Teenage Pregnancy
Many American families display forms of dysfunctionality. In one family the father may be a workaholic and the mother an alcoholic. In another, the father maybe an alcoholic and the mother an enabling codependent who never touches a drop. Regardless of the specific affliction, children being raised within dysfunctional families are deprived of what is needed to become happy, healthy, and well-adjusted adults. One of the most pervasive effects of this deprivation is teenage pregnancy. In the case of a family where one parent, the father, is an alcoholic, the affected parent turns to alcohol as a remedy for some personal shortcoming. This parent has little to offer a young girl seeking the approval and admiration of her father. More often than not, the child is viewed as a nuisance by the parent, and the resultant irritation is hard to disguise. The child learns to either accept the irritation as the price for that parents affection, or rejects the cost and seeks the attention of the other parent. The other parent, if healthy, is carrying
At best she has her hands full; at worst she is as mentally incapacitated as the father. It is easy to see that the outcome desired by a pregnant teenager take several forms, but the underlying motivation is to receive the love and admiration the parents would not, or could not provide. As seen on television, a baby can be as cute as a stuffed animal and as loyal to its mother as a Labrador retriever. Later, in the parking lot, it occurred to me that I had handled the stomach of a complete stranger solely because she was pregnant! t. The childbirth may also be perceived by the adolescent as a passage into adulthood. Many couples try for years to produce children without success. Some pregnancies require monumental efforts such artificial insemination or invitro-fertilization. In the worst cases couples are forced to adopt. Consequently, childbirth could be construed as an empowering experience by the adolescent, and that can be significant in the life of a child who has had little power. Unbeknownst to her, the young men, dealing with the onslaught of pubescent hormones, are trying to fulfill a completely different set of needs. Also the pregnancy itself can serve as a vehicle to receive the attention that was lacking in her family of origin. When I asked how long she had been pregnant, she replied six months and went on to state that her baby kicks almost continually. What is not seen is that the baby is a life-long responsibility--one that a teenage mother has not expected and is completely unprepared to accept. Consequently the likelihood is high that the next generation will not receive what it needs to become happy and healthy individuals. Similar to craving carrots when the body needs vitamin A, the young woman's mind will seek the means to fulfill the void left by the dysfunctional parent! When the deprived young woman reaches puberty, she finds a seemingly endless well of attention, often mistaken as affection, in the young boys she has grown up with.
Common topics in this essay:
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teenage pregnancy,
baby kick,
happy healthy,
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