My Teen Pregnancy Video

[Xxartistic_illusionXx]

Back in sophmore year of high school, we were assigned topics to write a report on, and give a speech. I got teen pregnancy. Well, I managed to dig up the report on my desktop, and decided to turn it into a video.

Here's the link:

Teen Pregnancy

The video covers financial, health and mental risks that both the mother and the child may go through.

Could you guys check it out and then tell me what you think?

Also, before you do, please read the description. This video is me arguing against teen pregnancy. Read the description, and you'll see why. I The whole point of the video is not to judge, or scold, or insult, but to educate. After all, the one thing I sometimes stress to much is this: a baby is NOT a toy. It's a human being that needs tons of care, love and support. It's NOT a doll that you can play with, dress up, and have fun with...and then when you tire of it, you shove it back in your closet (although with the frustration of dealing with an infant *coughbabythinkitovercough* that' screaming, crying, and waking you up at all ungodly hours of the night, that closet might start to look a little friendly. No, I didn't mean that it's ok to shove the baby in the closet. That would be considered child abuse, I'm sure. I'm just pointing out the frustrations, but no matter how frustrated you get, you have to stay calm).

So yeah, whole point of the video is to educate.  

[Xxartistic_illusionXx]

Munkers

"This video is me arguing against teen pregnancy. . . The whole point of the video is not to judge, or scold, or insult, but to educate."

For the record, you don't have to take a formal position on something in order to educate others about it. By saying you're against it, you are in fact making a judgment statement.

A better way to approach this might be to say that you're against the way society currently deals with teen pregnancy. It's harder for a teen to get adequate medical care hence things become riskier for both the woman and fetus. Less medical attention also means less time for a medical professional (not "doctor" because not everyone who cares for pregnant women is an M.D.) to explain how one needs to care for their own health and well-being and any signs to look for which might indicate an impending complication.

There some good information in your speech, but I think there are also some unfair statements in there--namely, that being married can save your children from the horrors of drug abuse, poverty, and a lack of education. One of the books you used, Dubious Conceptions, was published in 1997 and the fields of sociology and psychology made huge strides in just the next few years and have made even bigger leaps since. Sociologists are realizing that the nuclear family model no longer applies and that single parenting can easily give a child everything he or she needs to be successful in life.

And the claim on what types of people become teen parents are completely bogus. An unintended pregnancy can happen to anyone regardless of psychological state or social standing. Making claims like this just increases the stigma of teen pregnancy and parenting and makes it that much harder for teens to make a rational and informed decision in how to deal with their own personal circumstances.

Teen pregnancy isn't just the result of a lapse in judgment on behalf of teens. The United States has such a high teen pregnancy rate because we have failed again and again to give our teens the tools they need to keep themselves safe upon commencing sexual activity. Our educators are sued and fired for telling students that, yes, condoms do work when used correctly. Organizations like Planned Parenthood are banned from giving contraceptives or even medical advice to teens without parental consent and there are too many parents that simply can't or won't look out for the well-being of their children's health. Teen pregnancy isn't the problem here, it's a consequence of some really stupid decisions that have been made in this country.

I realize that this is already long, but I just have to say one more thing. I really don't approve of this presentation stigmatizing welfare so much. The reason that individuals band together to form a society is for mutual help and protection and in modern day American, one of the ways that protection and help takes form is welfare. It doesn't make you less of a person to seek it out. And for all the people that balk at where their tax dollars are going, too bad. It's a trade-off. By remaining a member of this society, you agree to give up certain things, i.e. pay taxes, in order to obtain more important goods, i.e. law enforcement, a role in the government, etc.

Without welfare and programs like Medicare and Medicaid, there would actually be an even larger burden on taxpayers. If a woman goes into labor, it's regarded as an immediate concern and, by law, she can NOT be turned away from a hospital regardless of her ability to pay. If she can't pay, then the hospital is now simply out of that money and if it's a publicly funded hospital, guess who picks up the tab? The taxpayers. We could actually decrease taxpayer burden if we would provide for just a slight increase in Medicare benefits because then these programs would cover more and there would be fewer emergency room visits from people that have no where else to go.

I appreciate you watching and commenting on the video, but I feel as if there is something you may not have understood, and so I would like to just take some time to explain a few the things. If you did understand...then, ok. Great.


When this sophmore speech was made, everyone had to take a formal positon. And when I say had, I mean that it was required. You had to say whether you were against or for the topic you were assigned to, and then using the research that you found online or in books, you had to say why.

Also, please keep in mind that this speech was made about...four years ago. In other words, my opinions and views on teen pregnancy have expanded more in the sense of not just believing on thing, but also paying attention to other things.

I would have liked to put more in to the report, because as I read more and more about the topic, I was discovering things that I didn't know before, or had totally missed. However, we were also assigned little catagories, such as: How does this topic (in my case teen pregnancy) affect people finacially? Now, that was just a little example of what the topics pretty much said. But, we had to keep the reports to a miniumun


Perhaps I could have updated my report a bit, but I was proud of it. I realize that certain things I put in there have definitley changed over the years, but I thought I did a good a job on it.


Again, thanks for viewing and commenting.