Bristol, the Preggo Teen

I have been incensed by how easily Bristol Palin's teen pregnancy has been poopoo-ed by the media. Palin's comment that,"Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned," made me want to scream. Does nobody out there know the realities of teenage pregnancy? Popping a baby out of your vagina does not = instant maturity!

I heard the reports of those rallying around her, saying that they know how Sarah Palin feels and that they, too, have had knocked up teenage daughters. I have read of the pro-life groups that are celebrating Palin's ability to put her money where her mouth is in terms of her conservative/religious stance on abortion. But come on...Does nobody see the bigger issue here? Teenagers are having sex! Not only are they having sex, but they're having UNPROTECTED sex! How can the Republican Party rally around Bristol and then argue that sex education does not need to happen in schools? That, "If you hand out condoms, they'll have sex."

Idiots...they're having sex anyways.

After 10 years of teaching high school, as one whose younger sister had two kids before she was 18, and as the product of a teenage pregnancy that ended in adoption, I feel I have an inch of a platform to stand on here.

A large percentage of teens are sexually active. Period. Some are smarter about it than others, but many embark on this intimacy with little to no true knowledge of their bodies, pregnancy, STDs, HIV, and so forth. The lack of information that I have encountered as a teacher astounds me routinely. A co-worker of mine had a student ask her if girls had hearts in their vaginas because when she made out with her boyfriend she could feel hers beating. A had a random student ask me in the hallway, "Miss, how many holes do we have?" After I figured out what she was asking, I replied that women had three holes--the urethra, the vagina, and the anus. She said, "No, my mom told me we had only two holes down there." "Ummmm....sweetie....your mom was wrong."

I am not advocating or encouraging teenage promiscuity here. I say repeatedly in my classes that I don't think that high school students should be having sex because they are not mature enough to deal with the real life consequences of pregnancy, disease, and illness. But I do think that there needs to be real place and curriculum for sex education in our schools. If the schools don't discuss it, then the government ends up paying for it later in welfare, in health care, in Head Start. And you know Republicans don't want that.

And I can't help but bring up the race card here. If Obama's daughters were older, and one were pregnant, I can't imagine the stereotypes that would arise. Why is it so acceptable for Bristol--who is white and wealthy--to be 17 years old and pregnant, but my if my poor, Mexican or Black student were she would be shunned? Can you only be a pregnant teen if you have rich parents to raise your baby?

WTF?