Recent Publicity

There have been some stories recently that have featured teen pregnancy in a very negative light. One such story was on Good Morning America and was actually very depressing. If I was a teen on that show (one which actually lives in Rochester, MN), I don't know how I could have felt good about myself after watching that segment. There were some statistics displayed at the end of the episode that were very real but if a show is going to show statistics that only show a negative side to a story, they should at least show some ways where teens can get help. My opinion. Give these teens some hope that they can succeed in life. Give them hope that there is something out there that will help them when they feel like the whole world is against them. Give them some hope to keep walking with their head held high because there are a lot of eyes on them just waiting for them to fail.

When a news story is featured on a natural disaster, such as the recent flooding that we had here in SE Minnesota, there was information about FEMA, Red Cross and other organizations listed where people could get help or offer help. I didn't see any statistics shown that indicated how many of those homes or businesses that were flooded would remain vacant or go into forclosure. It didn't say how many of the families would lose their jobs because their current home was gone and they were now homeless or living in FEMA trailers. These statistics could have been shown but they weren't even though they are a reality. Teen pregnancy is not going to be any different next year or in the years to come unless people change their viewpoint and start helping these teens and their children. If we help the children of these teens, we will start to change the future of teen pregnancy. I wrote my feelings on the Good Morning America site and also wrote to their editors to share my concerns. If you look on their website, you will see that I am not the only one with a comment about this story.

There was also a story featured in Seventeen magazine that showed how the percentage of teen pregnancies are increasing. One of the local news stations came to our Teen MOPS program to ask us questions about these statistics and what our thoughts were on them. It turned out that this story was just to give a new reporter some practice and they weren't planning on airing the segment. The story is real though and this story seemed to spark some media attention throughout the country. The Good Morning America story was featured after this article was published in the magazine.

The news has shown an interest in this topic lately and it is about time, but there are good articles and bad articles and I think the opinion of the writer comes across in all of what I have seen and read.

Our local paper had a few articles this past weekend about two different people that were pregnant during their teen years. One showed a person who was a teen a few years ago and was able to overcome the statistics that are mentioned in many of the other stories. This is the first story that I have read or seen in a very long time from a media standpoint that actually showed a success story! The story of the other teen seemed like it was a cry for help. I didn't feel sorry for her or see that she was a disappointment to our society but thought that she just needed some help...and her other sisters that seem to have also had similar situations in their lives. These girls could come to Teen MOPS! (Now that I know their names, they will be getting an invitation in the mail :)

Another success story of a teen mom (besides most of the leaders that I work with who are so passionate about Teen MOPS) is Tricia Goyer. Tricia is an amazing person! I know her from MOPS and met her a few times at the MOPS International conferences. She now has many books out that she has written and many more in the works. Here is her website with more information about who she is and what she has written. Every teen that I have met at our Teen MOPS meetings (over 60 now) receives her book, "Life Interrupted". I recently told Tricia that and she wrote and said, "And that is AWESOME about Life Interrupted! I'm so glad that book continues to be a blessing!" Tricia

Tricia is in inspiration to me. Thankyou, Tricia, for all the work YOU do for the teens that are trying to make it through the struggles that face them in our society today.