16 and Pregnant Revealed!- Assignment 3- Emily Stasel

I found this very fascinating because both of my parents were accidents. My grandparents weren't married and under the age of 20. Today my parents work really hard to maintain good relationships with their parents. My mom calls her mother everyday, but her birth dad isn't around at all. My parents in turn waited until they were 27 to have me and after reading this I wonder if that is why.

However, one of my favorite shows is Gilmore Girls, in which the mother is only 16 when she has the daughter. The two maintain a very close relationship, but the mother has a terrible relationship with her grandparents. It's interesting to see the interactions between mothers who are young when they have children versuses women who give childbirth later in life.

I find this post very interesting as well. There are a variety of different situations which all end up differently when it comes to teen pregnancy and relationships. I know different people who have ended up in two completely different situations as described- having children very early or having children rather late. The author states that mother child bond is crucial however in the case of Gilmore Girls the mother does not have a close relationship with the grandmother. (I know other factors may have caused distance between the two) However, the mother maintains a close relationship with her own daughter despite the distance with her own mother. I would like to see studies showing how the other factors too play a role in the attachment theory.

I find this post very interesting. I watch the show Teen Mom and I think that there are so many different examples of the mothers developing close relationships with their children and their relationships with their own mothers. One example that comes to mind is one girl who has a poor relationship with her mother but seems to have an excellent relationship with her son. I think that this shows that has a lot to do with nurture because of what she experienced with her mom she didn't want her son to go through that. In this case I think that she was trying to prevent the insecure attachement.

I firmly believe that if you wait until you are "ready", some people will never be. My brother is a prime example of this. On the other hand, my brother-in-law's girlfriend had her first daughter at 15 (Brittany). Brittany, in turn, had her first baby at 17. I know she was a little bit older, but now neither of them has graduated from high school and they are both into drugs and alcohol bad. There is a definite cycle in their family. I hope that Brittany can break the cycle, but being that she has no ambition to get even her diploma from high school, I don't know that it is going to happen.

The idea that insecure attachment is the reason for early motherhood is interesting but at the same time it is hard for me to see the connection. It would be interesting if they could study this somehow. Although it would be extremely unethical, psychologists could study children taken away from the parents vs. children who live with their parents and examine the age at which they choose to have kids of their own. The problem with this of course would be that there are so many other factors at place it would be hard to rule them out as possible causes. Until some sort of experiment is designed, it's hard for me to believe there is an absolute causation between attachment and age of pregnancy.

I found this extremely interesting, and it put a lot into perspective for my view of my family. My uncle and aunt had several of my cousins when they were very young (18/19), and in turn my cousins also had their children when they were young (around early 20s.) So although they waited a few years longer than my aunt and uncle, they still had children at a fairly young age. I am interested to see if my second cousins will also follow in their footsteps.

This is an interesting topic and the idea of teen moms are certainly popular in the media these days. I feel like a lot more kids are having kids these days even though their are many more ways to prevent this than ever before. Teens moms children are more likely to become drug addicts and partake in crimes. I would definitely agree that it is because of the nurture aspect. A lot of teen moms aren't ready to be moms not only mentally but because they don't have stable careers or places to live. This creates many struggles for them and can influence their bond with their child.

Having a young sister whom I had the pleasure to watch grow up, I have noticed a great amount of my mother's influence on her particular actions. More often then none, when in need of help or care, my sister seeks the attention of my mother instead of my father. Despite whether mom is easily accessible or not, she will eagerly call out for her and for her only. Of course, with her progressive aging, my sister has began to outgrow those habits of intense attachment and become more independent. As she continues to mature, each time I see her I can see a more fully developed young girl- which I believe, as you stated in this post, is thanks to the early and continuous nurture given by my mother.

I am a strong believer in nurture playing a key role in the development of children. Having a good relationship with your parents can teach you how to maintain a healthy relationship with other people around you- your siblings, cousins, friends, mate, and later children. When you are a teen mom, you aren't (may not be) emotionally capable of raising your child in a stable environment. If you have problems with your spouse and parents, it can negatively affect your child and cause for emotional distress. This has been observed in my life with a friend of mine and others who entered into a relationship (with kids) too early (in my opinion).

Great blog!! I believe that the attachment theory is true in that this “first love" plays a major role in factors later in life such as maintaining relationships. The bond between mom and child is crucial. I find it interesting that separation from the primary caregiver can lead to insecure attachment. In the modern age, more and more moms are taking on the role of primary breadwinners for the family and are choosing to work after their maternity leaves instead of stay home. Then dad either becomes the primary caregiver or children are put into day care until they reach school age. The question is, are these children affected negatively from losing this relationship with their mothers or do children fare well perhaps, because they are able to build equally important relationships with peers? Could separation from mothers have a similar effect of being raised by a teen mom on a child? I would like to know.