“You’re too young to give your child a good life.”
“You’re just a child yourself, what do you know about raising one?”
“Now you’re going to have to drop out of school.”
“Your kid is going to grow up to be your parents’ kid. They’ll end up being the one who raises them.”
“There you go, adding to the statistic of teenagers who couldn’t keep their legs shut.”
“Your child is going to grow up to be a teen parent too because he/she didn’t have good role models in their lives.”
“At your age, you’re still too selfish to have a child. You’ll be out on Friday nights while your kid is stuck at home being raised by a stranger.”
These are some of the responses received when teen parents were asked what the most hurtful words ever said to them were regarding their early pregnancy. Teens all over the world are having babies, whether accidentally or purposefully, and a good portion of them are doing a fantastic job. There are countless amounts of stereotypes aimed at men and women, women in particular, who have babies before the age of 20. They’re lazy, they’re immature, they could never provide a good life for their child. Well, I’m happy to say that I’ve seen, first handedly, teens who broke those stereotypes right in half.
Babies are born to men and women who can’t support or love their children the way that they should. Children are born to rich, poor, white, black, employed, unemployed, and careless people all of the time who don’t have the right mind-frame or love to properly care for their children. Babies are born to drug addicts, alcoholics, workaholic parents who are never around, and parents who resent their child’s existence. There are people, all over the world, having babies that they will never deserve and never love the way that they should.
So why do teenage parents have the magnifying glass of judgement held over their heads? I’ve seen some of these young parents love and protect their child far better than some grown adults ever could. Balancing school, sometimes two jobs, cooking, cleaning, and still coming home at the end of the day with a smile on their face and loving arms to hold their child in- that’s what I call a true hero. Everyone is so quick to judge those who get pregnant in high school or early into college, calling them all kinds of horrible names.
Your age doesn’t define you. Would you love your child more at age 35 than you would at age 18? No. When you’re young, finances are hard, but aren’t they hard at just about any age? Life is all about overcoming the obstacles that are placed in front of you and everyone’s obstacles are different.
It’s 2016 people. The world isn’t as it used to be. It’s becoming less traditional. Families are all sorts of mixtures, ages, races, genders, religions, and ethnicities, and that’s totally okay! As long as the child is taken care of and loved, why does anyone care? All the time you see a teenage girl with a little belly bump walking in the mall and people staring the hell out of her. Why? Do you think you’re going to catch her pregnancy? Does her being pregnant affect you at all? Do you have any room to judge her based off of your own choices and circumstances? I’m sure you don’t. Everyone makes decisions- some good, some not so good- but it’s all about how you choose to deal with what comes out of it.
So, here’s to the teen moms and dads of the world who are doing a kickass job raising their kids. Whether you’re finishing school, working a job or two, or staying at home to provide for your little ones, awesome work. Keep on breaking the stereotypes and prove them wrong.
