European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 6, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 letters the stars and stripes Friday May 6,1988 comments on teen age pregnancy series the articles on teen age pregnancies arc disturbing because they reveal How naive passive and subjugated some female Leen tigers still Are. They Arr not Able or willing id control what happens to their bodies or their futures. If he Leen age pregnancies were Only a question of being sexually Active and ignoring or being ignorant of contraceptives he problem might not teem insurmountable. However i believe this misguided group of teen agers perhaps like their mothers have an Altitude still fossilized within an obsolete ideology in which a woman s biological nature lakes precedence Over All aspects of her nature. They have not been taught from Day one that a female does t have to pander to another s ego she has a Choice. A female can elect to Matte love or not make love to have a child or not have a child at such Lime she feels physically and mentally ready. She can enter into or avoid relationships. Her Choice should be determined by what is Best for herself not because she feels compelled to compare consciously or unconsciously every reeling and reaction with those expected by males whatever their age. It would help in their development if Young females understood that their feelings reactions Ana perceptions have Validity. It would also help if parents and 1 do mean both mothers and fathers would let them know they will not accept responsibility for their self ish mistakes. A teen Ager is selfish indeed when she does t think about the consequences of her actions and How one unprotected moment of love can affect More than her life. Let s not romanticize or idealize teen age pregnancies Low Between two immature people in what Ever Guise quickly flies out the window when the hard facts of responsibility for a helpless innocent human being come charging through the door. A baby is not a cuddly toy that can be propped on bed pillows and cooed Over whenever the mood hits us. Babies arc demanding. They need feeding Dia Pering and Loving often when they Are the Leal Lov Able. As a Mother of four daughters aged 17 to 30, would not deny far a minute the deep and authentic Joy of motherhood or the Rich satisfaction of seeing one s toddlers grow into Lovely Young women. To have them was my Choice. My two married daughters have no children hat is their Choice. Thai s what this letter is All about choices that should be made before there is no Choice. Emily avid Raf Lake a Heath England 1 read with much interest your recent series of Arti cles on teen age pregnancy to gave much insight into a very personal emotionally charged situation. T am writing to Tell another Side of this Story. We arc the very proud parents of a 7-year-old adopted Daugh Ter. As Long As i live my heart will leap when i remember her first being placed into our arms As a tiny baby. Our baby. Unselfishly Given life by her birth Mother a Young woman we know Only a Little about but to whom we will always be ultimately grateful. The sad fact is that there Are Many Many couples that will Only know the grief of not having a child Only the heartache of Reading today s staggering abortion statistics. Adoption is not just another alternative by consid ering allowing a childless couple to adopt your child you realize the unselfish Joy of turning your misfortune into the fulfilment of another s Hopes and dreams and truly help create a Happy ending. Pant sniff Rinstein West Germany i commend you on your recent series of article on Icen pregnancy. As a Dodds nurse this is something i Deal with quite often. This problem is a tragedy not Only in Dodds schools but in the United Stales in general. I take Issue with one aspect of the articles and that is the premise that Dodds ignores Len pregnancy. I know hat i and most school nurses do not ignore it and we represent Dodds. What is it exactly that you suggest that dodos or any school system do teen pregnancy is a multifaceted problem that has no simple ans Cra. We do not need a special Dodds study or statistician to Tell us that teens Are sexually Active and getting pregnant at an alarming Rale. Teens Are an inherently risk taking group. They Experiment with tobacco alcohol drugs and sex. While they try to explore the reasonable boundaries of these risky activities Many get pregnant As Well As become habitual drinkers and smokers. Are american teens More sexually Active than their counterparts from other countries no. They just Don t use birth control. Why not Here Are some of the an Swers i have heard in my office i was too embarrassed to mention my parents would kill me i m too Young to get we just Gol carried away he said he would be careful. "1 can t talk to my parents about things like these answers Tell us something. Parents As hard Asil May be iry to talk to your kids about sex and being a Parent. That Means More than sarcastic remarks like if you gel pregnant you Are on your own or a Wink and a nod Ai you give your son a condom. You have to Start with the premise that your kids think about hav ing sex and arc bombarded with pressure to do so. While sex education birth control information and teen clinics Are a Start it will not cure the problem. Many an informed student has become pregnant de Spile the knowledge and the Means for birth control. There has to be an intrinsic motivation and a certain amount of self Worth to use birth control and or with stand Media and peer pressure to be sexually Active. On a societal level America is the land of great contradictions. We have extremely suggestive Ana sex Ual advertising on television and in print Media. The seductive women and Macho men of the evening soaps make a career of bed hopping. Famous actresses have children out of Wedlock and music videos have been known of promote in papa Don t preach. One study revealed hat on television there arc no fewer than 20,000 references per year 1o sex and 70 percent of those references Are to Intercourse Between unmarried people. Vet contraceptives and specifically condoms Are considered too controversial for Advertis ing. Even aids has not been enough to break that taboo of television. Is in any wonder that America has the highest teen age pregnancy rate of 37 Industrial countries studied by the cution Machor Institute. Nancy a heal in. Man school nurse numbers american High school i m very Happy to Sec someone has finally said something on teen age pregnancy. I m 17 years old. There have been a number of girls in our school this year who arc or were pregnant. Ai least three of hem got abortions but the rest have decided to keep their babies. I wish there was More i could do to make these girls see they Are still very Young. 