Quote:
Originally Posted by holidayroad
I totally agree with this. Many teens have no idea what can cause a pregnancy. I sometimes go on question/answer sites such as Answerbag or Wikianswers. I have seen teens ask questions such as 'I fingered myself but forgot to wash my hands. Could I get pregnant?' and 'A guy and I were making out. I was dressed but he dripped on my clothes, am I going to get pregnant?' If teens are asking this, it makes me think that a lot of parents aren't telling them the facts and if the parents won't, the schools should.
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Ay yi yi. Yeah, when I was doing the counseling/mentoring thing with the younger girls, I heard all manner of craziness like that, but when you ask them where they get such ideas, they just stare at you - they don't know. I mean, yes, I got pregnant at a rather young age, but I knew/know exactly how and why that happened.
What's even worse to me, though, is that many of the girls that are pregnant just do NOT understand what is in store for them. A lot of them think it will be fun and games, and life will carry on just as carefree and party-filled as it was before. I would try to explain, "No, no, you just don't get it, listen to me, you need to be aware of what's going to happen once that baby is born," but I don't think I got through all that often.
The one girl I do remember getting through to for sure wasn't even affected by my talk of the actual birth, the endless sleepless nights, the constant need of another small human that can't do for itself, etc. What WAS this barely 15 year old affected by, then, you may wonder?
My freakin' stretch marks.
She was all, "Oh, I know, I know, it won't be that bad," and I got frustrated, and said, "You don't get it. Everything will change. I don't even
look the same way I did before the baby."
"You look the same to me."
So I jerked up my shirt and showed her my stomach, and THAT got her attention. "Oh my god!" Yeah, honey. Oh my god. *facepalm*