I believe our developing culture has a lot to do with how kids are now treating themselves and how they're going about life.
It's not the acceptance of sex that bothers me, it's that parent's don't crack down on their kids hard enough. If I heard my daughter was in some pregnancy pact you better believe I am going to knock some sense into her.

alright #1, masses of people you've never met cannot be responsible for your actions, & #2 there was a kid who went to the same school as the pact group and SHE said the first time she heard about it was on the NEWS, so that should tell you it was a  media hoax

oh wow that's so sick and irresponsible!
i mean if you're going to have your "30 seconds" of fun
or how ever long, they should be ready to take up the
responsibility. i mean you were "ready" to do it, am i right?
& if you really weren't "ready" then why would you even
give birth to the child? and then later see it suffer. oh dear.

enough said. this is depressing :(

I remember reading the article and it was . . . honestly, disgusting. The fact that she didn't decide to give up for adoption instead. . . .well, we can't really imagine what she was thinking or even if she was thinking.

However, pop culture could be something to blame, but it's really how these kids perceive them and utilize the information. Yeah, Britney Spears had a kid or two. Does that mean that the teen girls should too? Hopefully, they don't think that way. But the way these "icons" are viewed, kids and teens want to be just like them to be labeled as "cool" or "hip" or whatever.

I remember having a discussion with a friend this morning about how videogames can give some people a false sense of reality. There was an article where a kid jumped to his death because he wanted to reenact some certain videogame character that had a parachute, whereas the kid made one himself out of a plastic bag. The investigators were looking at the kid's favorite game, but nowhere in the game did any character imitated flying with a parachute. Anyways, we talked about how people sometimes get the wrong notion that what they can do in a videogame, they can probably do in real life. I'll leave it for another post.

But, I believe that although parents can't be everywhere, they should be more aware of what their kids are doing, where they're going and such if they don't want such things like this to happen.

I guess teen pregnancy mostly results from lack of parental guidance. Some parents are just too busy with their work and spend less time communicating with their kids. By time, I mean quality time.

I think that it is a combination of the emphasis on sexy and the shame of pregnancy that causes acts like these.  Yes, sex should wait, but that doesn't always happen and many times a baby is created in a less than ideal situation. 

However, our reaction (and by our I mean society in general) honestly is often times not the appropriate on of support and love that these girls need.  Instead they face shame and are overwhelmed.  They are not trained in how to take care of their babies or even that they have the option of adoption.  And in many states, there is the law that says they can drop the baby off within a certain amount of days with no questions asked.  But do these girls know this?  No, oftentimes they don't.  They are ashamed and afraid.

Anyway, I know that there are no easy answers, but I think that as a whole, we need to be more accepting of pregnancy as it happens and be helpful to these girls, not harmful.

My motto is "everything begins at home". I watched teen shows & programs suited for adults but I also had a mother who told me the difference between movies/tv & reality, what & what not to do & how to use my own mind. Pop culture does have an influence but as long as you have a stable role model (parent, grandparent, uncle,sister, whoever) to guide you, you should have no problems.

@Meahsmom@xanga - I agree, they should teach the consequences of actions after the fact, not just prevention. I still find it humorous that some parents think it's "gross" or not the school's place whatever to teach sex. I was taught sex ed at 13 & I went to a Catholic school! That ONE week in 8th grade shaped my view on alot of things & that was nearly a decade ago! XD

what about cultures view of abortion? Why is it perfectly ok to kill a baby just before it's born but not after?  I don't think it's society's view of easy sex as much as it's lack of respect for human life.

As a conservative Christian, myself and pretty much all of my friends abstained from sex until marriage. I believe Abstinence should be promoted in public schools instead of just "safe sex". Obviously this woudn't keep all teenage pregnancies from happening but I'm betting it would drastically reduce them(as well as STD's), especially if parents would promote Abstinence as well!  

Hearing stories like this makes me ache inside, but, I don't understand why people find it any more horrific then killing the baby while its still inside the mother!@fruitloops115@xanga -  great post! couldn't agree more!

Honestly, she can't say she didn't know any better. She may not have known that sex = baby. But there's no way she can't not know that killing = wrong.

Sick, sick story.  It hurts my heart to read it. 

I do think that pop culture is partially to blame for the younger generation's indifference to sex/violence/etc.  Too many parents want to be buddies instead of parents, so kids are left with MTV, Desparate Housewives, Gossip Girl as role models.  Everyone sleeps with eachother, all the girls barely wear any clothing, everyone drinks like crazy, and it's all glorified.  My daughter is only 16 months, but I worry about how my husband and I can instill good values in her while competing with the television.

I don't know about sex, but killing your own child is just pure WRONG and EVIL! why?! I just can't comprehend this and I don't think I want to!