CR#8 What we Don’t Know About Young Moms
What?
In working with young moms Marin, we were told about the things that young mothers commonly face. Not only are they trying to juggle transitioning out of teen years into adulthood, but they are parents as well. Some of them come to the group as young as 14 and others come in that are in their early twenties. At this stage in life they’re just getting to know themselves and what direction they may want to go in life while also discovering what they need to do to support themselves and their children.
The first question I asked was what prompted her to start the group and she told me that she worked in a school and out of a class of maybe 100 people, 12 young women ended up getting pregnant in one school year. She felt that there was really a need to educate these women and help them to explore all of their options. For many of them, once they tell their families they’re pregnant the option is no longer theirs. They also do not have support from their families and they end up struggling to get on their feet. In the interview, I asked the coordinator of the group what she thought their main challenges were as young mothers. In response she listed societal structures and education as the things that stand in their way. She shared that many of them do not have a high education level so they struggle to be able to advance themselves. Once they have their kids, there is nobody to care for them and they end up dropping out of school at a young age. She also said that the moms tend to come from low income families or areas. Having a low in come and low education level prohibits them from opportunities that others have. I asked if there was one thing that she could change structurally, what would it be. She told me that there should be child care for those that have kids so they can stay in school, because education is the first things that gets taken away from them.
I asked her to describe some things that are undervalued when it comes to young mothers and what people should know. She told me that people make a lot of assumptions about young mothers. “They’re a lot stronger and capable than people think they are. They may never fulfill the societal norm but they find their way to success,” she says. There are a lot of assumptions people make about young mothers, some being that they lose their lives, are not good parents, and can never have fun again. She thinks people should know that having a kid doesn’t ruin your life, it just changes the way that you live it. Having a kid gives life a different fulfillment sometimes. She admitted that not all young mothers are great mothers, but at least they try. Even the ones that haven’t quite figured out how to be their best make their way there in their own time. Finally, I asked what she hopes that the mothers leave with when they leave the group. She wants them to know that there are people out there that genuinely want to help them, and taking that help isn’t a bad thing or something that makes them weak. There are going to be things that they just can’t do alone and as young mothers, they may need help sometimes, and taking that help is okay. Her main goal is to teach them how to use the things around them to make he best of their situations.
So What?
The national campaign to prevent teen pregnancy reports that two out of every one hundred teens get pregnant every year, and the rates are event higher among those living in poverty, foster care, or those facing racial discrimination. They also cite that about one of three teen mothers drop out of school due to their early pregnancy. According to them, only about 40 percent of teen mothers finish high school, and only two percent finish college (Power to Decide, 2018). To relate their education level to further success, we can reflect on how education level effects employment and income level. The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows in a graph from a 2015 study how education level and employment are directly linked. The higher the education level goes, the less people who are unemployed (Vilorio, 2016). In areas where teen pregnancy is common, there is a suggestion for there to be a daycare while the mothers are at school. This eases the overall stress of either trying to pay for day care or having to drop out of school because there is none. The public school review website states that a daycare on campus is beneficial because parents can bring their kids, completely the school day, and leave with their kids at the end of the day while still being able to get their education (Chen, 2018). This also challenges schools to try and improve their sex education to prevent teen pregnancy. In a 2016 article, the decrease in teen pregnancy rate is explained. They report higher usage of effective forms of contraception like emergency contraceptives, IUD’s, and implants (Patten & Livingston, 2016).
Now What?
The coordinator has not only started this group from nothing, but she has managed to keep it going for almost 20 years. She has the advantage of working in a school so she gets to reach and educate young population. Her efforts have moved from the school she worked at to out in the community. The mothers have been able to rely on her like family when their own family and friends couldn’t be there for them. With her help, they’ve been able to make their way to success and break away from the group. One of the big things she does is tell them what other people didn’t or wouldn’t tell them about their reproductive health and safety, resources, and life in general. When understanding young mothers and their circumstances, its helpful to look at the social ecological model as well as the ABCD model. The socioecological model looks at factors on an individual, interpersonal, community, and societal level, and sees how each of those factors contribute to a problem or condition. The ABCD model uses the assets of the community to help strengthen and build them up from the inside out.
Sources
Eileen Patten & Gretchen Livingston, 2016. Why is the teen birth rate falling? Retrieved from: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/04/29/why-is-the-teen-birth-rate-falling/
Power to Decide, 2018. Teen Pregnancy. Retrieved from: https://powertodecide.org/what-we-do/information/why-it-matters
Grace Chen, 2018. Should Public Schools Provide Teenage Parents with Daycare? Retrieved from: https://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/should-public-schools-provide-teenage-parents-with-daycare
Dennis Vilorio, 2015. Education Matters. Retrieved from: https://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2016/data-on-display/education-matters.htm
