Baby Doll

At seventeen, all I did was pray. Pray that I pass my 12th standard board exam. Between the revision tests ,tuitions and study groups, life was a mass of maths and tea. But today I read this story and shocked was an understatement.

These 17 year old girls at Gloucester High have made a pact to get pregnant ,so they can raise children together. The worst part is girls have just tried every male available to get there and one of the dads is a homeless man!!!. They have had their share of sex education, know about the problems of teenage pregnancy yet made this lovely little pact. There seems a huge blame settling on the school and parents. The school because they tried to dole out the contraceptives, with parental consent and make the school friendly for teen mothers. The parents because these teenagers are supposedly not loved enough ,so they need unconditional love provided by a child.
I have to say that even though I’m sure that these played a part in the whole scheme of things, the blame squarely rests on these teenagers and the media.

It’s now glamorous to be pregnant. Every channel on TV, covers pregnancies from Angelina Jolie to Jamie lynn Spears.They all talk about their baby showers and fancy maternity gowns, but none of them tell us about the truckload of nannies and help that these famous people employ to get them through the sleepless nights and midnight food runs. Even in soaps or serials nowadays on TV, its perfectly ok to be a young mother. They kind of forget to mention that its an average of $1000 a year to raise a child. Currently its “In” to be pregnant. If the celebrities talks about the problems with having a child, maybe these teenagers will think twice before making a pact.

I think the teenagers are responsible to a large extent for their current situation. Today the kids are intelligent and worldly wise. When they can reach for the computer to download the latest songs, I am sure, they can check out the difficulties associated with a teenage pregnancy. When they can complain about getting limited minutes for $50 of charge on cell phone bill, I’m sure they can figure out how much baby monitors and car seats costs. I am sure these teenagers are preparing for their baby shower and thinking of all things they can get right now. But what about after that? Are they so sure that their parents, who it seems are already suffering from the recession in the fishing industry will support them?
These girls think of a child as an usable commodity.I am not saying that the child is just wanted for its cuteness, but to bring another human life into this world requires experience and responsibility. Clearly these teenagers are deficient in both .

I know the stigma attached to an unwed mother in the Indian culture, is horrific with the way unwed women are treated in current society . But on the same vein, it’s the same stigma which ensures that young girls think twice before venturing into an unknown territory. The moral values and culture play a huge part in every decision, but it in the end I think it comes down to the individual thinking. Nowadays, I feel that mass thinking is the code of the day, the time when your parents said be unique is long past. My dad used to keep saying “Yellarum kennarula kudicha , neeyum kudipiya (If everyone jumps into the well, will you do it too? ) “?

I feel these girls are taking tickets to jump into that well. We can try to keep them away from the edge but the final step in , is that of the girl. And if she can think for herself , I'm sure she wouldn’t be one who’s crying out for help in the end.

For the smile

A woman went to the doctor's office. She was seen by one of the new doctors, but after about four minutes in the examination room, she burst out, screaming as she ran down the hall. An older doctor stopped and asked her what the problem was, and she explained. He had her sit down and relax in another room.
The older doctor marched back to the first and demanded, "What's the matter with you? Mrs. Terry is 63 years old, she has four grown children and seven grandchildren, and you told her she was PREGNANT?"
The new doctor smiled smugly as he continued to write on his clipboard."Cured her hiccups though, didn't it?"

Keep Smiling ppl

Anu