Dear Editor,

In this amazing world, which includes persons in various ethnicities and religion who dwell together in harmony for the most part, it seems to me that teenage pregnancy is becoming very widespread.

While pregnancy should occur at a more mature age, it seems that parents are not doing their part in parenting, and parents are not being responsible for their children. In this life which we are living, teenagers are getting pregnant at the age of 12-18, which is a risk and is associated more with factors than with biological effects of age.

Teenagers at the age of 12 may have difficulties during birth, such as low birth weight, premature labor, anemia, or even death. In developed countries teenage pregnancies are associated with social issues, including lower educational level, poverty, and other negative life outcomes of a teenage mother, and the rate of teenage pregnancies is increasing in society.

As teenagers, our lives shouldn’t depend on having children. Our future is not open to us; its use to change the future and to know and make the future in a positive and educational way isn’t there.

The lack of education on safe sex, whether it is from parents, school, or otherwise, is a cause of us teens giving birth. Many teens are not taught about birth control and how to deal with peers who pressure them into having sex before they are ready, but it can and will change. Motherhood is not simply giving birth and then putting in our time waiting for the moment when the child comes and grow, or if they are far or near.

Motherhood is what you do, and it’s the very heart and soul of me and you, too, and teens cannot do that or even know how to.

So, I’m writing so we, as teenagers, can know and learn more about what we shouldn’t be facing in life and that we are not ready, because we are not fully developed. Being a young mother at the age of 12 takes away our ability of being happy and enjoying our childhood; being a mom is a big thing in life, with no experience.

It is very important that a child should have both parents to guide and teach them to know right from wrong, and most parents are either single, separated, deceased, or divorced, and so it is hard for a child to stay home and to be loved, but even though a child may have one parent, they should appreciate that.

Instead, we as children don’t cherish our parents and thank God we have them. In some cases, parents let their children become mothers, because they may have experienced it as a child, but they should treat their child as a child, and not having children.

And some parents encourage their child to have an abortion, which is against God’s rules; that’s why we should love and protect and teach our child to be patient and to put education first in their life, so they don’t have to go through such an experience. There’s a time for everything; our happiness comes first; as young children, education is our key to success and dreams.

The sky is the limit, so we should try to do the right thing, no matter how we feel, and how life treats us.

Theresita Cucul