Gary Bland
Working in Bermondsey & Old Southwark to Make a Difference
Caring doesn't cost yet the rewards can be invaluable. Be selfish, say yes to helping others.
Teenage Mums
TEENAGE MOTHERS
I am passionate about family and family values Families are strong, they care for each other. Usually, there is no motive to their helping apart from love and care, and the point I want to raise here is I would like to see the council give more emphasis to helping teenage mothers to remain within their family unit to help them and the child:
it is not easy bringing up a child on your own, especially when a teenager. This doesn't mean that many woman don't do an excellent jobhaving your family around you, if at all possible, is great, because there can be 24 our support. Living close to parents, or grandparents isn't the same as living with them
There are many other scenarios where the above simply wouldn't be possible, which was pointed out to me on the London SE1 website, such as:
young people in care, homes or foster homes, who become pregnantyoung people who live in already overcrowded conditions, or subject to abuse, or for other reasons cannot continue living at home
There will always be exceptions and of course these should be cared for one a case by case basis.
DEPRIVATION
It is a fact that teenage pregnancy leads to greater deprivation for the child and for the mother. The mother is usually not well educated and therefore finds it difficult to get a job, and is usually dependant on the state all of her life.
It is extremely sad that the children often become teenage mothers too, with little education and little prospect of getting a job or well-paid job and getting themselves out of a benefit existence. It is a sad vicious cycle.
Southwark has a particular problem with teenage pregnancy. Conception rates per 1,000 females aged 15–17 in Southwark is 75. London is 45.4, and in England 40.6.
On the far right of this page there are some statistics, which I came across recently which horrified me. I am positive the council could have a major impact of changing this sad trend.
ONE SUGGESTION
Although this idea is not a panacea for all teenage parents, I believe there is a solution that would benefit the mother, the child, the family and also the community:
points could be awarded for vocational qualifications. There are several levels including those which are the equivalent to a degree, and more points could be awarded the higher the attainment
points could be awarded to a teenage mother who, with support, returns to education and passes at least 5 A-C GCSEs
more points could be awarded to a teenage mother who earns 2 A-levels
even more points could be awarded to a teenage mother who goes onto university
These incentives would be excellent for the mother and father who would be in a much better position to get a job and not be on benefits if they had a good vocational or academic education.
This would be great for the child who would have an educated parent who was an inspiration and who could teach the child how to read and write at an early age. This is likely to lead to fewer teenage mothers falling into the pregnancy trap.
I am certainly not an expert in this matter, but as a parent myself I know how difficult things can be regardless of age, and if just one parent and child can be helped it is worth working hard to achieve this result.
TEENAGERS WITH QUALIFICATIONS ALREADY
What is fair about a wider points system is many achievements and situations can be taken into consideration, and teenagers with good A-level passes, for example, would already be earning points. This wouldn't stop then from continuing their education and earning more points.
What teenagers need is hope and to see opportunties to improve themselves and their current situation. Seeing little hope is the greatest demotivator and causes untold problems.
At age 30, teenage mothers are 22% more likely to be living in poverty than mothers giving birth aged 24 or over, and are much less likely to be employed or living with a partnerTeenage mothers are 20% more likely to have no qualifications at age 30 than mothers giving birth aged 24 or overTeenage mothers have three times the rate of post-natal depression of older mothers and a higher risk of poor mental health for three years after the birthThe infant mortality rate for babies born to teenage mothers is 60% higher than for babies born to older mothersTeenage mothers are three times more likely to smoke throughout their pregnancy, and 50% less likely to breastfeed, than older mothers - both of which have negative health consequences for the childChildren of teenage mothers have a 63% increased risk of being born into poverty compared to babies born to mothers in their twenties and are more likely to have accidents and behavioural problemsAmong the most vulnerable girls, the risk of becoming a teenage mother before the age of 20 is nearly one in three.
Source: Teenage Parents Next
Steps DCSF 2008
“You are the embodiment of the information you choose to accept and act upon. To change your circumstances you need to change your thinking and subsequent actions.”
Adlin Sinclair
“We've seen globally that women's education is a key indicator for development, and it's extremely important for us as we look at the overall development of an area. Women play a vital role in the family and community, and for them to make informed decisions about household and family and community matters, they need equal access to education.”
Jack Norman
“Don't wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.”
Mark Victor Hansen
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