Teen Prenancy Essay, Research Paper
John was the father of the baby. He is seventeen years old and is the typical teenager. He enjoys driving around, listening to music, and hanging out with his friends. He started having sex with Kim (the mom) four months into the relationship. They did it about once a week and used no protection. He thinks she will be OK but does not want to marry her. He is worried if he leaves Kim, he will be chased after for child support money. He wants to have the baby adopted before the birth that way he wont change his mind after he sees his kid. John has a serious problem. He is now a father and does not know what to do. He thinks you can just get rid of the baby through adoption and it will all be over. He is wrong. If I were in his position, I would be worried and embarrassed. I would think that my life was over. No more high school, no more friends, no more life. Just the baby and a job. I would fee responsible to take care of Kim and the baby.
Kim is a fifteen-year-old sophomore. People say she is a little grown up for her age but still is a typical teen. She suggests that they talk to a social worker. At first they both like the idea of an adoption. She is a little concerned that the baby will not get good parents if it is adopted. She believes the baby will only need to be taken care of for one or two years then it will be able to do things with out it parents help. Kim is even more clueless than John. The fact that she thinks it only needs one or two years of being taken care of is a sign to me. She doesn?t realize that its her responsibility more that Johns. She doesn?t know that she is going to need lots of time and money for the baby. If I were in Kim?s shoes, I would be extremely worried. I am only fifteen and I am about to have a baby. If I adopt it, I would feel bad for the rest of my life. If I keep it, I am going to be stuck at home taking care if it. I won?t get a collage education, and I cant marry john, because he does not want to. John will most likely ditch me and I will be stuck taking care if it myself. Plus, my mom is real upset with me because of this whole thing.
John?s parents are extremely surprised about what John did. They think it is ?unfortunate? and that both of their lives are now ruined. John?s dad thinks its sex education?s fault. He says that they got it to early and got bad ideas in their head. His dad also thinks John needs to get a better job to support his baby. They aren?t giving John the light of day. They are giving him no support. His dad is real disappointed and treating his son like he did something illegal. His dad knows nothing about John?s problems. If I were John?s parents, I would know that there was not much we can do about it. It Kim?s choice about what happens to the baby and its Johns choice weather he wants to help take care of the baby. We can tell him the right thing to do, but really we are just sitting back and watching.
Kim?s mom did not take the pregnancy well. She does not like john, but want him to mary Kim because of the child. She thinks Kim ?turned out bad because of broken trust. She holds John responsible because ?Kim is just a baby.? She says, ?Kim will think its like playing with dolls.? Kim?s mom is real stupid about the whole thing. She does not realize that Kim was at fault as well as John was. However, she does understand the fact that her daughter having a baby is a huge concern. If I were Kim?s mom, I would be real disappointed. I would suggest to her that she put the baby up for adoption right away. At first I would be real mad, but then I would realize that getting mad doesn?t help anything. I would always be there for my daughter and help her through the whole thing.
John?s friends all take the whole thing differently. Rolend does not seem phased about John, but remembers when his girlfriend was pregnant, but turned out not to be. He thinks condoms are bad. Roland seems to know having a baby as a teen is bad, but does not want to talk about it much with anyone. Skip says that if he were John, he would deny that he ever had sex with Kim and abandon her. He would tell her not to call him for help. He attitude towards John is; ?Hey man, you scored!!? Denny is the only sensitive one. He says that he would stick by the girl no matter what happened. I f I were Johns friend, I would stick by him the whole way. I would help him out any way I could. That is what a real friend would do.
Charlie is a man that works with John. He went through the same thing that John is going through now. His girlfriend was Wanda and they are now married. Charlie felt that it was not right to leave Wanda. They thought it was real tough at first, but then they got used to it. Charlie works while Wanda stays at home and takes care of the kid. She doesn?t think that its fare that she never gets to go out and have fun. If I were in their place I would want to help John and Kim. I would tell them about all the problems and joys of having a kid in high school. I also tell them how to take care of a child and what a commitment it really is.
I concluded that this video did not show the problem with having a kid as a teenager. It only showed what the two teens thought about it. It never showed what happened afterwards. It failed in scaring kids to stay away from sex. It acted as if I was completely neutral in the matter. On the other hand, I already knew the problems with a teenage pregnancy. I know that it could take both of the parents out of high school and change their lives for ever. The mother might be forced to take care of the kid alone because the father might abandon her.