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Host Intro: When a child is born to a teen mother, the mom’s at greater risk for dropping out of school and living in poverty.  The child is at a greater risk of becoming a teen mom herself someday, if she’s a girl, or ending up in prison, if he’s a boy.  Many experts talk about these statistics, and what policies should be enacted to deal with this issue.  But, what about the teen moms themselves?  What’s it like to be a teen mom?   And what support can she get for staying in school and out of poverty?  To find out, journalists from Casey Middle School in Boulder have been studying the issue of teen pregnancy.  It’s an issue close to home for them, because they have known girls in middle school who have been pregnant.  The middle school journalists have talked about this with their school psychologist and with experts from Boulder’s teen clinic.  And recently, they visited the teen parenting program at Fairview High School.  It’s a program that provides child care services, at the high school, so that teen moms can go to classes.  The teen parenting program also provides them with parenting and job skill classes.  And it gives a community of support to the teen moms.  You’ll learn more about the Fairview teen parenting program this Thursday, when we’ll have a call-in show on Teen Parenting.

Up next, Here’s a report on what it’s like to talk with teen mothers, from middle school students Mayra Romez (MY-rah ROME-ehz) and Yaire Guitierrez (YAY-rhay goo-tee-AIR-ehz.)  In this part of their interview, the middle school journalists explain why they decided to look at the issue of teen moms.  And they focus on a question that they wondered about themselves--what would it be like for a teenage girl to tell her family that she’s pregnant, and she’s going to have a baby?  Here are Mayra and Yaire.


OTHER STORIES IN THIS SERIES:

Teen Journalists Reflect on Teen Pregnancy - 3:45

Teen Journalist Prepare Questions about Teen Parenting - 4:00

Teen Journalists Meet Teen Moms--Part 1 - 6:00

Teen Journalists Meet Teen Moms--Part 2 - 6:30

Teen Parenting and Pregnancy Call-In Show - 1 hour

Thanks to Casey Middle School Journalism Teacher Lee Lazar, Casey School Psychologist Carla Friedli, and KGNU's Shelley Schlender for their assistance with these stories, to the Youth Opportunities Board for grant funds, and to KGNU Boulder-Denver for broadcasting and helping this series be possible.
Groups Featured in this report include:

Full Text:

PART 1:  WHAT’S IT LIKE FOR A TEEN MOM TO TELL HER FAMILY THAT SHE’S PREGNANT?

Reporters:  Mayra and Yaire

Produced by:  Shelley Schlender

MAYRA
My name is Mayra, and I’m 14.

YAIRE

My name is Yaire, and I’m 14, too.  You never really imagine an 8th grader getting pregnant.  It’s usually like high schoolers.  But . . .

These girls were 8th graders when we were 7th graders, and these girls were pregnant.

YAIRE

I tried to imagine what it would be like, finishing middle school pregnant.  High school’s hard enough, and starting off with a baby is even harder.

Because now that we’re choosing our classes and stuff, it’s like . .

YAIRE

Really stressful.

MAYRA
I know.  Cause like, you don’t know what to choose and you’re scared to going and like with a baby and that responsibility, I think that’s like . . . big.

SOUNDS FROM HIGH SCHOOL TEEN PARENT PROGRAM, BABIES CRYING PLUS

I have biology . . I’m in class  (FADE DOWN)

YAIRE  (ASIDE TO AUDIENCE)

To find out more about all of this, we decided to go to Fairview and interview some of the teen moms there.

BABY CRYING (FADE UNDER)

MAYRA (ASIDE TO AUDIENCE)

We went to the Teen Parenting Program at Fairview, and we got to interview Tatiana and Sonia.

YAIRE (TALKING WITH TATIANA AND SONIA AT THE TEEN PARENT PROGRAM)

So how old are you guys?

TATIANA

I’m Tatiana.  I’m 17.  

SONIA

I’m Sonia and I’m 16.

YAIRE (ASIDE TO AUDIENCE)

When I went to Fairview, I interviewed Tatiana because I’ve known her for a long time.  She was friends with my brother.  So I thought it would be easier to have a normal conversation with her.  And talking with Sonia was pretty much the same.  That was the first time I met her, but it was still a normal conversation.

