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Motivation for Young Parents is a blog for is a place where young parents and for supporters of young parents, to gain and/or give motivation and inspirational support. I was a teen parent who was raised by a mother who was a teen parent. I understand the struggles of an teen parent and have done public speaking in support of teen parents. I also work as a case manager/ home visitor position working with teen parents. I started this page because I wanted a place to share my experience and knowledge. Thanks for checking out my page.



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Stereotypes That Teen Moms Face




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Teens moms face many stereotypes. These stereotypes may be based on the situation of some teen moms, but they do not reflect all pregnant and parenting teens. Stereotypes can do a lot of harm to people who are already struggling and do not help anyone. If you are a teen mom, don't get bogged down in the stereotypes, but do look for help to overcome your individual challenges. If you know a teen mom, offer them caring and support, and don’t rely on stereotypes to determine what kind of person or mother they are.

Some of the stereotypes that teen moms face:


Teen moms are high school dropouts. This stereotype may stem from the statistics that show that teen moms are less likely to finish high school than other teens. While it is certainly true that it's hard to finish school when a teen is pregnant or a parent, with a good support system in the form of family and/or school staff, and with motivation to make their lives and the lives of their children better, many teen moms do finish high school, and some even go on to college or vocational training. In fact, according to the March of Dimes, most teens who get pregnant are 18 or 19 - already past high school age.

" Being a teen parent myself at the age of 18 I have come across many who try to force the above stereotype on me not just about high school but in college. It seemed to me that they were trying to punish me for being a teen parent. They were harder on me then others always finding ways to point out that having children at a early age or out of wedlock was wrong. When people see me with my two children they just assume that I have not graduated from high school yet when in fact I have a degree with honors." Renee Keyes

Teen moms live in poverty. Again, this stereotype is based on statistics about teen moms, education, and welfare. Without an education it is difficult to succeed in life, and many teen moms do need some form of government assistance at one point in their lives. While teen moms are at greater risk for living in poverty, by getting an education and working hard they can be successful, just like any other teen. Government assistance can be a temporary help for a teen mom as she gets on her feet.

"Having a young face while trying to apply for a job can be hard. Companies often offer younger people less pay regardless whether not children to feed or not. Ultimentaly leaving some teen stuck still receive assistance for childcare and or food because there job do give them enough money to come off assistance. If you don't have enough money to fund a job for some one to come off assistance you shouldn't look down on people who are one it. there's to many people adding to the problem than ones trying to solve it. Give people in need a hand up don't kick them down in the mud, times are hard and you never know when roles may be reversed" Renee Keyes

Teen moms are single moms. This stereotype extends to teen dads as well, since it portrays teen parents as sexually or morally irresponsible, with the father abandoning the mother, or the mother not even knowing who the father is. Though this situation happens sometimes, it is not the case for all teen moms. In fact, older teen moms may marry or already be married to the baby's father, and others are in a serious relationship with the father. 

"Marriage is just a peace of paper, it doesn't mean that the two people are committed or that ether parent is around all the time or that they will live happily ever after. Often abusers rush in to marriage and marriage is why some people stay in abusive relationships. If two people are in a serious relationship why does a peace a paper matter? I was a single parent for a few years after I had my first child but it was better than being in an abusive relationship where I would have ended up dead, it's a choice that people make it doesn't mean that there are irresponsible." Renee Keyes

Teen moms are bad moms. The babies of teen mothers are often considered to be at higher risk of neglect. This is because young teen mothers may not know how to care for their children. Of course, many new mothers learn as they go no matter what their age. Teen mothers can overcome their lack of knowledge in the same way that other new moms do, by taking classes or educating themselves about good parenting skills. The grandparents of the teen's baby may be tempted to step in and take over parenting, but this lowers the teen mom's self-confidence and does not help her become a better mother. Instead, the teen's parents can offer guidance and be good role models, without taking away the teen's role as mother.

"There are may programs out there that help educate first time parent and specifically teen parents. As a teen parent I'm pretty computer savvy and do lots of research on parenting. I'm also my children's number #1 advocate and people who know me that I'm a excellent mother most teen parent I know are too" Renee Keyes

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