when i was a teenager (depressed, emotionally unstable, thought life was as good as it would get, thought i was as smart as i would get, thought i knew all about life, etc...), i fantasized about the love of a child. i did not feel needed, wanted, or loved by anyone else, and that sounded like heaven to me. thankfully, i had the foresight (or something) to not have a baby so young. but i really thought that i could do it! i really thought it was a plausible answer to my life...

so many mom's are so young, and they are able to do it and do it well, and i admire them. i could have done it, but i am SO glad i got to learn more of who i was before i accidentally got pregnant.

this is what i have been thinking about since i read the post: in every group of friends (esp. in high school), there are strong and bossy friends, and there are weaker and compliant friends... i just wonder if anyone will resent their friends for forcing them into this pact and take it out on their child... i sure hope not!

i hope that all these girls, and all their children have rich, happy, healthy lives.

haven't read the article. but. wow. A friggin' commune. 17 girls decided to do this together? I think it's kinda rad. I mean, shit, they can support each other. I think they'll make people rethink "ew! teen mom!"

www.myspace.com/placentamusic

As teen girl therapist my perspective is that if adolescent girls were more supported in a variety of ways, not forced into being the object of someone else's "subjectivity" (a man, or in some cases a child's)- if they felt empowered by the media and government and society in general to find their own path, their own voice, than having a baby at 16 would not be the means of self expression. As we all know having a newborn with it's miracles is about the most ego shattering experience one can have, and I feel sad at what I think of as someone whose own ego/self has had no time to really form trying to support another so selflessly. I think we need a self to be able to let of the self.... Bless these girl mamas.

Maggie

I am at a loss for words. I have written stuff and deleted sentences for a while now. I have to wish them good luck.

I'm stuck on this one, since both my sisters were teenaged moms, and my two best friends were teenaged moms too. While I do not condone or think teenage pregnancy is a good thing, I do believe that if I were in my friends' or sisters' shoes, I would've done the same and had my child...whether it would have been put up for an adoption is a completely different story altogether though...

They all (but one of my sisters) went on to have four children apiece, and for the most part, they're good moms.

But to go and get pregnant on purpose at 16? Wow. That takes some balls.

As for the school offering programs, I think it is a good incentive for the girls to stay in and stay educated...but one has to wonder what the social price is for those programs. I know that it is possible for people to finish without them though. Both my sisters graduated in 1986 with high school diplomas...one two weeks after her child was born and one a month prior to having her baby...they were pregnant at the same time, at ages 16 and 17. My friends also didn't have programs in place either, and they both finished on time with diplomas.

I don't know what the right answer is for this one. It has me truly stumped.

I JUST read about this as well. And I agree that what the article said about schools encouraging young moms is incredibly lame. I admit that I do think its a bit sad, especially if (as the article I read stated) the reason the girls did this is to feel loved unconditionally. I am more than supportive of young mothers, thats for damn sure, as motherhood...I am quickly learning, is a rough job, as well as beautiful. I think that all schools should give the option of having your children there on the grounds. I know so many people that dropped out of high school when they got pregnant because of ridicule and the amount of work that being a mama is, and thats unfortunate.
It's scary though, what people will do to feel loved and needed...and especially in high school, it's such a rough time. I have to say though, for as wacky and...not exactly smart idea this was on their part...I wish those girls the best of luck. I hope they really do manage to give their children the beautiful lives they hope to give them, and that they deserve!

~Seriousness is a sickness; your sense of humor makes you more human, more humble.~