Letters to the Editor
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Teenagers are dumbasses-- I second (or third!) anonymous, who double posted
It's true; it's terribly true. Real teenagers are really stupid. All of us were except for maybe 1% of the population who are actually as precocious as the teenagers on TV and in movies.
I got knocked up at 15, had a daughter at 16, and it was 100% pure stupidity. I had no access to birth control but honestly thought "it can't happen to me."
I bet that is the deal with Ms. Spears. After all, does great intelligence run in her family?
Talk to your kids about what happened to her. At 16, they're thinking about sex constantly whether they're doing it or not. Normally I hate these ridiculous parenting buzzwords, but I have to admit, this seems like a "teachable moment" to me.
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Take my image, please.
Jesus Christ. Was Roe v. Wade for nothing at all? The big hit this summer was "Knocked Up," as if 90 percent of barflies who got pregnant from a pickup wouldn't abort, for God's sake. And someone anybody who's 16 and pregnant has to have the baby.
As a childless person, I don't know nothin' about birthin' no babies, but I do know a lot about television. If you're prancing around a children's television show, you are being paid extremely well to create a wondrous little world for other children to watch. Got that? They're WATCHING you. That means don't get pregnant at 16 or be a big dumbass about it once you do.
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I have to come down on the side of the sanctimonious
Is it so hard to believe that parents don't want their daughters to be having sex at 16 much less pregnant? Whether she used birth control or not, unless she was visited by the angel Gabriel at some point a few months ago she was having sex (with an adult apparently).
So yeah, maybe it is a little harsh, but why is disapproval stomach-turning? Society uses opprobrium to send a message--in this case, being pregnant at 16 isn't a good idea.
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Baby daddy is her boyfriend
Plus, the guy needs to be identified IMMEDIATELY.
Its her boyfriend, Casey Aldridge. His name is all over the news as well, and if anyone is interested, he has *not* broken any laws in either Mississippi or California. Mississippi's aoc is sixteen, and California has a Romeo & Juliet clause that allows a three year gap as long as the younger person is sixteen or older. Statutory rape is not an issue here.
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Fourthing here
Teens do not have full judgement yet about how their actions will affect their future; she did something lots of teens do, I don't know if she used contraceptives or what they were; but she could have had an abortion. Yet she probably has the same difficulties lots of kids do, in that her parents disapprove of abortion and have probably taught her to do so as well. I certainly thought abortion was wrong when I was sixteen. She isn't yet adult enough to foresee that it's the right choice for her in the face of lifelong training. While her body can make a child, it's still growing and the baby is likely to be a premie and have the attendent problems.
Plus, people assume everyone can go on the pill; it is not appropriate for all women: I had terrible mood swings, depression, and loss of libido (not necessarily a bad thing for a teen) when I tried it.
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To Crazy
Sometimes we don't want our little teenage daughters getting pregnant, not for their sake, but for the sake of the grandkids. Even if that Mom doesn't care about money, insurance, consumeristic crap, or education, how hard would it be on the baby to grow up vastly underprivileged, poor, at an educational disadvantage because of the lack of parental help, and constantly in fear of weather or not mom and dad can keep it together and keep the lights on, keep you fed, clothed, and sheltered. Being the kid of very young, poor parents sucks.
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Labels
The disapproval is so "stomach churning" (as DavidC said) in my opinion because the girl in this situation bears the brunt of the hateful criticism. Sure, the boy might be charged with statutory rape, but everyone just views that as a violation of a technical rule. The girl, on the other hand, is labeled a slut, whore, etc. Tracy Clark-Flory was right - there are some issues to be explored here.
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follow-up
(I meant Kevin C - sorry)
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re: Wow
Crazy Bitch,
"But, what if she doesn't want those things? What if she really wants to be a young, stay-at-home mom? Yes, she's 16 and likely too young to really have an idea of the limitless options available to her and how those options change when you have a child, but stick with me. I definitely wouldn't agree with or understand such a decision, but what if that's the case? Why does she need to be strung up in the town square? If we parent our children with forethought and respect, we shouldn't be worried we've created people who will blindly do what strangers do. Use it to open a dialogue with the tweens and teens you know, don't focus on how awful she is because that doesn't do anyone any good."
First of all, a 16 year old shouldn't be making decisions like this without at least talking to their parent. Second, the guy who got her pregnant is 19...HE should have known better than this (hope he gets some jail time). Further, I don't believe Spears is ready to be a mother and most likely doesn't know what all it entails (I personally believe she should put it up for adoption - kids deserve parents, not teenagers who want to grow up with their kids).
I have raised my daughter as well as I can - she knows what she wants - she wants to go to college, and have a good career before getting married and THEN having children.
The problem is, Spears getting pregnant causes other young teens to think that if she can do it and be cool, so can they. Shaming her lets other kids KNOW what she did was not right and shouldn't be emmulated.
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Do they have to send out a flare?
There is something seriously amiss in the Spears family for both of these girls to have gone down hill like this. They are sending a message loud and clear, "HELP ME, MY LIFE IS FUCKED UP!"
Both those girls are pretty, maybe not stellar in the Hollywood sense, but if you knew them you would think they were pretty. I just think it's so obvious that they both must feel so unloved to be getting pregnant at all the wrong times by all the wrong guys.