Teen pregnancy brings big responsibilities
By Meagan Sexton Journal staff writer | Posted: Sunday, September 07, 2008
Samantha Romero holds her daughter, Marianna, 3, Saturday. Samantha is pregnant with her second child. (Staff photo by Jim Lee)
SIOUX CITY -- Samantha Romero is 17, has a 3-year-old child and is six months pregnant.
Romero and her mother, Lee Ann Geisinger, say they understand the situation 17-year-old Bristol Palin and her mother, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, have found themselves in.
Just days after last week's Republican National Convention was getting under way, it was announced that U.S. Sen. John McCain's newly selected vice presidential pick, the governor of Alaska, has a teenage daughter who is unmarried and five months pregnant. The announcement drew attention to the issue of teen pregancy.
"We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents," Palin said in a written statement released Monday by the McCain campaign. "Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family."
Geisinger, of Sioux City, also supports her daughter, who married her children's father in April.
She said her daughter, who was 14 when she had her first child, had to grow up fast after becoming a young mother.
"She couldn't be a teenager, but both of the kids really took the responsibility of being parents," Geisinger said. "That baby is their life. I was OK with (the marriage) because he did stand by her and he's been with her. I felt comfortable letting her marry at that age. It all kind of worked together, and she showed everyone she could do it."
Geisinger said it is important for parents dealing with the issue of teenage pregnancy to stand by their children and let them know they're there through the good and the bad.
Romero balanced being a high school student and a mom very carefully. She graduated from East High School in Sioux City this year.
"It was hard," Romero said. "Especially going to school, and I did have a part-time job. ... I actually had to switch schools because I didn't have anyone to baby-sit. I switched to a school that had a day care. I had good attendance and everything, but I couldn't really join in any after school activities."
Renee Geesaman, 35, of Sioux City, said she knows just how it feels to be a teenage mother and the mother of a pregnant teenager.
Geesaman was a senior in high school when she became pregnant with her daughter Sadie, who is 18 and now pregnant with her own first child.
"I had her at 16 and so, throughout her whole life I told her how important it was to wait (to have children)," Geesaman said.
She explained that throughout her senior year she worked from 8 a.m. until noon and attended school from noon until 3 p.m.
"(As a teenager) I wasn't able to hang out with my friends anymore," Geesaman said. "I had straight A's in school. I was actually a year early. After I graduated high school, I had plans to go to college, and that never happened. So I've pretty much had to work as much as I possibly can to support my family because I don't make as much as a college graduate would."
She said the best advice she can give to parents with pregnant teenagers is not to yell at them or create more conflict.
"Try to be supportive just for the fact that it's inevitable, it's going to happen," Geesaman said. "I definitely discourage teenage pregnancy. I think teenagers somehow need to learn it's not good for their future to have a baby when they're a teenager. Their future is definitely not going to be as bright."
She said she intentionally got pregnant as a teenager because she wanted to feel more grown up.
"I wanted to be independent," Geesaman said. "I actually wanted to be on my own when I was 16 and tried to get pregnant. It wasn't an accident, and that's kind of bad. It's definitely worth it to wait."
Iowa has the eighth-lowest teenage pregnancy rate in the nation. Of the 6,020 teenage pregnancies each year in Iowa, 63 percent result in live births, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which focuses on advancing sexual and reproductive health worldwide.
However, Kevin Grieme, spokesman for the Siouxland District Health Department, said Woodbury County teen birth rates are higher than most other counties in the state.
"There's really no single factor I would say that really reflects as to why Woodbury County's rates may be above the other counties within the state of Iowa," Grieme said. "We have a teen sexuality task force that meets on a monthly basis and discusses this, and some of the things we've come back to is, it's very similar to some of the other parent responsibility factors of monitoring where your kids are at, holding them accountable to certain guidelines and just trying to keep track of them -- just the same as you do for alcohol and substance abuse prevention."
The Sioux City Community School District also plays a role, providing education about sex, family and social health as soon as students begin middle school.
District spokeswoman Alison Benson said that according to the district's handbook, students are taught how to use resistance skills when appropriate and that eighth-graders are taught about why practicing abstinence is a reasonable decision and how to use resistance skills if there is pressure to be sexually active.
"Abstinence is discussed, and it's talked about being the best and most effective way of birth control, but then the other methods are addressed," said Mary Jo Salem, director of K-12 cirriculum and elementary education for Sioux City Community Schools.
Meagan Sexton can be reached at 293-4243 or meagansexton@siouxcityjournal.com.