YAIRE (TALKING WITH TATIANA AND SONIA AT THE TEEN PARENT PROGRAM)

How old were you guys when you got pregnant.

TATIANA

I was 15.

SONIA

I was 15, too.

YAIRE (ASIDE TO AUDIENCE)

Tatiana is three years older than us.  Her daughter is, I think 2 because she had her daughter at 15, and she’s 17 now.

YAIRE (TALKING WITH TATIANA AND SONIA AT THE TEEN PARENT PROGRAM)

Was this a planned pregnancy?

YAIRE (ASIDE TO AUDIENCE)

Tatiana answered first.

TATIANA

Mine was planned.

SONIA

Mine wasn’t. (LAUGH)

YAIRE (ASIDE TO MAYRA)

Why’d she laugh?

MAYRA

I don’t know.

YAIRE

I think she was nervous because it’s not every day that someone comes up to you and starts asking you questions like, when did you get pregnant.  How are your doing.  Stuff like that.

MAYRA

I guess she was being brave because she did seem a little nervous but throughout the interview, she gets a more confident.

YAIRE (TALKING WITH TATIANA AND SONIA AT THE TEEN PARENT PROGRAM)

What was your experience when you guys told your parents?

SONIA

My mom started crying but then that same day she took me shopping for baby clothes.

YAIRE (ASIDE TO AUDIENCE)

That’s, um.  Sonia.  She was the one who didn’t have a planned pregnancy.

SONIA

My dad was okay with it, and my sisters ignored me for like six months.

MAYRA (ASIDE TO AUDIENCE)

When I heard her say her sisters ignored her, I thought that was sad.

SONIA

My mom told them that I was getting really bad depression and they felt bad.  Cause I was there for them when they had their babies.  Cause they had them when they were teenagers, too,  so they felt bad.

MAYRA (ASIDE TO AUDIENCE)

Why would they ignore her if they had babies too?  They made mistakes.  It’s not like she was the first one.

YAIRE

I have a sister named Adalee, she’s in 6th grade.  If I had a baby, I wouldn’t want Adalee to get pregnant, I’d want her to learn from my mistakes so she would move on with her life and not have kids.

MAYRA

You’re not going to ignore her cause she did it.

YAIRE

I would support her but at the same time I’d be disappointed in her because my mom and I always talk with her.  Even though it’s awkward for her, we talk with her about sex and what not.  

(AWKWARD LAUGHTER)

YAIRE

Yeah.

YAIRE

Okay, so after Sonia told us about her experience telling her family how they took it, Tatiana, the one with the planned pregnancy told how they took it.

TATIANA

My mom ignored me for 3 months.

YAIRE (ASIDE TO AUDIENCE)

It’s sad that her mom would actually stop talking to her.  I don’t think it’s a big enough deal to stop talking to your daughter for a long time.  Just because she got pregnant.

YAIRE (TALKING WITH TATIANA AND SONIA AT THE TEEN PARENT PROGRAM)

What did it take for your mom to finally start talking with you?

TATIANA

When I told here I didn’t want her in the baby’s life.  That’s when she decided to talk to me.

4:50 - 5:30      -       SOUND OF BABIES BACK UP AND SOUND OF TEEN PARENTING PROGRAM (SOUND CONTINUES FOR ROUGHLY 40 SECONDS, AS A TRAILER FOR HOST OUTRO.

HOST OUTRO:  You’ve been listening to Teen Moms at Fairview High School, talking with middle school students from Casey Middle School.  Tune in tomorrow, for more of this story.  And on Thursday morning, we’ll have a call-in show on teen pregnancy and parenting.

This story was produced with the help of KGNU’s Shelley Schlender, Casey Journalist teacher Lee Lazar, Casey School Psychologist Carla Freidli (FREE-dlee) and through funding by Boulder’s Youth Opportunities Program.  Special thanks to Fairview High School students Tatiana and Sonia for sharing their stories, and to middle school reporters Mayra (MY-rah ) and Yaire (YAY-rhay)