Teenage Pregnancy – A Parental Perspective On How Best To Help Your Teenager In Need And Also How Parents Can Come To Terms With Their Own Painful And Confusing Parental Emotions
Teenage Pregnancy – A Parental Perspective Teenage Pregnancy is an event that rocks Parents, Teenagers and the family unit to its very core. It is one of those life events that causes everyone to question themselves, their past actions and influences with and upon each other, and always the internal questioning of ‘what went wrong’ and ‘what could or should I have done differently’? These are natural Parental reactions and are only the tip of the emotional iceberg. Some Parents could see this event coming a mile away. For some Parents this is going to come from out of nowhere to shake their parental and family world like few other events could possibly do. It is a terrible shock to all Parents with children who are involved in a Teenage Pregnancy. Teenage Behavior is not very predictable, and some Teen Issues arise despite the best efforts and active communication of the very best of Teenage Parenting. Share Your Teenage Pregnancy Story YOUR story WILL make a difference. As a foundational cornerstone to this discussion, we must understand that Teenage Pregnancy affects BOTH the girls AND the boys in this equation, and the devastation felt by BOTH sets of Parents is real and surprisingly difficult to accept. The boys’ point of view and emotional turmoil is often overlooked in these Teen Help discussions, but it takes two parties to create a pregnancy and both parties must be represented and understood. It is interesting to note that an event that within marriage, one planned for and hoped for which arrives with such joy and happiness to those who want to be pregnant and start a family, is the same event that brings such heartbreak and remorse to both Parents and participants when it occurs as an unplanned and unwanted Adolescent Pregnancy. There is truly a time and a place for everything, and the quicker and more fully we as Parents acknowledge this simple but powerful fact the quicker we can teach our children how to use that knowledge to their benefit and safety.
Small acts lead into larger acts, just as small streams lead into larger rivers, and Adolescent Pregnancy is the natural result of a series of events that should have probably been better thought out and then probably have been done differently. Our children learn in school the simple scientific rule that for every action there is a reaction, and the cause and effect surrounding Teenage Sexuality and how that directly relates to Teenage Pregnancy is no exception to the rule. So the best and most effective time to address the issue of Adolescent Pregnancy with your children is as early as possible in your Parent-Child relationship. At least by the time your child hits Puberty you can merge a conversation about the life changes occurring at Puberty with why their body is changing, what that means to them and their ability to create life, and how this power and blessing needs to be saved and guarded for the proper person, time and place for all the reasons you will give them from your heart and from your love. If you can clearly communicate with your children while your children are Preteens your thoughts, morals and expectations regarding sexuality and its proper time and place and purpose, then many Teenage Pregnancy discussions and events could be avoided entirely. The sooner you can teach your children your moral values and beliefs regarding life, love, sex and anything and everything else you believe strongly in and hold dear to how you define a positive, safe and happy life and home, the better your children will hear the message and live their lives according to its teachings. It is never too early to share your Family Rules and Expectations with your children, making it a well-known and accepted part of your family life and culture. By the time an Adolescent Pregnancy has occurred, the time for these conversations is over and a new set of topics need to be discussed. Parents need to take their shock and grief and disappointment and all their other emotions and circle the wagons as it were around their Teenagers who are feeling all of these emotions PLUS a large dose of guilt, fear, panic and uncertainty regarding their futures. Parents need to support and love and communicate with their Teenagers now more than ever before. At this junction the Teenage Behavior that led to the Teenage Pregnancy cannot be changed, but the Teen Issues that follow will require Parents to get beyond their initial whirlwind of emotions for the sake of their Teenager who needs a loving, empathetic and clear-thinking Parent now more than ever. Both Teenagers in this equation are hurting, confused and afraid and are in need of the best Parenting advice they can get. That is what you as the Parent are going to provide. You have no choice and the time is now!
Teenagers who are involved in a Teenage Pregnancy have little to no idea what they are REALLY in for. If Teenage girls could only see in their mind’s eye what they will shortly look like and feel like being pregnant, they may well wish they could take it all back and choose a different course of action. Unfortunately, as the saying goes, hindsight is 20/20. Now is NOT the time for ‘I told you so’ or other judgmental repercussions. Blame is not going to help make things better here, and the truth is the blame surrounding Teenage Pregnancy, if let loose, is large enough to cover both families involved and beyond. This type of after-the-fact blame is a fire that never dies and can do no good, so don’t even make the smallest of sparks and start it going. But there are constructive things Parents can and should do in such a situation as this. Talk with your Teenager about what they can learn from this experience. Really talk, then really listen. Your Teenager should be humble enough at this time to really open up and tell you how they feel, what they can learn from what just happened, how you can help them and on and on. Ask them what they would do differently if they had to do it over again? Help them to want to do it differently from now on and help them to see that they will have opportunities to do it over again, and they MUST learn from this event so that they DO things differently, better, more responsibly, from here on out. Parents need to also ask themselves what they can learn from this Teenage Pregnancy event? What would you as a Parent do differently to help your child to want to make better choices if you had to do it as a Parent all over again? Do you have young children in the home that can and should benefit from what you have learned here? This is a painful lesson for all involved, but if we can learn the painful but important lessons we need to learn to make us better people because of it, then it will not have been a wasted lesson in the end. The topic of Teenage Pregnancy is too important to cover in one single page, so please read these additional pages on the subject: • Teenage Pregnancy – Prevention What Parents can do to help prevent an unplanned pregnancy in the lives of the Teenagers they love. Explore the various options that are available to Parents and Teenagers alike once an unplanned Adolescent Pregnancy has occurred. • Teenage Pregnancy – Teenage Mothers Learn how Parents can support, guide and direct their Teenage sons and daughters who are involved in a Teenage Pregnancy where the Teenage Mother has decided to have and keep the baby.
There is a lot more parenting wisdom to share. Here is another Teenage Pregnancy thought: Be the Parent who loves, helps and supports their Teenager who made a wrong step, or a group of wrong steps, and who needs your Parenting patience and wisdom now more than ever before at any time, for any reason, over and over again. Teenage Pregnancy Is The Consequence Of Taking Life Steps Out Of Order And Parents Have A Duty And Obligation To Teach Their Children, Including Their Teenagers, The Importance Regarding Responsibility, Sexuality And How These Issues Can Affect Not Only Their Own Futures But The Trajectory And Happiness Of Their Family As A Whole.
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