Hmm… I don’t know.. for teens, social networking sites like Facebook, Myspace, and Black Planet are probably the way to go, along with perhaps LiveJournal type blogs that have teen communities that can sometimes be as specific as “Young Mothers”.

Please let me know what you think. I’ll start a blog on the topic myself. You can email me at andrew.kemp@detroitk12.org.

Our school is Catherine Ferguson Academy and you should call us if you want to enroll.

We are having a huge baby shower for new mothers and mothers to be on July 2nd. OUr phone is (313) 596-4766.

Thanks, drew

A lot of people are questioning this post’s focus on poor black teens, rather than all poor teens.

Point well taken. In particular, I think the word “black” in the title of this post is a mistake on my part. I’m sorry about that.

At the time I wrote this post, I was trying to not only convey my own opinions, but to convey what I think is well supported by the research I read. And both of the researchers whose work I relied on in this post had conducted their research in the black community. Hence, this post’s focus on poor black teenagers.

This is an interesting perspective and one that I agree with, but why aim it just at African American teenagers. Isn’t it true of other ethnic groups. As an anthropologist, I would say that in many cultures, having a baby between 17 and 19 is ideal, under particular conditions. What are those conditions - poverty, lack of ability to afford college tuition, thinking that you don’t have a chance to go to college, and what if the jobs are not there to employ college graduates (as in rural areas) I think the relevan questions is “what is different about middle class western society that makes it worthwhile to put off having children.”

I hope you all will read the blogs of our teenage mothers and fathers. They have something to say.

1) Abortions cost upwards of $300. If you’re poor, who has that kind of money? I’ll tell you who, middle-class and above. And at that socio-economic level, you can see other paths for yourself besides single motherhood as a teenager, b/c most likely you’re planning to go to college or some type of higher learning institution. Not to mention (I’ve heard) that abortions are scary, for ANY woman. More so I’d suspect if you have to go in there alone. Most folks married or otherwise don’t know the commitment, sacrifice, and struggle that’s involved with having a baby. That’s why they say you’re never really ready no matter who you are.

2) Teens don’t think rationally. “Someone to love me” as a reason to have a baby is a real ‘phenomenon’ across the board. I don’t know if that’s a female self-esteem issue or what.

3) The comments about “being self-sufficent” and “not depending on a man’s salary” in marriage are absolutely true to MY family and the families of black women I know. Sure, that’s an informal sample, but I’d be willing to bet that’s the case for many African-American women regardless of socio-economic status. Our families in-grain that message in us: “Have your own job that can support you, be independent enough to leave him . . .” Whether rooted in the effects of slavery and the ability for a slave master to rip a family apart or racism and lynching of the Jim Crow era, the high numbers of black men being incarcerated (whether justly or injustly, it affects black women all the same), a non-committal partner, rising rates of interracial marriage b/t black men and other women, violence in your neighborhood, or domestic violence that could lead to the endangerment of your own welfare or that of your prospective child . . . its something that the black families that I know do. They tell their daughters to be self-sufficient and to NEVER depend on a man for your survival. The only man that’s acceptable for you to depend on is your own father, and I believe that for poor black female teenager, the statistics have shown that that’s not particularly a reliable source either (on average). All that said, we’re taught to be completely independent (able to sustain ourselves and any children) before taking any vows. However, the flaw is that its not the same standard to be self-sufficient before child-bearing, cause you’ve got family to help regardless of what the father of the child is doing. Maybe that in combination with the cost of abortion (or birth control), makes it seem more ‘rational’ to have a baby anyway once you get pregnant?

4) Again, speaking on the black family based on my upbringing etc, African-American families are highly matriarchal. Even when its a two-parent home, Momma runs the house. Aunties, Grandmas, Female Cousins , best friends, Female neighbors even. . . it is OUR responsibility to take care of the next generations, i.e. the babies that come (no matter how they come). So, if you have that network at 16 and say, people are only getting older, what exactly is the deterrent to getting pregnant at 16? I myself have wondered–career-wise– would it have been better to just pop one out in high school cause I know my parents and family would have lent a hand (however begrudgingly). After college etc,. you’re on your own (atleast in my family). Would that have really prevented me from getting my college degree and MBA? And I didn’t grow up poor.

Within my own family and I suspect for many other black families, it is acceptable to transfer a child to another relative for raising. I have a cousin raised by an Aunt who didn’t have children of her own because her own child had died at a young age. That Aunt is her “mother” figure. No one has an issue with this, not even her birth mother.

3) Growing up within the black middle class, I’ve seen girls have the babies and keep it moving . . . going on to college, grad school, jobs, whatever. For many, it has resulted in a marriage down the line (I know PLENTY of baby mamas who are engaged!) to either another man or possibly the baby’s father. I feel it has alot to do with how the kids will be raised and/or supported by the family network. Upper-class folks (especially upper class white folks) feel the only way to support a child is through a strong marriage, the union of a man and woman in matrimony. For a community whose men have constitently been sold, lynched, incarcerated, and/or absent by choice through HISTORY in this country, the ability to marry is not always an option. So, do we delay child birth indefinitely?

Clearly, middle class blacks and poor blacks are not the same thing, however I feel that race will always be a connection (and similarity in behaviors for some things) between us and many (but not all) tenets of raising a family are similar just due to similar histories and the past of this country. I also understand/have felt that the black middle class has been and will continue to be the ‘buffer’ between the black lower class and white middle class. Meaning, I can understand the point of view of both sides, but I think that there are few things that they will agree on, thus making it hard for studies, research and comparisons to be done.

http://www.amazon.com/Promises-Can-Keep-Motherhood-Marriage/dp/0520241134

Let’s be blunt here - there is an emotional urge to bear children. Obviously, this is a gross over-generalization, but women _want_ to have babies. Now, considering that your life isn’t going to get any better, and it pretty much sucks now, and everyone else is doing it and managing okay…. why not now?

Really, let’s think one thing over: if a girl wants a baby and her life is going to suck no matter what, and she’s going to have the baby anyways, and she doesn’t really care who the father is - does it even matter if she’s an adult or not?

We see teen-aged childbirth as a tragedy because of it’s effect on the woman’s future - her marriageability, her employability, her education, her freedom, etc. But a poor woman in a ghetto will never find a good man, a good job, a good education, or any real freedom.

Is it that hard to believe they’d notice that and figure “why the hell not?”

Because that’s the real point. If it’s a biological urge, you don’t need a reason to. You need a reason not to.

And there is no deterrent. We can’t even create a deterrent, because that would be inhumane - it’s impossible to punish the mother without punishing the child (as much as the conservatives want to punish them).

So the only real way to fix the problem is to create a real future for these girls - one that parenthood will get in the way of. And that means seeing to it that they get a real education and real job prospects.