Maternity leave is a hot topic for mothers of all ages. Whether they are discussing the benefits they receive, length, whether it's paid or unpaid, it's a mothers right to have some time to bond with her new child. Well the ACLU of New Mexico thinks that teen mothers - specifically the ones who still attend school - should also receive a sort of maternity leave.
Typical, non-parent students receive 10 excused absences every semester. The proposed law would give both mothers and fathers up to 14 excused absences each semester. Mothers would receive an additional 10 days to be considered as maternity leave.
If you think about it, if a company allows new mothers to take time off from their job, then why can't a student take time off from their job - going to school?
Before you even think that this is a sort of "perk" or way to glamorize teen pregnancy, you're wrong. An additional 4 days of time away from school is in no way a plus or benefit to being pregnant, delivering a baby, and being a parent the rest of your life. There is no way that is a fair trade.
The proposed law would also say that any student using those days off would have to make up the work, so it's not just a free pass. It's much needed help when a baby is sick and needs to go to the doctor, like the mom mentioned in
this news article.
What do you think? Is it fair to give teen parents time off from school for bonding and medical needs?
Maternity leave is a hot topic for mothers of all ages. Whether they are discussing the benefits they receive, length, whether it's paid or unpaid, it's a mothers right to have some time to bond with her new child. Well the ACLU of New Mexico thinks that teen mothers - specifically the ones who still attend school - should also receive a sort of maternity leave.
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Comments (20)
Kids of teen moms have some of the worst disadvantages starting in life. Extra time for teen moms to bond and care for the baby's needs is definitely necessary, and I would agree with giving it.
as long as the time/work is made up i dont see an issue with it.
@Cat Davis@facebook - They count against you, or at least they did when I was in school, and after so many missed days you could face detention, Saturday schools, or suspension. It's also on permanent records. All districts will be different, of course. You also have to remember about truancy, and at in some states (and maybe that's more local, so down to the city level), but parents can actually be fined or jailed if their child is not in school. So, a 17 year old who is pregnant misses a few days, and HER parents get in trouble. That's not fair, it shouldn't happen.
I think you should be able to do sort of an umbrella study thing but not be totally excused. You get excused from work yes but how often are you going to work just to learn?
This is a very interesting point of view. I never thought of it. I have to say, I'm in favor of the extra time of excused absences. Just consider, if she had the baby via c-section. That's major surgery. The mom needs time to recoup as well as develop a routine of dealing with the infant. 10 days would be barely a drop in the bucket for all she needs to deal with post-partum.
That's good. But I don't know if it's good enough.
The parent could possibly choose the day to take absent when it's very crucial s/he doesn't.
Maybe allowing her to take fewer classes and postpone graduation.
I think the problem is that babies need longer than just a few days to bond with their mothers before they return to school/work. 14 days is not a lot when, in England at least, you get upto a year of maternity leave. Ten days is not long enough to recover from birth, get your shit together and go back to school full-time, whilst being a first-time parent to a newborn. My school solved the problem pretty easily, if you were pregnant, you were kicked out, and either had go to a local state school or get educated at home.
Getting pregnant as a teenager is, 99% of the time, a choice. Nobody is forcing you to have sex at fifteen, nobody is forcing you not to use contraception. If you choose to get pregnant at such a young age and keep the baby, I don't necessarily think the school should be forced to make allowances for you. If you miss so many days of class that you can't graduate (for whatever reason), then you don't graduate - have your baby and get your GED and finish high school afterwards.
I think that is a great idea. I'm sure the leniency gives the teen parents more motivation to stay in school. Even though they made bad choices, what's done is done, so there is no need to punish them for it.
@daydreams_nightmares@xanga - But if they kick all those kids out where are they going to be? They won't go find their own resources and get educated from home or finish later. They'll end up dropping out and relying on Welfare because no one will hire them without highschool completion.
I HATE when people call people who have babies in college teen moms. By the time you're 18 enough you're legal and should be able to make your own choices. I think this policy is good though.
@Cat Davis@facebook - In KY a child is only allowed to miss 10 days, counting both excused and unexcused absences. After the 10th missed day, the kid and their parents are all hauled off to truancy court where the parents have to pay a fine and run the risk of being sent to prison for child neglect. Where teen moms are concerned, most schools here will arrange homeschooling for them until they're able to return to the classroom.
@LondonsMommy - New Mexico is known for teen moms and has high schools solely for teen mothers. There are several college prep classes only offered to teens with children and in college they get the most benefits and even get (if they know the loop holes) the state to pay for their cars, housing, discounted childcare and pay a fraction of college tuition. Oh, and they get free food through WIC too.
@LondonsMommy - I'm not saying they should never go back to school, but if (for whatever reason, not just pregnancy), you can't attend enough classes to graduate, then you should have to re-sit the year or go to summer school to pass. I just don't think pregnant kids should be given extra time off compared to other people. If your absence rate is too high for you to graduate, then you go back the following year just like everyone else. I just don't think you should be given special treatment because you decided to have a baby.
My school only kicked students out because it's a private, religious school, but state schools aren't allowed to kick you out for falling pregnant. However, if you miss so many classes that you can't pass, you have to repeat the year. I don't see that as a problem. You'd have to do the same if you were off with say, glandular fever or an operation for something else, so I don't see why pregnancy should be treated any differently.
I do think this is a good idea. Better a longer maternity leave than quitting school completely.
Nah, They should have spent more time on their homework than naked. No special treatment for their mistakes.
because you're not meant to be getting pregnant while you're at school. maybe the idea of no maternity leave might make teenage girls think twice before getting knocked up.
Wow, this brings up so many guardian related questions.
So, if a teenager has a baby, are her parents still her legal guardians? When she has the baby, is SHEthe legal guardian of the baby, or are her parents the baby's guardians? Can she be a guardian of a minor when she is still a minor? How exactly does that work? If she can be the guardian of her baby, then she should no longer require her parents' guardianship and they shouldn't be held responsible for her school attendance. If her parents are the guardians of both the teenager and the baby, then the parents should get maternity/paternity leave and the teenager should get whatever normal recovery days they have for a medical situation. This is all kind of a moot point because I don't like attendance-related grades or the public school system, or laws about attendance. Still, it's an interesting question.@kidoncocaine@xanga - Well, then some women who are excelling in their industry should not be getting "knocked up" either. Maternity leave while still in school is not a perk and is not a reason a teenaged girl chooses to become pregnant. More than likely, she *isn't* choosing to becoming pregnant, but rather making a poor choice about birth control. I know at 17 I wasn't sitting around saying, "I'm going to try to get pregnant before I graduate!"
If you're making a "poor choice" about birth control, then you may as well be choosing to get pregnant. If teenagers aren't clued-up enough to understand the ins and outs of pregnancy and what happens when you're not careful, then they shouldn't be having sex at all.
Women who have careers set up already are more financially capable of taking care of a child than a 16-year-old who doesn't know what condoms are.
I don't get what's so difficult to understand?
Life is always unfair rather for young moms or older moms we all struggle with something. I'm pregnant now with my 2nd child and I'm 21 and I had my 1st at 19. it was hard yeah I graduated, but thinking bout the stuff I have with both my pregnancies I have hyperthroidism, and many more health problems If I had it in highschool I'd prolly been screwed with school I was going to 3 dr appts a week yeah... not so fun depending on the situation why a teen mom should misss so many days. If I was a teen mom like I said I'd be screwed cause I had a lot of problems, then it should be acceptable for maternity, but if you have no problems and you can go to school without a problem I don't see why you should get maternity leave. Idk teen pregnancyy touchie topic..