Teenage Baby Factories

So, correct me if I'm wrong, but one of the possible side effects of having sex is nine months of gradual weight gain, strange cravings, back pain, and finally, a brand new baby. I mean... That's how I was born. And I'm willing to venture that's how you were born as well.

Why is it, then, that so many kids these days have this strange idea that they're immune to the whole pregnancy thing, and that they can have unprotected, consequence-free sex whenever they want?

It's quite alarming, really. Through my entire four years in High School, I heard of maybe two or three teen pregnancies. I know that there were plenty more than I heard of, but it still didn't seem that drastic.

But recently I've been hearing about teen pregnancies with alarmingly higher frequency. It seems like once a week there's someone new that I used to know that's getting pregnant. And more often than not, it's someone who really has no business getting pregnant or raising a child (usually because they're still so damn childish themselves). Sometimes it becomes a success story, and they grow up some and become a decent mother, and sometimes the father sticks around to help them out because he actually gives a damn about the kid and the mother. But in most cases I've seen, the father decides to flake out and be a jerk about things. Shirking his responsibilities instead of manning up and helping out.

It's getting to the point that it's no longer surprising that someone new is pregnant. Rather than "oh my God, someone's pregnant!" it has become "I wonder who's next in line?" And then, when the next teen pregnancy rears its head, the questions become "I wonder what she'll do... Keep it, abort it, or adopt it?" and "Will the dad stick around or be a douchebag and skip town?"

One thing that scares me about all these teen pregnancies, though, is the fact that so many of the teen mothers knew each other, and knew about each other's pregnancies. They'd hear about one, talk about how sad it is that the boyfriend skipped town, how tragic it will be when she has to give it up, and how "goodness, that person should have known better, at least used protection!" And then a month later you hear that the same person making the comments about the first is suddenly pregnant as well. It's that whole "it'll happen to them, but never to me" mindset, I guess.

Seriously, though, you'd think that after the first one, the rest would start taking steps to prevent pregnancy for themselves. When Sue sees Jane get pregnant, you'd think that Sue would get on birth control, or start using condoms, or stop having sex. I mean, that's common sense, right?

But... I guess not. Common Sense seems to be lacking in this part of town.

At least we know Children of Men won't be coming true anytime soon.