Here are few questions for all of you

I am surveying people's attitudes towards teenage pregnancy and parenthood as part of my dissertation project and I would be really grateful if you could provide some comments how you feel about these issues?

Q1. What was the attitude in your school e.g. teachers/fellow students when they found out you were pregnant?

Q2. Have you felt people treated you differently because you are a young mother?

Q3. Have you ever felt that you were treated badly or pressured by the member of health services?

Q4. Do you think media's stigmatization on teenage pregnancies have an effect on young mothers?

Q5. What is your opinion about the sex education at schools? Good/Bad/Both?

Q6. To what extent do you agree that it is girl's responsibility only to take care of the contraception to avoid pregnancy?

Thank you so much for your help

All the best,
Joana

I dont mind filling it in, but what sort of age are u looking for?? I was 19 when i was preg, is that too old?

Q1. What was the attitude in your school e.g. teachers/fellow students when they found out you were pregnant? wasnt at school when i fell pregnant so that wasnt an issue.

Q2. Have you felt people treated you differently because you are a young mother? not really tbh, nothing has been said to my face anyway!

Q3. Have you ever felt that you were treated badly or pressured by the member of health services? yes actually, mostly doctors/nurses have treated me totally normally through the pregnancy but the first nurse who i saw in the drop-in centre was really rude and judgmental to me, i think she actually said i was stupid at one point and kept asking irrelevant questions like if i was a Catholic. and tutting!

Q4. Do you think media's stigmatization on teenage pregnancies have an effect on young mothers? erm no not really, i mean i think we are all a bit offended by it but i wouldn't say it affects me, to each his own and all that. the media can stigmatise teenage pregnancy all they want, it won't change my circumstances.

Q5. What is your opinion about the sex education at schools? Good/Bad/Both? personally mine wasn't very good, as far as i remember it was a flustered teacher awkwardly rushing over things and not really teaching anything except the biological side of it, how the sperm fertilizes the egg etc. oh and putting a condom on a wooden penis thing. which i was like 12 when i did so by the time i actually needed to know how to do that i'd completely forgotten.

Q6. To what extent do you agree that it is girl's responsibility only to take care of the contraception to avoid pregnancy? not at all, it should be 50/50 responsibilty. i think even if the girl ends up being the one to go on the Pill or get the implant or whatever, cos the guy doesnt have many options except condoms, it should still be something that's discussed and agreed on.. not just the guy thinking "oh its the girls responsibilty" and leaving it at that.




my brain is really tired right now so sorry if some of my answers came out jumbled
xxx

Q1. What was the attitude in your school e.g. teachers/fellow students when they found out you were pregnant?
Well I was in college, the teachers didn't really care either way but I remember trying to make new friends was a bit hard and a couple of girls did laugh at me when I fell down once when I was pregnant, I had slipped on a wet floor

Q2. Have you felt people treated you differently because you are a young mother?
Yes definitely... people judge you (negatively usually) and treat you based on their judgments... like you must be a slut, or you must be stupid, or you are dirt.. like they are better than you by default because they're not pregnant/don't have kids or had their kids when they were older/married etc

Q3. Have you ever felt that you were treated badly or pressured by the member of health services?
Pressured yes, to BF, I know everyone gets pressure around feeding their baby one way or the other but my nurse was adamant I didn't want to BF because I was young and uneducated

Q4. Do you think media's stigmatization on teenage pregnancies have an effect on young mothers?
Yeah, it's hurtful.. unfair.. obviously a lot of young mothers need help and encouragement and they get the opposite because the media focuses on teenage pregnancy being a problem and sooooooooooooooooooooo terrible.. there are worse things in life really

Q5. What is your opinion about the sex education at schools? Good/Bad/Both?
Fine, TBH I didn't learn much in school, most of it I learned through my own research, from my peers, or my own experience

Q6. To what extent do you agree that it is girl's responsibility only to take care of the contraception to avoid pregnancy?
Not at all... I think it takes 2 to make a baby. I don't think "I don't like condoms so I'm not wearing them" leaving the girl to be on the pill etc cuts it...

