Julie-Luck's Blog

Like I said in your other blog, I think it is good to show how hard it is for her. I think it will make teens think.

While attention should be heightened about teens, sex & unwanted pregnancy, I am disturbed about this story. Felesha is not living proof of sacrifice only unnecessary hardships that she brought upon herself. She is now a 13-year old mother missing out on many teen activities and who possibly lost friends because of this occurrence in her life. What happened to just saying no? In the first segment, the teen father looked like the cat that licked up all the cream. He looked so incredibly proud that he was going to be a father. Is he still in the picture? Where were the parents in allowing these teens to be unchaperoned? Now there is a baby boy that will subjected to the whims & wants to teenaged parents who will at some point resent this tiny being. How is this baby being supported - welfare? Great - more of my hard earned tax dollars at work. When is this society going to learn? Until we educate our tweens that unprotected sex is not something to do when we’re bored and that having sex is not the way to prove that we’re grown up, society will end up with another generation of underaged parents with children living just above minimum wage.

I think that this is a bold move to make a story like this. I do commend you Julie for taking a stand in telling a story about teenage pregnancy. I understand that many people will be put off by this story. Unfortunately, this happens a lot in today's society. It's true that we need to educate our teens in that having unprotected sex is not a way to just cure boredom. That’s where it starts, teaching the kids. I hope that if young people are watching this story that it teaches them to wait and think about the consequences.

my question is will it teach them or give them ideas of how to get attention?? i have a 12 year old daughter who is always wanting attention and we give it to her in positive ways but my concern is for the young girls not getting enough love and attention for mom and dad are they going to do something like this just to get on the news?

my 14 yr old daughter came home from school 1 day last week and told me that during lunch she sat w/ 6th.7th and 8th graders.. and somehow not quite clear on how the subject was brought up but she was the only virgin at the table, 1 of the kids told her it was b/c she was a nun..(and acted like it was not the greatest thing to be) to which I replied thats right b/c your mama won't allow you to have "none", her 20 yr old sister is still a virgin by choice, also,she wants to wait till she's married,and she has also is actively enlisted in the military..some kids CAN say no =)

NC Teen Pregnancy Rates Hold Steady
RALEIGH-North Carolina's teen pregnancy rates continue to hold steady, with 2006 state rates
nearly the same as those over the previous three years. The four-year plateau follows a 13-year decline that resulted in the state's lowest-ever rates in 2003. The state's adolescent pregnancy rate has declined by 36 percent since 1992. The 2006 pregnancy rate for teens ages 15 through 19 was 63.1 pregnancies per 1,000 girls,compared to 61.7 per 1,000 in 2005, according to the State Center for Health Statistics. The total number of North Carolina teens aged 15-19 who were pregnant in 2006 was 19,192. That number includes both married and unmarried females. Nearly 29 percent of those pregnancies were to girls who had been pregnant at least once before.

The number of 10-to 14-year-olds who were pregnant last year was 405.

Among minority populations, Hispanic teens had the highest pregnancy rate, although their
rate has dropped nearly 7 percent since 2003. The 2006 pregnancy rate among Hispanic
adolescents in the state was 173.1 per 1,000 girls aged 15-19, a 1.5 percent decrease from
the 2005 rate of 175.7. African American teens had a 2006 pregnancy rate of 86.2, compared
to 85.3 in 2005. The number of pregnancies among American Indian teens and other minority
groups was too low to calculate reliable rates.
The disparity between white and minority teen pregnancy rates has narrowed since 1992,
when the minority teen pregnancy rate was two times higher than the white rate. In 2006,
the minority teen pregnancy rate dropped to 1.6 ti

addition, a new grant will help provide
preventive services to middle- and high-school-aged teens.
Although Orange County has a relatively low rate of teen pregnancy on the county level, some
communities in the county have higher rates and face challenges that are often linked to teen
pregnancy, such as low socioeconomic status, limited education among parents, and
significant school dropout rates. Through the Chapel Hill Women's Center, a program called
Teens Climb High offers primary prevention help to middle school females by empowering
girls to identify and reach goals and to delay initiation of sexual activity.
Other counties are beginning new programs in hopes of reversing rising teen pregnancy rates.
Jones County had a teen pregnancy rate of 20.2 in 2006, an increase from its 2005 rate of
13.3. The Jones County Health Department has received a new teen pregnancy prevention
grant from N.C. DHHS. With those funds, a Teen Prevention Education Program (Teen PEP)
will be implemented in partnership with the county school system. Adult staff and high school
peer educators will be carefully trained so they can provide sexual health education to other
students. The program has showed promising results in other states.
More information on state and county teen pregnancy rates and numbers is on the State
Center for Health Statistics website at www.schs.state.nc.us/SCHS/data/pregnancies/2006.
For county rankings and information about reducing teen pregnancy, see the APPCNC website
at www.appcnc.org. Parents can also contact APPCNC at nc4facts@appcnc.org or 919-

Again another story about this young lady that did not ask any tough questions. Who is supporting the baby financially? Who is paying for that child's health insurance? The father of that baby did not get suspended from school for a dress code violation - my son attends the same school and that boy is always in some kind of trouble. The baby and the mother of the baby deserve better. I wonder how many friends she still has? I would not allow my 12 - 13 year old daughter to maintain contact with a friend who had become pregnant and had a baby. She absolutely seems depressed and lonely.

I think the segment showed all it could for the time allowed. It would take a good half an hour, at least, to address all the questions and answers relating to this situation. I think because of the ages of the parents, it's kinda obvious who's paying for the food and formula. They are too young to be employed in many industries, leaving the burden to the state.

Many parents aren't having "the talk" with their kids and some are trying to force the abstinence idea. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for abstinence until true, adult maturity is reached, however, I also think it's important to stress safe-sex. My mother wanted me to practice abstinence, but she also knew that I was 16 and "in-love", so she also stressed the importance of safe sex. Although I'm not proud to admit I was having sex at 16, I did practice safe sex EVERY time and appreciate the conversation a had with my mother. I think it is so important for parents to teach abstinence, but also stress the importance of safe sex.

parental guidance from the kid parents. Since education has obviously never been a priority with either of them, since they spent their time doing other things, what kind of grades will this child make? How will he feel about school, if the parents are not going to stress the importance of education? If there is no push in the right direction, children will find other things to occupy their time and interests. I’m not being mean, I speak so boldly of this subject because I know from experience that this type of lifestyle and behavior is a never-ending cycle, from generation to generation. The grandparents would admit this if they were to be honest. Julie I know you were trying to have an effect on the mind of children about this subject. But honestly… children need to be taught at home the dangers and risks of sex. They need to be taught that the only solution is abstinence till marriage. There is a reason that abstinence till marriage is a commandment God gave us…because it works. No diseases, no teenage pregnancies, no regrets, no welfare families living off the government, less high school drop out’s, less discipline problems out of children in school, and so on and so on. Teenage pregnancies have a long lasting effect on our society, in one form or another. How about doing a story on that? Teenagers are just too irresponsible for people to think that they can be trusted to use “safe” sex. That is wishful thinking, it just will not happen, as proven.