Features
Young moms unite
Edward rodriguez
Senior Marne Davis and junior Yolanda Reyes have experienced the roller coaster of being pregnant. When it comes to having a child Reyes said that it’s more responsibility and she couldn’t do as much.
“You have lots more responsibilities. You can go out but it’s not the same and your priorities change a lot,” Reyes said. Sometimes being pregnant can cause pain and moms may even experience false labor. Davis experienced it but Reyes did not.
Being pregnant can also cause mood swings.
“I had mood swings, but I was just a little mean,” Davis said.
Sometimes the father doesn’t want to get involved with the child.
“He comes around and helps out but not as much as I want him to,” Davis said.
“The father doesn’t come around nor does he help out,” Reyes said.
Reyes said she would encourage girls who think they’re ready for a child to wait.
“It’s not a bad thing to have a child but just wait, especially if you want to go to high school or college,” Reyes said.
“Don’t do it,” Davis said.
Stephen J. Dubner of Freakonomics blog in The New York Times thinks teen should wait to have children because it affects high school, college life and marriage if parents are married.
“Teen moms are less likely than other women to attend or complete college, and their marriages are more likely to end in divorce; about 50 percent of women who married younger than age 18 are divorced after 10 years,” Dubner said.
Davis and Reyes said their parents helped them with their pregnancies and children.
“My parents help out a little bit,” Reyes said.
“Yes, my parent helps,” Davis said.
Some people look down on teens that are having children.
“Adults are disappointed but a lot of them think it’s typical because I’m Mexican,” Reyes said.
“It depends on the person. Some look down but it’s not about what they think,” Davis said.
Davis, Reyes and Dubner agree that young women should wait until they have their life together and stay focused in school, and also use birth control if they choose to be sexually active.
“Most of the recent decline in teen pregnancy in the U.S. is due to more consistent use of birth control, although teens are also waiting longer to have sex than in the past. In 1995, almost 20 percent of girls had sex by age 17,” Dubner said.