I saw 2 seconds of an interview with Bristol Palin (you know, Govenor Palin's daughter). She's 18; she just had a baby. I wish I could say that Bristol was insightful and articulate. Nope. She was sweet, and probably pretty bright and OH SO 18. So so 18.
-Now, she's got it pretty good, this Bristol Palin. She comes from an upper middle class family and has a great support network, but her life just got 100 times harder. Most teenage moms don't have it that easy.
-I heard a statistic that a single mom needs to make about $16/hour at 40 hours per week to support herself and her child. It's hard to do that without a high school education. Near impossible.
-Some teenage moms come from good homes. They've been taught life skills, and how to work hard. They've got a solid background to use as a foundation for the treacherous road of young motherhood. Unfortuantely, many young girls don't...and it begins, or continues, this cycle of poverty. And with each generation the culture and the patterns of poverty become more entrenched.
Now I know some women, some strong determined women who were, or are, young moms. They have overcome, succeeded against tremendous odds. I salute these women; I'm not sure I could have done the same. But I have never heard one say it was easy; it's not.
I wonder what would happen if we stood with young moms instead of shunning them, or blaming them. I wonder what would happen if we gave them, and their children a fighting chance...
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