At the same time the girl is the one who will definitely end up with a child, it is much easier for the guy to walk away.... the girl will most likely be the primary caregiver etc.. so as a girl I guess I'd WANT to take more control over contraception

Q1. What was the attitude in your school e.g. teachers/fellow students when they found out you were pregnant?i wasnt in school when i got pregnant.. so didnt have a problem there.

Q2. Have you felt people treated you differently because you are a young mother?umm .. i feel like people think im stupid .. mostly people in my family ( aunts, uncles, cousins etc. ) so they treat me like im stupid. i know my aunt looks down on me because i had Willow at 19.

Q3. Have you ever felt that you were treated badly or pressured by the member of health services?yes .. to breastfeed. but it wasnt only health services trying to pressure me into breastfeeding but i got alot of the pressure from members of health services. other then that .. i really wasnt pressured about anything else.

Q4. Do you think media's stigmatization on teenage pregnancies have an effect on young mothers?i think it does for some girls. for me .. i think its stupid the things they say about young mothers. most "young" mothers .. are more mature and responsible then some older women who have have 4 kids. i know someone who is 41. with 6 girls. and the only reason she has her kids is for help from the government. shes told me and her own daughter this. i think it all depends on how mature the PERSON is. doesnt matter if there 15 or 46. you'd be surprised at what you find in the world.

Q5. What is your opinion about the sex education at schools? Good/Bad/Both?i think its good. no matter what .. teenagers are going to have sex weather people like it or not. and i think that sex education helps them understand more about the reproductive system .. and what measures to take to becareful while having sex. i would want Willow to have sex education when shes in school. even though i plan on having a long conversation with her when shes old enough to understand what sex is.

Q6. To what extent do you agree that it is girl's responsibility only to take care of the contraception to avoid pregnancy? i dont agree with that at all. i think both girl and boy should be responsible for using contraceptions.

one. girls STILL can get pregnant on birth control.

two. using a condom PLUS birth control is alot safer.

three. its best to use a condom for protection against STD's.

four. i think everyone should carry a condom on them. cause you know what'll happen. and being "caught in the moment" can get you knocked up in a heartbeat. ( i know .. it happened to me! )

i made sure OH wore a condom EVERYTIME we had sex until we had our STD tests taken.even after that i made sure he wore one. because i wasnt on birth control because i had no insurance and no money for it. we got "cought up in the moment" and here i am .. almost a year to the day i got pregnant .. and im a mom. a TEEN mom. dont get me wrong .. i LOVE my daughter with everything in me. but i feel we shouldve been more responsible and used protection no matter what. it does make things harder with money .. and getting our own place. i wish we couldve waited till we were a bit older. but i dont regret it. being pregnant and having Willow was the BEST thing that has ever happened to me.

Q1. What was the attitude in your school e.g. teachers/fellow students when they found out you were pregnant?

No really treated me differently at school until I actually looked pregnant, then people stare and act a bit weird around me. The teachers are really nice though, my "friends" stopped calling, texting, and inviting me anywhere.

Q2. Have you felt people treated you differently because you are a young mother?

Strangers yes, they stare and look disapproving.

Q3. Have you ever felt that you were treated badly or pressured by the member of health services?

No the center I go to is really nice, and they have special classes and programs for teen moms and moms to be.

Q4. Do you think media's stigmatization on teenage pregnancies have an effect on young mothers?

For some girls, I think movies about teen pregnancy usually try to make the teen moms look stupid.

Q5. What is your opinion about the sex education at schools? Good/Bad/Both?

Good, but I knew about everything, but for some people I'm sure it will help.

Q6. To what extent do you agree that it is girl's responsibility only to take care of the contraception to avoid pregnancy?

I don't agree, both people are responsible.

