“To Shelly - my apologies I have only just read your comment.
Your questions are personal but ones I believe need answering to try to establish the reasoning behind teenage pregnancies - on that note (if you see this posting) please feel free to email me and I will answer them the best I can.
traceyandbill@hotmail.co.uk
Best wishes
Tracey”

“Tracey, I think you have hit the nail on the head. Age is not an excuse for poor parenting. I have no issue with young mums who can support their families - not just financially but emotionally and socially as well. I would be interested to know how you learnt about sex and whether it was a conscious decision to have a child at 17. Obviously they are personal questions and I don't honestly expect you to divulge such info on an open forum. but the quality of info on sex that is given DOES have a baring on teen pregnancy

Unfortunately the problems we have today are highlighted by the number of children having children and in a lot of cases not only are these young parents inept but the grandparents are as well. However, that said, I think we should not only be looking at the amount of teen pregnancies but also the amount of children born to people who have no idea how to parent a child.I think if we did, we'd be truly shocked at the lack of parenting skills people of all ages have, and across all classes and sections of society. It isn't right just to point the finger at teen mums (Don't get me started on deadbeat Dads..!) but at the moment that is where the government spotlight falls.

Well done Tracey for being one of the few exceptions that prove the rule - regardless of age!!”

“I was always encouraged by my parents to do well in school and to want to achieve good things in life - I had hopes and dreams and the knowledge that my parents always worked for a living and that if I wanted a happy life like theirs then I had to do the same and that I wouldn't get everything handed to me on plate.
I was brought up to know right from wrong in a stable loving home but that didn't stop me becoming a mum at 17.
Due to my upbringing though, I knew that I woud have to support my child and provide a stable loving home - just as my parents had. I now have 3 children (and married to their dad) we both work full time and have never expected anything from other people i.e the taxpayer.
The point I am trying to make is not to focus so much on educating teenagers not to have sex (afterall the majority will anyway regardless of what they are taught) but to give them the drive and ambition to want to achieve something with their lives, take away the "the social will pay for it attitude" and make them realise that if they do choose to become parents at a young age then they will need to work hard and earn the good things in life and earn the sense of achievement that comes with being a good parent.”

“"It's OK to discuss sex with your children, Bristol parents told".....I didn't realise it "wasn't!
Thanks BEP for this informative and life-changing headline, top journalism as always....
;)”

“'The only difference is back the social y would actually try to support the kids and parents with the right help and advice to be a good parent and how to get back to work.' Phil, Bristol

Phil, would that be the same social workers that would forcibly take babies away from their unmarried mothers after first letting mother and baby bond for a few weeks???”

“I do try Hannah..!”

“nice posts shelley and so eloquently written too!!”

“You don't have to be a middle class two parent family to use common sense.

The problem goes back to the 60's when the then 'youth' rejected the advice of their parents and did things for themselves. They had children but didn't really have a clue about parenting because they had rejected traditional values. then their children grew up with the same selfish good-time attitude of their parents and so on and so on through the 70's. 80's etc until now we have a generation of children who are so far removed from how to parent effectively that society has almost forgotten what parenting actually is.”

“Oh goody. I have finally got official permission to discuss S-E-X with my children!!!

Children are naturally curious anyway and ask questions from an early age. If you answer these questions honestly as they arise (so to speak!) then it's easy not embarrassing. I don't need to have 'the talk' with my 12 year old because we have been drip feeding her this info as she asked questions and we are applying the same strategy with out 9 year old and our 6year old too.
If you approach sex education in this way not only does it give children the info they need but it de-mystifies sex and encourages children to question other things in the knowledge that they will be listened to with openness and honesty!”

“patrica and teresa? you are two peas in a pod ..................you both talk out of your back passages!!!”