Romero and her mother, Lee Ann Geisinger, say they understand the situation 17-year-old Bristol Palin and her mother, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, have found themselves in.
Just days after last week's Republican National Convention was getting under way, it was announced that U.S. Sen. John McCain's newly selected vice presidential pick, the governor of Alaska, has a teenage daughter who is unmarried and five months pregnant. The announcement drew attention to the issue of teen pregancy.
"We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents," Palin said in a written statement released Monday by the McCain campaign. "Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family."
Geisinger, of Sioux City, also supports her daughter, who married her children's father in April.
She said her daughter, who was 14 when she had her first child, had to grow up fast after becoming a young mother.
"She couldn't be a teenager, but both of the kids really took the responsibility of being parents," Geisinger said. "That baby is their life. I was OK with (the marriage) because he did stand by her and he's been with her. I felt comfortable letting her marry at that age. It all kind of worked together, and she showed everyone she could do it."
Geisinger said it is important for parents dealing with the issue of teenage pregnancy to stand by their children and let them know they're there through the good and the bad.
Romero balanced being a high school student and a mom very carefully. She graduated from East High School in Sioux City this year.
"It was hard," Romero said. "Especially going to school, and I did have a part-time job. ... I actually had to switch schools because I didn't have anyone to baby-sit. I switched to a school that had a day care. I had good attendance and everything, but I couldn't really join in any after school activities."
Renee Geesaman, 35, of Sioux City, said she knows just how it feels to be a teenage mother and the mother of a pregnant teenager.
Geesaman was a senior in high school when she became pregnant with her daughter Sadie, who is 18 and now pregnant with her own first child.
"I had her at 16 and so, throughout her whole life I told her how important it was to wait (to have children)," Geesaman said.
She explained that throughout her senior year she worked from 8 a.m. until noon and attended school from noon until 3 p.m.
"(As a teenager) I wasn't able to hang out with my friends anymore," Geesaman said. "I had straight A's in school. I was actually a year early. After I graduated high school, I had plans to go to college, and that never happened. So I've pretty much had to work as much as I possibly can to support my family because I don't make as much as a college graduate would."
She said the best advice she can give to parents with pregnant teenagers is not to yell at them or create more conflict.
"Try to be supportive just for the fact that it's inevitable, it's going to happen," Geesaman said. "I definitely discourage teenage pregnancy. I think teenagers somehow need to learn it's not good for their future to have a baby when they're a teenager. Their future is definitely not going to be as bright."
She said she intentionally got pregnant as a teenager because she wanted to feel more grown up.
"I wanted to be independent," Geesaman said. "I actually wanted to be on my own when I was 16 and tried to get pregnant. It wasn't an accident, and that's kind of bad. It's definitely worth it to wait."
Iowa has the eighth-lowest teenage pregnancy rate in the nation. Of the 6,020 teenage pregnancies each year in Iowa, 63 percent result in live births, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which focuses on advancing sexual and reproductive health worldwide.
However, Kevin Grieme, spokesman for the Siouxland District Health Department, said Woodbury County teen birth rates are higher than most other counties in the state.
"There's really no single factor I would say that really reflects as to why Woodbury County's rates may be above the other counties within the state of Iowa," Grieme said. "We have a teen sexuality task force that meets on a monthly basis and discusses this, and some of the things we've come back to is, it's very similar to some of the other parent responsibility factors of monitoring where your kids are at, holding them accountable to certain guidelines and just trying to keep track of them -- just the same as you do for alcohol and substance abuse prevention."
The Sioux City Community School District also plays a role, providing education about sex, family and social health as soon as students begin middle school.
District spokeswoman Alison Benson said that according to the district's handbook, students are taught how to use resistance skills when appropriate and that eighth-graders are taught about why practicing abstinence is a reasonable decision and how to use resistance skills if there is pressure to be sexually active.
"Abstinence is discussed, and it's talked about being the best and most effective way of birth control, but then the other methods are addressed," said Mary Jo Salem, director of K-12 cirriculum and elementary education for Sioux City Community Schools.
Meagan Sexton can be reached at 293-4243 or meagansexton@siouxcityjournal.com.
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YoGoGirl wrote on Sep 25, 2008 4:38 PM:
YoGoGirl wrote on Sep 25, 2008 4:35 PM:
X-SSC wrote on Sep 22, 2008 9:51 AM:
murder wrote on Sep 15, 2008 2:58 AM:
a pround teen mommy wrote on Sep 14, 2008 10:02 PM: