know how to use a condom properly.

They probably either put it on inside out or don't squeeze the top as they are putting it on which prevents trapped air which can cause the condom to split. I agree it's important to teach young people how to put one on correctly I find it quite tricky myself and i'm 30!

Not pinching the tip and rolling it down a bit before putting it on.

So what happens in the male puts it on the tip of his penis,which is of course loaded w/sperm in the pre-ejaculate.

Tries to roll it down, realises he needs to flip it over.

But instead of getting a new one, b/c now the tip is covered in sperm, he just flips it over and carries on.

Or not rolling it down smoothly.

So it rips or comes off.

Those were the most common.

Not using the right size - for hte well-endowed - again, rips.

I didn't see this, wanted to but got distracted by more arguments at home..

I grew up in this kind of environment, so when people talk theoretically about poverty in Britain I don't have to stretch my imagination much to understand what it is they mean.

A lot of the time though it's clear that commentators and reporters on TV just don't have a clue, poverty is just a word to them, an abstract concept. The reality of sending your life in such conditions in such a rich country with pretensions to social equality is soul destroying.

I've always passionately fought the rhetoric of girls getting pregnant to get a council house. The people who say that are shamefully ignorant. If they were riverside penthouses with under floor heating, then I might have believed them.

The same kind of people who quibble about where their taxes go. It's why, even if I don't agree with Tony Blair, I will put my personal feelings aside and vote for labour while it still has the most progressive policies, though they could be a lot better.

And my mother justified smoking because it was the only luxury she had, that and having a drink. It's simply a way to self medicate.

Was it John Reid that got hammered for saying smoking on sink estates was for some the only pleasure they had in life. I had to agree with him.

It's about young peoples' health IMO, not just getting pregnant but also chlamydia, HepC, and HIV infection - all of which are on the rise - so of course it's overlooked.

.

incase it is not already said here, most of the cigarettes on council estates in our area at least are brought in from the continent without paying VAT.

This programme was very sad to watch, the girls actually seemed very articulate and the children where very well behaved. However, I have a few questions. Why have a second child if you are that hard up- I can not afford a second at the moment, and would never have another unless I could support it myself. How could they afford to smoke? Who paid for all the HiFis and DVD players I saw in the living room?
I am currently on Mat leave for a year with NO imcome apart from family allowance- and I paid tax on my maternity pay!! How fair is that? It would be lovely not to work and look after dd full time, but would only consider this if I our family could manage financially without claiming benefits, would never expect tax payers to pay me to bring up my own child. Having children is a choice you make and you should make a responible decision only to have children if you are both emotionally and financially stable enough. This is my opinion,may be controversial but I am being honest

Lilymolly, I think the father left when she was pg with the second child.

As for the hifis etc, well, who knows, but you can't assume they weren't given them/didn't buy them in the past when they were better off/get a bargain from a charity shop.

So, is it wrong of me as a single mum to choose to bring up my child full time? I had a very good job but was unable to sustain employment due to shit personal circumstances and I now find my self trapped on IS, living with my parents and unable to get back to my career (even if I wanted it). Yes, its not what I imagined for myself but I'm living the life I've now got. If I had a partner no-one would bat an eyelid about me being a SAHM but because I'm single certain members of my family and others feel I should have no choice but to work.

What's also saddening is how in this society, so many fathers simply abscond themselves from any responsibility entirely.

Absolutely, Expat.

the best thing I was told in Sex Ed. (Catholic School) was dont sleep with a boy your not prepared to have a baby with. Simple as that. I tried desperatly to hold onto my virginity, but an ex put an end to that... but that advice always is in my head and if I ever find myself single, ill remember it.

well, i watched it and i felt like i was watching the first two years of my ds1's life. we lived in worse damp conditions and eventually i had to have my flat condemmed, that was after i took in a famly memeber and her two children who was living on the streets. i worked hard in a local charity to get help for the others on the estate who didnt know what to do, i was lucky that i was well educated and i had a stable background, but i was still a teen mum!
the whole documentary was menat to be a comment on the reality of young single parent hood, but i felt it turned out to be about how relationships have no hope of working in an environment like that, which isnt really true, but common.
i agree with all the other mners who want to do something about it, but believe me, it will only be accepted if you are one of the teen mums living in the same conditions, any thing else will be laughed at, i know!!!

Edam you asid exactly what I wanted to say but as usual far more eloquently.

We can't afford private education because I insisi on health club membership and being seduced in a luxury hotel every month. My dd bedroom isn;t decorated and has ripped wallpaper because quite frankly I am pissed of with her about decorating it so have spent the money on outrageous birthday parties instead. I don't smoke but I do drink too much. I know I make selfish choices and could be portrayed ina bad way but would probably gte away with it because I live in a nice safe middle class neigbhbourhood and I have a nice safe middle class job.

THe hi-fi etc may ahve been a gift they more likely come from a catalogue that is charging outrageous interest and that she can pay £2 a week or even worse a provident loan or similar with even higher interest.

They smoke and go out, FGS last week I got so pissed that I was singing Tammy Winnette until 4 in the morning and was in no fit state to kook aftermy daughter for a while day. Behaving like that is OK though when you do in on a road of suburban semie and drinknig a nice bottle of charonnay rather than Diamond white down at some local dive.

I ahve lived in accomodation just as these women were portrayed and in hostels that were even worse and if cigarettes would ahve helped me cope with my shame, hurt and complete misery at ahving to live in such conditions I woud have been on full strength cigars.

I don't think at their young age I could have bought up two young boys who were so well behaved and with her passion and patience. I don't think I do it know at 31 with all the financial, practical and emotional advanatages I now have.

As women we shoud be seeking to support one another not trying to catch each other out over who smokes or has a hi fi on the never never

sorry about the typing but you got me all fired up!