The government’s response to baseless concerns that teenagers are now going to be out in force trying to procreate thanks to increases in the baby bonus is to hire young mums to go and talk some sense into these teens. Reported here.
On the surface, it appears like a standard and valuable policy idea. But, given the research that came out of the NSW Young Parents Forums last year it only goes to show how little respect young people are given.
The idea that young women are having babies purely for the baby bonus is ridiculous.
A vast majority of teenage mums (which are a pretty small group anyway) have diverse and different motivations for having children. They realise
If anything, the baby bonus/teen mum issue is a socio-economic issue that comes from people already having a damn tough time. It isn’t their young motherhood that is the problem it is leaving school early, inadequate services to support them, family issues and the associated million and one problems that come with having barely enough money to survive in a consumer society.
My concern sending young mums into say “being a teenage mum is bad” is the impact that had on them. Many teenage mums say the experience was difficult, but was really valuable and worthwhile for them. It would have been better with less stereotyping and a bit more support. Many of these mums were out studying and working and contributing to society in a far more significant way that many other women their age.
No one wants teenagers to be in the situation, but surely good sex and relationship education is a far better preventative measure than sending young mums in to talk about how bad it is to be a teenage mum.
The idea of the Young Parents Forum was to begin shifting simplistic policy ideas like these ones. Obviously, there is more work to do.
May 11th, 2007 at 9:47 am
The shame is that if the people who attended the 2006 Young Parents Forum visited with schools to discuss youth parenthood in a balance and frank fashion, it would be seen as encouragement.
But then, with the recent and petrifying rise in the rate of nasty STDs, STIs and STVs, the government’s reaction was not to discuss safe sex in schools as this would encourage young people to have more sex, rather to bury their collective head in the sand and occasionally roll out the word “abstinence”.
Well thats what the say in America, and the rates of sexually transmitted anything and teen pregnancy have very obviously declined there!