Why do small towns seem to be full of teenaged moms?

[HEyHEY]

We screwed just as much in the city. Is it lack of birth control due to religion or what?

[neverborn]

1. I live in the Teen Pregnancy Capital of the Country!

Or so I'm told... we did hold that title once.

Peoria, IL yo!

[HEyHEY]

3. Okay, so how-come it happens? I don't get it

[C_eh_N_eh_D_eh]

5. Well, now we know what *does* play in Peoria...

[24HRrnr]

2. What small town are you talking about?

The one I live in has a much lower rate of adolescent pregnancy than most cities.

[HEyHEY]

4. A little on in Canada

[boobooday]

6. It is harder to get

I grew up in a small town, and we had to go at least thirty miles to a Planned Parenthood Clinic.

Basically, just less information/education of all sorts. The other thing is, for a lot of these kids, THIS IS THE FUTURE. This is just what you do. I got married at 18, had a baby by 20. I was smart/lucky enough not to get pregnant before I got married, but it wouldn't have changed the overall trajectory of my life. I did that myself by moving far away from that small town and getting my ass kicked in the city.

The major problem with teenage pregnancy isn't the teenagers so much. Birth control and education would help a lot, but what always bugs me about the anti-abortion crowd is that they don't think society has any obligation to create a community that values mothers and fathers and children, and supports their efforts.

http://www.wgoeshome.com

[bloom]

7. my guess

is that some girls in small town are less likely to see a future for themselves outside of the town... having kids would be as good of a future as anything else around...

[LiberalFighter]

8. It may appear that way because the town is small

Everyone knows everyone! Which means that all pregnancies are known by the town.

In the big city you only know about the pregnancies within your circle.

[SarahB]

Not to start anything, but...

If my daughter was born 3 days earlier, I would have been a teen mom. Not all birth control is 100% effective and twice I've still gotten pregnant despite birth control. I am a fertile as fertile can be and that's just me. :7 That being said, not every young mom is stupid or aimless. When I got pregnant at 19, my boyfriend was much older (28) and more than wanting to marry me, so I went with it. In hindsite 13 years later, it wasn't enough to base a lifetime commitment, I've spent many years putting his needs over my own, and we've been having many problems in the past few years because I haven't been happy (I won't go into his contributions to that).

However, for me personally, though I wholeheartedly support choice, abortion would be very, very difficult except in the most dire of circumstances and my situation was not dire. It's just hard sometimes because I find myself frequently put in a box or having to defend myself because of the choice I made- like I made it because I was stupid or had no other options. The road I took was harder, but I've done an excellent job in almost every aspect of my life or goal I pursue and will continue to do so.

It is, I admit, extremely hard to find my nitch in this world as someone who was a young mom, loves being a mom, and is yet a person of above average cognitive abilities and very self-driven at the same time. I hope you don't think this is an attack on you, but please realize this is a stereotype and while it may apply to many young moms, don't be quick to judge people on this basis alone.

[ant]

9. no comment on birth control, but...

I suspect the guess that birth control is harder to come by in rural areas has something to do with it, but remember that while you may see fewer teenage moms in a town it doesn't mean they actually have fewer pregnancies.

http://www.agi-usa.org/pubs/journals/2911597.html

Distinct regional patterns are evident in teenage reproductive behavior. Pregnancy rates and birthrates are generally higher in the South and West than in the Northeast and Midwest. Abortion rates are highest in three Pacific states (California, Hawaii and Washington), Nevada, a contiguous group of states in the East (New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland) and Florida. Highly urban states tend to have higher abortion rates than rural states.

[SheilaT]

13. Those are also the places

with the actual abortion facilities. I believe there are several states with no where to go for an abortion. I hope no one actually thinks that no unplanned pregnancies in those places ever end in abortion.

Think Ireland. Officially there's no abortion. In reality, the women go to England.

[Bonhomme Richard]

10. Doesn't it also mean they are full of 20 somethings divorcees

That isn't so bad.

[Lizz612]

11. Lack of PPs?

Harder to get to a Planned Parenthood maybe?

[DS1]

12. Nothing else to do but smoke.drink.fuck

:shrug:

[ender]

15. thats about it...

aint nuthin better to do, than fuck.

my hometown of shamokin, PA is like a twilight zone episode - all you see is 70+ year olds, and 13 year old with strollers.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

14. I was surprised at the number of teenage mothers

in the small town in Oregon where I lived for seven years.

Before I moved there, I would have assumed that small town residents were socially conservative and therefore would still adhere to the older custom of sending unmarried teenage mothers away to "visit relatives."

My introduction to the actual situation came when one of the instructors at my health club, a woman who was less than forty, started happily announcing that she was about to become a grandmother in a few days. Her very pregnant daughter stopped by, looking waaaay too young to have a baby, no more than 15. Everyone seemed to think it was wonderful.

That's when I started noticing all the very young mothers, most of them without husbands.

In the summer of 1989, I was in a community theater production with two teenage sisters. By the next summer, the older sister had a baby, and the second sister followed along the the next year.

The town was very Republican, except for the college faculty and a few New Age types living in the woods.

I never did figure out all the whys and wherefores.

[ConcernedCanuk]

16. It's called "Cash for life"

.
.
.

and a way to get out of your parents house when you don't want to, or are unable to work,

I've lived in a few small towns in northern Ontario that were like this, and when the girls looked around and "all" the job "opportunities" available . .

Seemed like a good idea!

They can be "on their own" at or before the age of 17 with their own place and income . . .

Some are from 2nd and 3rd generation "welfare" families, and it's the kind of life they've grown up in.

If one thinks about without being judgmental, a girl's choice is to spend years in school or college, pick a guy that MAYBE will stay with her an support her, or "do" the "welfare" thing . .

In more young people than any "official" study would care to admit, a lot of girls choose this lifestyle on purpose, even to the point that they will pretend that they do not know who the father is to maintain their independence.

It may rub some the wrong way, but that's the truth.