what are your thoughts on teenage pregnancy?

[Kezzer]

No sex before marriage imo

[Pete]

hmmm are u joking kezzer?
no sex before marriage?
i dont think thats right at all, some people dont get married anyway i think that what im gonna do unless sed girl wants to get married?
Pete

[myth]

No sex before marriage imo

Say WHAT!!!!

If I'm to mary a girl I shure as hell whan't to sample the goods before I purchase them

Besides what if your kink ain't right for her! Then what ops:

[Kezzer]

There's a distinct difference between sex and a relationship. I hope you can seperate the two.

[Rythmic]

Abstainence will save you from STDs.

In the same way that not driving will prevent you being in a car crash.

And in the same way that not listening to new ideas will prevent you from catching doubt.

[Galant]

Alright - how about this article? Food for thought?

Friends, Friends With Benefits and the Benefits of the Local Mall

It's out of the NY Times, you may have to create a username, but it's free. The article is free for the rest of this week. So you might want to save it.

Pay attention to the links on the right - you can change it to a single page format.

[Lee H]

Theres a lot more factors to look at why we have a "huge" problem of teenage pregancies and one of the main factors that probably influences this is the fact that every Friday night you will see hordes of teenagers cramming themselves outside a local off license try to get people to buy them 20/20 or other cheap and tacky alcoholic drinks so they can all congregate on the streets drinking and smoking.

Now add this to the fact that teenagers with their hormones at full flow can get pretty "hot & horny" ( hey come on.. we we're all teenagers once - well most of us) when they are starting to experiment with the opposite sex. What you then get is a recipe for disaster in the end.

We need to actively promote "safe sex" and not sweep sex under the carpet as a taboo subject, this is the 21st Century afterall. I mean they talk about homosexuality on the TV a la Coronation Street, but as soon as sex is mentioned, most British people probably blush and find it hard to find the right words. For the sake of the children we need to actively promote safe sex to them so if they are ever tempted - at least they will know what to do.

I'll get off my soapbox now

[Moonshade]

I don't really know what to say about it. I can't say that I'm against teenage pregnancies. I mean it's not the age that's matter, it's like when it comes to love..is it okay for a 16 year old girl to date a 25 year old guy?

Well, a girl can get pregnant even if the guy uses a condom, and not every girl can use the pill. And if a girl gets pregnant, taking away the baby isn't the easiest thing to do!

And some have the economy for it too, so if you really have considered it well and planned it I don't have anything against teenage pregnancies.

Although I hope that they'll wait a couple of years. But I know that there are some girls that wants to have babies in the future when they're like 25-30 something. But if you get pregnant it's different, then the baby it's already there..and then it all becomes different.

And many people keeps saying to teenagers that it isn't a baby yet (after a month or so), so they can make an abortion without feeling any kind of guilt. But what about this?

If a couple wants to have a baby, and then the girl gets pregnant, they're both happy etc. And after a month or so the girl gets a misscarriage then they'll both be sad cos that was their baby!

So now, where did all the other stuff go? That it wasn't a baby?
And you don't have to think the worst of the teenagers, some are mature and all that. Maybe better than some mothers that are older..

[myth]

There's a distinct difference between sex and a relationship. I hope you can seperate the two.

Sorry! But I cant

I have yet to have either...

[lynni]

Sorry! But I cant

I have yet to have either...

You dont necessarily have to love someone to have sex - one night stands, no strings attached sex etc etc

A relationship isnt just based on the physical side of things, there lots of other stuff that makes a relationship

[RoGuE|SaBeR]

I'm with Galant on this one, mostly

Abstinance does remove quite a lot of the problems in one fell swoop. No potential for pregnancy, no chance of catching any diseases and no regrets.

But I do agree with you that it can't be taught as the ONLY solution.

Teenagers (ok me to, I'm 18 in a week tomorro) are in a phase where the adult world of relationships with the opposite sex are becoming a posibilty. In fact I'll rephrase that because it pretty much applies to homosexual relationships as well if your that way inclined. Teenagers are in a phase where the adult world of relationships of a physical nature are becoming a posibility. This means those crazy bodily chemical message carriers knowing as hormones. As an idea I believe that this " Silver Ring Thing " is a decent enough one but just isn't executed correctly. It's motivated by Christian thinking which clearly states that sexual relations of any sort before marriage are wrong. Personally I also belive this but that's by the by.

Ok, so you take the pledge and wear the silver ring. What happens if your in a situation where morals/previous decisions go out the window and hormonal, teenage behaviour takes over? It's gonna happen. Even if afterwards you regret it and the outcome that the biological process was intended for occurs against your will.

You dropped the ball. Made a mistake. You have nothing to fall back on and the options are -
a) You have the baby and probably miss out on quite a large part of your life.
b) You have to undergo the trauma of abortion.

Not the best state of affairs. Either you weren't taught about contraception/ lacked a decent understanding of it or in the situation you didn't have the necessary "equipment". It's most definately not a christian outlook to shun people for mistakes and leave them open to making them.

Teaching about sex should definately include contraception. British society just seems to hope that some rushed / incomplete sex education programme in schools which is usually a once off "talk" in perhaps second or third year will cover the necessary information. Teach the advantages of abstinance to kids! There is no way on this green earth that two 14 year olds are mature and stable enough to raise a child. They however should be old enough to understand the consequences if they are explained properly and thoroughly and if they do end up having sexual intercourse that condoms are acceptable, safe and sensible.