BRENDA’S GOT A BABY
Essay #1 (500 words) Should teens have babies? Do you think teens are mature enough to raise a child? What is the best environment for a child? Are two parents better than one? Are mature parents better than teens? What impact does environment have on a child? Include evidence from your readings to support your opinions.
Essay #2 (200 words) Does teaching abstinence work? Is it better to educate teenagers on how to have sex safely or teach them not to have sex at all? What are the pros and cons for each approach?
Essay #3 (200 words) What effect does sexual content on television have upon teens? Does it cause teens to engage in more sex? Does it have some effect or no effect? If it does have an effect, what kind of effect does it have?
CONTENT
“The Children of Teen Parents” FSU Center for Prevention & Early Intervention Policy “Study Casts Doubt on Abstinence-Only Programs” The Washington Post
“Brenda’s Got a Baby.” Tupac
“Juno Comes to Life” NPR
“How my mother’s politics tore us apart.” Tessa Cunningham.
JUNO The Film
The Children of Teen Parents
FACT SHEET
FSU Center for
Prevention & Early
Intervention Policy
Poverty, inadequate social support, mothers’ lack of education, mothers’
cognitive immaturity, and greater maternal stress have all been suggested as
possible factors contributing to poor social and educational outcomes for the
children of teen mothers. *
REFERENCES RESEARCH
Moore, K.A., Morrison, D.R., &
Greene, A.D. (1997). Effects on the
children born to adolescent mothers. In
R. Maynard (Ed.), Kids having kids
(pp.145-180). Washington, DC: The
Urban Institute Press.
The children of adolescents are more likely to be born prematurely and 50%
more likely to be low-birth weight babies (less than five and a half pounds)
when compared to the children of mothers whose age was 20 or 21 when
they had their first child.
Brooks-Gunn, J., & Furstenberg, F.F.
(1986). The children of adolescent
mothers: Physical, academic and
psychological outcomes.
Developmental Review 6, 224-251.
Teenagers often receive less adequate prenatal care – and receive it later –
when special programs are not provided for them. When early, frequent, and
quality obstetrical care is available, no increased risk is found in terms of the
health of infants born to teenage mothers. The exception may be very young
mothers, under 15 years of age.
Whitman, T.L., Borkowski, J.G.,
Schellenbach, C.J., & Nath, P.S. (1997).
Predicting and understanding
developmental delay of children of
adolescent mothers: A multidimensional
approach. American Journal of Mental
Deficiency, 92(1), 40-56.
Although developmental delay is not an inevitable consequence for infants
of adolescent mothers, data suggests that this special class of children, when
compared to children born to adult mothers, is at greater risk for a variety of
developmental problems.
Wolfe, B., & Peroze, M. (1997). Teen
children’s health care and health use. In
R. Maynard (Ed.), Kids having kids
(pp.181-204). Washington, DC: The
Urban Institute Press.
As they grow, the children of adolescent mothers tend to suffer poorer health
than do the children of women who were age 20 or 21 when their first child
was born. According to parents’ reports of their children’s health status,
60% of children born to non-teen mothers were rated in “excellent” health,
compared to 38% for children born to the youngest adolescent mothers.
George, R. M., & Lee, B.J. (1997).
Abuse and neglect of the children. In R.
Maynard (Ed.), Kids having kids (pp.
205-230). Washington, DC: The Urban
Institute Press.
The children born to the youngest teen mothers are at greater risk of being an
“indicated case” of child abuse or neglect (and being placed in foster care)
than are those born to older mothers. Children born to mothers age 15 and
younger are two times more likely to become an indicated case of child
abuse/neglect in the first five years of their lives than are the children born to
mothers ages 20-21.
Flanagan, P., Coll, C., Andreozzi, L., &
Riggs, S. (1995). Predicting
maltreatment of children of teen
mothers. Pediatrics & Adolescent
Medicine, 149, 451-455.
One study found that the living situation of the teen mother was the single
most predictive variable in terms of maltreatment. Adolescent mothers
living with a related adult were much less likely to abuse or neglect their
children than were those living apart from related adults.
