(References to my earlier post "Canada is Desperate" )

I read an article about how cool it is to be a teen-mom and decided to write this response.


I haven’t met many teenaged mothers who were proud of the fact that they had become pregnant nor have I met many teenagers who think it’s cool. Maybe I just don’t hang out with the cool kids enough because according to statistics the teen pregnancy rate in Canada has upped about forty percent over the past ten years. That could be wrong, I’m not much for memory and I can’t find the article I read it in… but I know for sure it’s a big number. To that I wonder what else it could be that caused such an increase, with free abortions and birth control available to teens. Are we really that dumb?
In Fort Mc Murray, teen pregnancy is unheard of and generally if we heard anyone was pregnant we used the rather derogatory words like “Slut” or “Whore” to describe them later on and we never really saw them after their secret was out. At one point in time I remember a girl pretending to be pregnant so that she could be the new gossip around the school and gain some sympathy from the teachers. I felt bad for her. Not only did she confide in teachers for help, but she also faked an abortion. I couldn’t quite grasp why anyone would do something like that for attention, but I realize that people do all sorts of fanatical things for attention. To me, that would be like pretending to be a witch in the eighteen hundreds to be stoned, gawked at, and later tied to a stake and burned alive.
Moving to Saskatoon sure broadened my eyes though. Do you know how shocked I was when I found out we had a daycare at the high school? It sounded like some reality TV show where teens intentionally impregnated themselves for a taste of superstar. My friends and I thought “Wow, have they never heard of birth control?” I couldn’t imagine any teenager deciding that getting through high school and becoming a mother would be a fantastic idea—then again all that acid was a good idea, so who knows? I am not being cynical towards those people, maybe a little, but mistakes do happen. I just never came to think that we might start supporting these mistakes, like giving free needles and condoms to the people on the streets (not that I don’t think that’s a good idea; we’re helping keep them safe at least.)
My own friend, whom we like to call Boots, was impregnated this year and absolutely hysterical. “lease don’t kill me Rex, I’m pregnant!” I didn’t kill her; instead I slapped her upside the head and asked her why she was such a moron. She replied “I hate condoms,” while laughing and then “Abortions are free anyways!” I remember thinking that they shouldn’t be free if they’re going to be abused by moronic girls who aren’t willing to grow up and take responsibility. Boots is Boots however, and I love her anyways, I just wish she would think with something other than her genitalia. Like System of a Down says, “Accidents happen in the dark.”
I read the article in Maclean’s about this ‘teen mom’ dilemma and immediately thought of another article written by Maclean’s. The other article was about how Canada was begging its women to start getting pregnant because our population was declining now that the baby-boomers are aging more and more and education seems to show a decrease in pregnancy rates. They even thought of paying women to have children and I thought that was ridiculous—bribing people to have children! Hah! How much more desperate could we be? So now it’s cool to have kids during the teen years, says the paper and Maclean’s and everyone says it’s horrible. I find that ironic in a way and think about the phrase “Be careful what you wish for,” especially when you have the youth listening in. We are after all, just dying to please you. So Canada, here’s you’re chance to repopulate the country; embrace it while you can.