No that's not too old I'm looking for girls who had their first baby under the age of 20

Q1. What was the attitude in your school e.g. teachers/fellow students when they found out you were pregnant?
my school has been amazing about it. all my teachers are so supportive. but since its the new year and i'm due in April, i've decided to do my senior by correspondence. so i dont get to see them anymore.

Q2. Have you felt people treated you differently because you are a young mother?
i'm not a mother yet, however a lot of people assume i cant do things by myself anymore. if that makes sense.

Q3. Have you ever felt that you were treated badly or pressured by the member of health services?
nope.

Q4. Do you think media's stigmatization on teenage pregnancies have an effect on young mothers?
not on the mothers as such. more on what people think about young mums. i personally dont know a young mum who is affected by it.

Q5. What is your opinion about the sex education at schools? Good/Bad/Both?
from my expierence. its really not enough. all i got was a talk from an organization in primary school. no one that young is going to take the information in and store it all. to be honest, i learnt a lot of what i know from high school. the kids talking about it.

Q6. To what extent do you agree that it is girl's responsibility only to take care of the contraception to avoid pregnancy?
its half and half. its not just the girls "problem" its a responsibility that both partners should take on board.

Q1. What was the attitude in your school e.g. teachers/fellow students when they found out you were pregnant? They were ok until I started showing. Then teachers just looked at me reall weird. Some friends didn't want to know others stood by me

Q2. Have you felt people treated you differently because you are a young mother?

Defianlty. I am constanlty being judged. I think societys attitude towards teen mum's is disgraceful.

Q3. Have you ever felt that you were treated badly or pressured by the member of health services? When I was in labour I had two different MW's as one ended her shift before I gave birth. The first MW was lovely. The second was horrible and just snapped all the time

Q4. Do you think media's stigmatization on teenage pregnancies have an effect on young mothers? Defianlty. The media only seem to show the bad side of teen mum's. Not the good ones. For example I became pregnant at 16 but I am still going to Uni this year. It hasnt affected my education dramtically. The media seen to make out that teen mum's are horrible people who drop out of school and do nothing with thier lives. This has really affected me as I feel I am constantly coming up against predujice.

Q5. What is your opinion about the sex education at schools? Good/Bad/Both?? Bad. I had about two sex ed lessons. It felt like sort of a taboo subject.

Q6. To what extent do you agree that it is girl's responsibility only to take care of the contraception to avoid pregnancy? I think It is 50/50 for both girl and boy. If they both think they are responsible enough to have sex then they should both have the common sense to use somthing. A boy should ask a girl if she is on any form of contraception. If she isnt then they BOTH has the responsibilty to make sure they use a condom etc

xx

Q1. What was the attitude in your school e.g. teachers/fellow students when they found out you were pregnant? They were all really happy for me. There were a few that were really iffy about it, but eventually they got over it. Even if they didn't -- it's not their life it's mine!

Q2. Have you felt people treated you differently because you are a young mother? Not really. I'm really optimistic so I think when people are staring at me it's because they like my bump! :P Plus it doesn't really help I look a lot younger then what I am.

Q3. Have you ever felt that you were treated badly or pressured by the member of health services? I don't think I was treated badly.

Q4. Do you think media's stigmatization on teenage pregnancies have an effect on young mothers? Yes, definitely. I think that a lot of the media tries to show how negative teenage parenting can be, but there are definitely some upsides to it.

Q5. What is your opinion about the sex education at schools? Good/Bad/Both? I think sex education is really important and something that should be mandatory in schools. Kids are going to have sex whether their parents say they shouldn't or they aren't allowed. So, I think it's important that these programs are available because they're going to do whatever they want.

Q6. To what extent do you agree that it is girl's responsibility only to take care of the contraception to avoid pregnancy? It's definitely 50/50. I think it's both the guy and the girl's responsibility to take care of the contraception. So, if the guy brings condoms the girl should be using some sort of BC method as well to prevent pregnancy. To believe that it's only the girl's responsibility to provide contraception would also mean that I would believe it's only the girl's responsibility to take care of the baby and not the guy's. It's just unrealistic.