The Children of Teen Parents Page 2
REFERENCES RESEARCH
Zahn-Waxler C., Kochanska, G.
Krupnik, J., & McKnew, D. (1990).
Patterns of guilt in children of depressed
and well mothers. Developmental
Psychology, 26, 51-59.
The children of adolescent mothers are at higher risk for problems in affect
regulation, including both flattened affect and aggressive behavior.
Moore, K.A., Morrison, D.R., & Greene,
A.D. (1997). Effects on the children
born to adolescent mothers. In R.
Maynard (Ed.), Kids having kids
(pp.145-180). Washington, DC: The
Urban Institute Press.
The negative effects on the cognitive development of children born to
adolescent mothers are evident. A study of children ages four to 14 showed
that those born to the youngest teen mothers performed more poorly on tests
of cognitive ability, were more likely to be retained a grade, and were less
likely to be perceived by their teachers as performing favorably by the time
they reached high school.
Haveman, R, Wolfe, B., & Peterson, E.
(1997). Children of early child bearers
as young adults. In R. Maynard (Ed.),
Kids having kids (pp.257-284).
Washington, DC.: The Urban Institute
Press.
Children of adolescent mothers are more likely to drop out of high school
when compared to the children of mothers age 20-21. Only 77% of children
born to adolescent mothers complete high school by early adulthood
compared to 89% of the comparison group.
Grogger, J. (1997). Incarceration-related
costs of early child bearing. In R.
Maynard (Ed.), Kids having kids (pp.
232-255). Washington, DC: The Urban
Institute Press.
One researcher looked at the incarceration rates of the sons of young
mothers. His findings revealed that 10.3% of those born to mothers age 17
and younger were incarcerated, compared to 3.8% of the sons born to older
mothers. That is, the sons of young teen mothers are nearly three times more
likely to be incarcerated than those born to adult mothers.
Furstenberg, F.F., Levine, J.A., Brooks-
Gunn, J. (1990). The children of teenage
mothers: Patterns of early child bearing
in two generations. Family Planning
Perspectives, 22(2), 54-61.
When compared to women born to mothers aged 20-21, the daughters of
adolescent mothers are significantly more likely to give birth themselves
before the age of 18. An analysis of the National Longitudinal Survey of
Youth data demonstrated that early childbearing is much more common
among the daughters of adolescent mothers. In addition, daughters of
adolescent mothers are more susceptible than their mothers to economic
dependence and less likely to escape poverty.
Haveman, R., Wolfe, B., & Peterson, E.
(1997). Children of early child bearers
as young adults. In R. Maynard (Ed.),
Kids having kids (pp.257-284).
Washington, DC: The Urban Institute
Press.
Children born to teen mothers often do not have an even start in life. They
are more likely to grow up in a poor and mother-only family, to live in a
poor or underclass neighborhood, and to experience high risks to both their
health status and potential school achievement.
*Flanagan, P. Adolescent pregnancy and childbearing: Epidemiology and psychosocial characteristics. Unpublished manuscript,
Brown University, Providence, RI.
