Kids having kids & unproteced sex

Let's have relationship then sex education.

...instead of the other way around.

And let's make sure that our kids possess a much better future for themselves than becoming a parent before they are ready for a lifelong commitment.

I didn’t read the OP as condemning young women who had children very young in life; I read it more that the OP was querying whether society had let them down in some way. I agree that, statistically, the birth rate for young women has fallen year on year since 2010. My question would be whether teenage pregnancy can be reduced further by educating young men about their responsibilities more. Perhaps someone here, who works in this field, could give more of an insight than I have?

Are you saying she wasn't condemning them for their behaviour?
I saw no sign of her trying to educate any of them in her OP, just being critical.

She can't educate all of them on her own, dj, and she has the right to worry about them as well as trying to safeguard them. Don't be so ** censorious of someone with concerns.

As a youth worker, norose, are you not someone who is supposed to be educating these young women, not condemning them?

I think it's not so much the pregnancies or the having sex but perhaps the illusion of it due to the sad ( in my opinion ) of the sexualisation of young girls. These days clothes are quite provocative and they are shown how to pout and put photos on social internet sites and the like. Sadly, lots of children are allowed to grow up too fast.

This is an interesting discussion. I agree, that unplanned pregnancies are decreasing (supported by the stats) but large families do seem to be growing in number. Families in the UK are having 3 and 4 children, compared with the 2.1 which was the norm in the seventies. It is clear to me that the support provided by govt is clearly part of this, as other countries where there is little or no support, such as Spain, continue to have an average of two children per family.
Thing is, if you look at the historical factor, these things go in cycles. At the beginning of the twentieth century, families had as many children as god sent, it was the way things went, at least at working class level. Mortality was high among children, but families could still have four or five children easily. Money to provide for them was not really the issue, as people didn't have well paid jobs and they made do.
There have been baby booms after wars, and few children during wars, for obvious reasons.
It goes in waves and at the moment, it would appear that Britain is having an increase in children born.

Having multiple partners just as some men do is probably a result of women's lib, not a move away from it. Not a good result, ino, but a result just the same. But having unprotected sex is most likely due to ignorance and fear of saying "no" to a cute boy who won't use a condom. There may also be some plain carelessness involved, I think, or drugs or alcohol.

Of course, it may also be because being an unwed mother isn't a stigma anymore. That's a good thing, I believe, but it has its downside, and this situation your describing, norose is it.

Good to hear it's on the decrease though.

It depends what you think are children ,my great grandparents married 2 days after her 16th birthday way back in 1878 they had 3 children in quick succession and were expecting a fourth when he was tragically killed in an accident.Great gran went on to marry twice after that and had a total of 9 children ,so she was a single mother twice .She repeated her mothers experience , married young her own father , a policeman died before she was born and her mother remarried too .So its something that has always happened ,single mothers dont always set out to be that way...even nowadays .We shouldn't judge what we dont know .I'm just pleased they dont drag these babies away from their mothers like they did until recent times and give them away for adoption or send them abroad as cheap labour

I don't see what "women's lib" has got to do with teenage pregnancies and one night stands. There have always been unmarried mothers even though they were looked down upon and sometimes abandoned by their families. Goodness knows, I wouldn't want to go back to those days.

I see feminism as seeking to empower women, for example to get a good education to enable them to support themselves financially - as well as raising their expectations in relation to their partnerships with men, eg more sharing of child care and domestic chores.

I don't think feminism encourages women to risk pregnancy and STIs by having unprotected sex. My feeling is that it is often commercial interests that influence young women's behaviour - raunchy adverts and pop videos, etc. - which increasing numbers of feminists campaign against.

Whilst there are still unplanned teenage pregnancies, my understanding is that there has been a significant decline. One of the factors that seems to have been identified in relation to teenage pregnancies is poor education and job prospects - young women who have interests and aspirations appear to be less likely to become single mums.

Also, there are plenty of married women with children who either leave their relationships or who are left. Is that down to feminism too?

And probably a bit of what happened to woman's lib , it hasn't filtered down to many of the youngsters I meet or if it has not in the way it was meant to.

Also from having sons & having their mates of both sexes around to our open home, also marrying an adopted person with a multitude of half siblings

stillaliveandkicking the first line of your post of 22.33 does make me wonder what you enjoy/like about GN, as you imply, no change that, state that a "bashing here which is pretty unfair as usual"

Working in youth club, youth supporter at school.

Where do you go to overhear all this, norose?
I never hear anything like that.

Thanks Valeriej43 yes that was what I was trying to say. & well done Stillalive&kicking, yes exactly Valerie,time again I have heard young girls say He won't use a condom, I wasn't on the pill& I didn't want to loose him , so they go ahead , end up pregnant & loose him anyway & said young man usually moves on to her best friend .somewhere along the way from the 60s & now we have failed to instil confidence in younger girls to look after themselves not just to prevent an unwanted pregnancy but to protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases which are on the rise again.

I think i know what norose is getting at,times have changed, and if a girl in the 50s or 60s or even before had a baby out of wedlock it would be frowned upon and she would be ostracised, and most likely have to have the baby adopted
In those days girls were taught to say no, even though of course some didnt,
There was no contraception for women, and if the men didnt take precautions a girl could end up pregnant
I also agree that we see kids having kids
I see plenty here with several to different men, and some very young,a lot dont have patience with the child or children nd you can hear them swearing at them,
I visited a place a few years ago where the parents,some very young wee sat on their doorsteps drinking while the babies were running around outside in just nappies ,it was terrible to see,
Young unmarried mothers are more accepted today thats all

Goodness, you're getting a bashing here which is pretty unfair as usual.

Figures aside, yes Norose I do wince when I see, what I class as still a child either pregnant or with a baby/child. It is such an all consuming hard thing to do. I was 35 when I had my son as a single parent and it was the best yet the most challenging thing I've ever done even at that age.

Phoenix

We had hailstones this afternoon! Outside temperature was 15 degrees, too.

I think we'll have fog by tea time.

Of course it was, Ana. It was supposed to be!

What a ridiculous post, durhamjen.

And no, of course you can't get pregnant by phone sex trisher, butboys encouraging girls to take photos of themselves and their bodies isn't really what the suffragettes would have wanted, was it?

Vulnerable girls are totally different to emancipated women. Any woman who only feels validated if she pleases a man would seem to be missing out on so much and this is not limited to young women. There are plenty of older women in relationships which are based on them subordinating their needs to their partner's. It isn't necessarily 'pleasing a man' to have lots of different partners it is often that the women simply enjoy having sex.

But will there be any jobs for them?, The sufferagetes fought for women's rights, & they would probably be horrified that some of our vulnerable girls only feel validated if they please a man.