Driving to the airport to collect my grandparents, gave me ample opportunity to think about life. The life under intense scrutiny was, of course, my own, but it got me thinking about all the ladies out there whose lives and situations reflect my own. I have had a terribly bad run of luck when it comes to relationships, and I seem to be under the impression that I will be dying alone, Bridget Jones style. I began thinking and wondering about how many other women feel the same as I do about their love lives. I mean, it’s not like I’m menopausal – I’m only 21! But am I thinking this way because society is pressuring me to? What about my expectations of myself?
My mother was married at the age of 19, popped me out seven years later at the age of 26. If I am to live to the same framework as my mother, then technically, I am already considerably behind. The thing is: I have no desire to have children right now. Some people have that ambition to be married and have children early in life, but I want to make sure that I have met the right man, and that I am financially secure enough to support these little tackers growing up. I also want to be selfish – live life a little before I am subjected to the self-imposed prison of child rearing. But this is deemed perfectly acceptable. It is no longer an expectation of women to be married and have a dozen children before their thirtieth birthday. It is just not the done thing.
There is no doubt that societies’ expectation of women has changed over the years. Even since I finished high school, there has been a vast reinvention in attitudes across the board. Now, it is considered perfectly acceptable to see a young teenage girl with a newborn baby, wandering the streets. It seems to be the latest trend among pubescent females in the western society: girls having children as though they are the ‘must-have’ accessory of the season. This does not amuse me in the slightest. I wonder; do these girls really know what they are getting themselves in to? I understand that accidents happen, but a sixteen year old wanting to have a baby just for the sake of it, is unthinkable. At least, it certainly was, even as recently as five years ago.
I may not be significantly older than a lot of these girls I am referring to, but it seems I was raised in a different time. I barely thought about sex at sixteen, and most of these girls have had two or three years of sexual experience to boast of. None of them appear to understand the consequences of engaging in sexual intercourse. Yes, you get a pretty little baby for a year or two, but then it grows up. That is the reality of it.Not to say I am degrading teenage mothers; it surely can not be easy. You are still trying to discover who you are, let alone influence another soul to grow into a mature being. I just can not see how someone, who is still a child themself, could raise another child. Saying that, I know of several women – now in their thirties – who were teen mothers. They are outstanding examples of parents; although, sadly, this is not what the majority of teen pregnancy cases are like.
Seeing the diverse change in society, in less than a decade, brings me to pose the question: Are students receiving adequate sexual education, and is it being presented to them early enough? For me, the answer to this question is, no. Students need to be schooled earlier in Sex Ed to ensure they understand the consequences of their actions. Children as young as twelve have sold their virginity on eBay for a tidy profit, without understanding the impact it can have on them. High schools are now places teeming with sexual tension and sexual revolt. Gone are the days of innocence.
A friend of mine just completed her final year of teaching, where she undertook her internship at one of the local high schools. She informed me, that in her first week, she had to hold intervention meetings with the whole year eight group, and school them on the dangers of STI’s. This came about as a result of one year eight boy, allegedly accepting oral sex from the entire female population of the year group. What people need to keep in mind is that prevention is better than cure. Through subjecting pre-pubescent students to age appropriate Sex Ed, it has been estimated by the Victorian government, that there will be a decrease in the instance of teenage pregnancy. According to the ‘better health’ website, parents also need to play a part in educating their children on sexual matters. “It is important to understand the stages of sexual development your child is likely to go through at different ages and what you can do to help them adjust to the changes they will experience”.
In an interview with Melbourne’s The Age newspaper on May 29, 2006, Dolly magazine editor, Bronwyn McCahon stated that the majority of high school students are very disillusioned with the sexual education that is offered to them. “They say it's superficial and it doesn't deal with the physical and emotional ramifications of sex,” she says. Perhaps if Sex Ed in schools was more informative, there would not be so much ‘experimentation’ in the earlier years of puberty. Although I do hope, one day, to have children of my own, I am in no hurry what-so-ever to put an end to my selfish ways. Even though single is not always ideal, I will take it over being a teen mother any day.
For more information on Sex Ed in schools visit:
http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/
For more information on teen pregnancy visit:
http://www.pregnancy.com.au/teenage_pregnancy.htm
http://www.womhealth.org.au/studentfactsheets/teenagepregnancy.htm
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