Teen Parent Child Care Quality Improvement Project – www.cpeip.fsu.edu
04/15/05 © 2005 Florida State University Center for Prevention & Early Intervention Policy
Brenda’s Got a Baby
By Tupac
Brenda's got a Baby
Brenda's got a Baby
I hear Brenda's got a baby
But Brenda's barely got a brain
A damn shame
The girl can hardly spell her name
(That's not her problem, that's up ta Brenda's family)
Well let me show ya how it affects tha whole community
Now Brenda really never knew her moms and her dad was a
junky
Went in debt to his arms, it's sad
Cause I bet Brenda doesn't even know
Just cause your in tha ghetto doesn't mean ya can't grow
But oh, that's a thought, my own revelation
Do whatever it takes ta resist the temptation
Brenda got herself a boyfriend
Her boyfriend was a cousin, now lets watch tha joy end
She tried to hide her pregnancy, from her family
Who really didn't care to see, or give a damn if she
Went out and had a church of kids
As long as when tha check came they got first dibs
Now Brendas belly is gettin bigger
But no one seems ta notice any change in her figure
She's 12 years old and she's having a baby
In love with tha molester, whos sexin' her crazy
And yet she thinks that he'll be with her forever
And dreams of a world with tha two of them together,
whatever
He left her and she had tha baby solo, she had it on tha
bathroom floor
And didn't know so, she didn't know, what ta throw away and
what ta keep
She wrapped tha baby up and threw him in tha trash heep
I guess she thought she'd get away
Wouldn't hear tha cries
She didn't realize
How much tha little baby had her eyes
Now tha babys in tha trash heep ballin'
Momma can't help him, but it hurts ta hear him callin'
Brenda wants ta run away
Momma say, you makin' me lose pay, tha social workers here
everyday
Now Brenda's gotta make her own way
Can't go to her family, they won't let her stay
No money no babysitter, she couldn't keep a job
She tried ta sell crack, but ended up getting robbed
So now what's next, there ain't nothin left ta sell
So she sees sex as a way of leavin hell
It's payin tha rent, so she really can't complain
Prostitute found slain, and Brenda's her name, she's got a baby
Baaaaaaaaby
(don't you know she's got a baby)
(don't you know she's got a baby)
(don't you know she's got a baby)
(don't you know she's got a baby)
In Cluster of Teen Pregnancies, 'Juno' Comes to Life
Ready to blame Hollywood?
The hit film Juno portrayed teen pregnancy from several angles, including the comical. Fox Searchlight Pictures
The Bryant Park Project, June 26, 2008 · After 17 students in one Massachusetts school turned up pregnant this year, Time magazine called it the "Juno Effect." The term referenced the hit comedy Juno, about a high school girl who's unexpectedly expecting. By depicting the sunny, even redemptive side of Juno's plight, the magazine argued, Hollywood had perhaps made motherhood attractive for teens.
It's the kind of conclusion that sometimes draws criticism for being hasty. But Jane Brown, a journalism professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, says the Juno effect is real.
Brown runs the Teen Media Project, which recently completed a study into the images seen by girls between the ages of 12 and 14. The research showed that kids who had "heavier sexual media diets" became more than twice as likely to become sexually active by the age of 16.
Part of that stems from teens' natural curiousity about sex. Kids who are more interested in it seek information from a variety of sources, Brown says, including movies like Juno. "In the context of parents still not comfortable talking with their children about sex, with schools talking only about abstinence until marriage and with religion saying it's still a sin, the media have become very powerful sex educators," she argues.
Brown says teen pregnancy rates had been falling, but she worries that the numbers are again on the rise. She says the generation of girls raised in abstinence-only education programs may not know as much about contraception as kids used to know. Meanwhile, images of unwed mothers have gone mainstream.
"This is unusual and rare that we would have movies like Juno or Knocked Up, or that we would now be glamorizing celebrities who are pregnant and we don't even know who the fathers are. ... For [girls], looking to see who's got a baby bump is really compelling somehow," Brown says.
How my mother's politics tore us apart / / /Written by Tessa Cunningham
She's revered as a trail-blazing feminist and author Alice Walker touched the lives of a generation of women. A champion of women's rights, she has always argued that motherhood is a form of servitude. But one woman didn't buy in to Alice's beliefs - her daughter, Rebecca, 38. Here the writer describes what it was like to grow up as the daughter of a cultural icon, and why she feels so blessed to be the sort of woman 64-year-old Alice despises - a mother.
{This is an article that fits well with StandUpGirl's collection of stories. It was published online by the Daily Mail of London, England. - Editor}
The other day I was vacuuming when my son came bounding into the room. 'Mummy, Mummy, let me help,' he cried. His little hands were grabbing me around the knees and his huge brown eyes were looking up at me. I was overwhelmed by a huge surge of happiness.
I love the way his head nestles in the crook of my neck. I love the way his face falls into a mask of eager concentration when I help him learn the alphabet. But most of all, I simply love hearing his little voice calling: 'Mummy, Mummy.'
It reminds me of just how blessed I am. The truth is that I very nearly missed out on becoming a mother - thanks to being brought up by a rabid feminist who thought motherhood was about the worst thing that could happen to a woman.