1 Hope to Post the articles at school. Maybe some of the girls will read them and realize what they Are gelling into. Name withheld Baum older West German As n teacher. 1 am very concerned that the schools were said to be not dealing with this we teach health sex education. It is then up to the military Community to Deal with the facts. Some teen agers Are sexually Active and As Long As they arc not Able logo to the clinic to get birth control pills sponsors must accompany dependents under 17 we will continue to Sec children having and trying to raise children. The military Community must take the responsibility of trying to prevent this tragedy. Do else Calandro wild Flecken West Germany the writer of the articles on teen pregnancies in Dodds seemed to assume that in is acceptable and expected for teens to be sexually Active. This Altitude is also found among educators to some extent and definitely in the Len literature found in our libraries and bookstores. Think this attitude by adults of influence on our teens is largely responsible for promiscuity among teens and Len pregnancies. Could not an attitude change and an expectation of abstinence a raising of standards and morals do More to prevent pregnancies than providing contraceptives the writer slated that teens arc not receiving con and birth control information from their parents therefore the schools should provide them. Hold on arc the schools usurping parental authority most parents teach morals and abstinence that s Why they Don t hand out contraceptives. Schools arc inc authority delegated by the parents to Leach their children. They should no contradict but rather sup port what is taught in the Home. They should not hand out contraceptives. We need to be honest with our teens. Pregnancy is not the Only consequence of sex. Outside of marriage sexual activity causes guilt inhibitions self esteem problems problems in relating to people and questioning of one s self Worth not to mention disease and death. The recently released Lou Harris poll commissioned by planned parenthood taken in late 1936 shows that Only 28 percent of teens have had sexual Intercourse. Teens 88 percent do not want contraceptives made available through the schools. Teens in inc poll said they get most of their information about sex from their parents secondly from friends. And thirdly from school. If adults educators journalists authors of Len novels act like cry Rytmar is doing it then teens will live up to our expectations. They will think 10 be Normal Ulicy should be sexually Active. When in reality Ever year in t doing if. There arc Many teens 72 percent who Are Strong enough to Buck the peer and adult and Media pres sure. Let s get behind them and support hem instead of pushing them the other Way. Let s teach them How to have self control and How to build meaningful relationships thai Are not dependent on sex for get Ting to know each other. Can Titi Wood Vienna Italy As a physician i was very concerned with inc Arti Cle entitled i want other people to know what it s like which dealt with a very important topic teen age pregnancy. The associated Issue of abortion was handled extremely poorly. The manner in which the unfortunate girl s decision to have an abortion appeared to be devoid of any in Jelph counsel ing or mature decision process. A decision to have an abortion at any age. Not just As teen agers should never be described As was t really difficult or pc try usual As it was in the article. I am very sensitive As to the influence around us that May Lead single pregnant teen age girls to have an abortion. I have often noted that when a girl in this position makes this decision without ambivalence she is generally being guided by a very poor decision process and one rounded on Little knowl Edge of the potential future Impact Afan abortion.,. I agree the decision rests totally with the girl but that decision can t be reached easily or without ambivalence. As alluded to in the article the Impact of such a decision can be tremendous in later life for any woman. Or. My David v. I Lumen Raf Fil Rford England i am a Sophomore at Vilsick american High school writing in response to several stories dealing with abortion. Colorado became the first stale in 17, to liberalize its abortion Laws according to inc guide lines drawn up by the american Law Institute. With in a few years California Hawaii Alaska Wisconsin and the District of Colombia also adopted change. Most other Stales remained the same regarding heir abortion standards. Then in l�73. The . Supreme court in the Roe is. Wade Case issued a ruling requiring All states to change. The court justified its decision with the 14ih amendment to the Constitution. People All Over the nation reacted. Some approved of the ruling and were known As the pro Choice group. Others opposed inc decision and were known As the right to life group. Yet in my opinion the whole problem lays on inc Roe is Wade Case. A moral Issue should never have been decided by a Federal court. In should have been left where in belonged in the Stales. Every Situa Tion is different therefore a general decision should never have been reached to include All states. Shannon i., Hoff at Grafin shr West Germany your series of articles about pregnant teen agers prompts several thoughts. 1. The teen age pregnancy problem is nearly 100 percent a problem for the Mother and her family. 2. Teen age mothers often do not finish their school ing. Teen age fathers nearly always do. 3. Teen age mothers must give up their social life sports dates proms Etc. Teen age fathers continue no change. 4. Teen age mothers spend the rest of their lives working to support themselves and their child while teen age fathers Drift away establishing careers mor Ning someone else usually and fathering other Chil Dren i believe there Are some teen age fathers who make an Effort to care for their illegitimate offspring. How Ever until they Are required to share he Burden of illegitimate children equally the problem will continue. Let s involve his parents As Well. Hers certainly have to help carry the Load. These girls never get pregnant without help. None of them should have to like on that responsibility without help. A cartoon summed in up very Well when in said Why is there finally a push to use condoms now when women have been suffering unwanted pregnancies All along men started catching aids that s food for thought. Nancy Hughes Kirch cons West German
