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EDITORIAL: Just because you can reproduce, doesn’t mean you should

May 3, 2010
 

Don’t breed them if you can’t feed them. Illustration by Mike Nicholson.

Let’s get one thing straight: kids are adorable and they aren’t known as “bundles of joy” for nothing. Sure, raising a child has its benefits and can be very fulfilling, but some people don’t realize that it’s a big responsibility that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Is it right to bring a child into a world that neither you nor your baby are prepared for?

A 2008 Time magazine article featured the story of 17 girls at Gloucester High School who were suspected of being a part of a pregnancy pact, vowing to get pregnant and raise their children together. Something seemed peculiar after the number of students visiting the school’s health clinic for pregnancy tests increased. Joseph Sullivan, the principal of the high school stated that some of the girls had a surprising reaction to the news that their tests came back negative.

“Some girls seemed more upset when they weren’t pregnant than when they were,” Sullivan said.

Not only were some of the girls upset that they weren’t pregnant, the girls that were expecting were excited that they would finally have someone that would unconditionally love them because their home lives weren’t that great.

This was an irresponsible move on the girls’ part to believe that teenage pregnancy was the best course of action because their decision wasn’t logical and according to their actions, it seemed like they didn’t think of the ramifications that came with it. According to the American Pregnancy Association, 468,988 babies are born to teenage mothers annually. How did these girls come to believe that being a teenage mother was going to be easy — especially now when the world’s economy is barely recovering from its recent free fall and the ability to provide is scarce.

According to a 2009 New York Times article, unemployment for men and women between the ages of 15-24  is at 16.2 percent. Also, the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics reports that the national unemployment rate went from 8.6 percent in March 2009 to the 9.7 percent in March 2010. If people are unable to provide for themselves because the job market is bad, how would they be able to do that for someone else in the world?

It’s not that having kids is a bad thing to do right now, but from a logical prospective, if you’re not prepared, it’s not the right time. Being a parent it’s all about bracing yourself to take on a lot of responsibilities both mentally and physically and is one of the most challenging roles a person can be. It entails so many things that people need to have, such as a great amount of time and patience. The ability to provide for your child encompasses far beyond monetary value, but the value of parenting skills itself. Pregnancy is always a responsibility on both a man and a woman, and if you’re not ready to become a parent, spare the condom’s costs of $0.20 to $2.50 and use it, because it’ll never amount to the costs of what a child needs in a lifetime.