Social Stigma Of Teenage Pregnancy In The United States

After I finished reading this article, I was extremely shocked by what was socially acceptable by a 13 year old in the 1950’s to what it is now. I felt this because turning 13 is now considered to be the beginning of your teenage era, a time filled with hidden dangers, mysteries and new opportunities. Personally the last thing I had in mind when I reached the ‘age of prodigy’ was becoming a parent ! Yet this was certainly wasn't the case for teenagers of the 1950’s. Statistics provided in the article showed me, the biggest year in U.S history for teenage birth was 1957. Nancy Gibbs then goes onto justify why this occurred and it was not because of an ‘epidemic of premarital sex’, but the ‘median age for marriage was 20 and many brides were
This can be seen in many different cultures but from my experience growing up around a orthodox Indian society, a teen who became pregnant would be known for bringing “dishonour to your family and the infamous badge of dishonour would stick with the family. This made me wonder, what has changed in this world, that now makes a teen pregnancy a colossal problem. Or is because they now find their actions from decades ago a massive mistake and the social stigma they bring upon our society a non-literal way of saying “don't fall into this trap”? I certainly feel this social stigma has influenced our society for the worse because it acts upon people as a barrier, stopping them from expressing their ideas without fear and maybe that's the reason why Nancy Gibbs finds herself sitting on the fence throughout the article and not clearly supporting one generation's view on teen pregnancy. As she is scared of being scrutinised for her viewpoint. This frustrates me because who gave society the authority to judge people. So despite the advancements of technology and lifestyle, my society's mindset is worse than it was in the
Yet they come under scrutiny for growing up too fast, both mentally and physically. I think the author is trying to imply that even though our generation of teenagers are exposed to sexually explicit content and far more violence, thanks to the introduction of video games such as Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto etc. 13 year olds only seem to be interested in having a small slice of what adult life actually is. Examples of this can be found in the article. A Time magazine’s poll conducted on 13 year olds clearly states, ‘three quarters have not yet started dating and 60% say people should postpone sex until marriage. Another poll conducted by NBC news found ‘12% of 13 year olds said they had oral sex but three times that many admitted they didn't know what oral sex was.’ This suggests the actions of the minority are causing society to question all teens moral values. The author by including these facts, is strongly suggesting to me that she believes that teenagers of my generation are being unfairly judged. I guess it's not the first our society has stereotyped a group, whether it maybe because of our race, sexuality or just the clothes we wear around town. Making judgments based on stereotypes only leads to widening of the ridge in the relationship my generations of teenagers are having with the older generations because respect is not one's birth right,