Radio Show

Pregnant Middle School Students

Host Intro: 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

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:
Boulder Youth Risk Behavior Survey, http://www.co.boulder.co.us/health/HP/data/youth/yrbs.htm
Teen Clinic, 303-442-5160, www.teenclinic.org/
Boulder Valley Teen Parenting Program, (303) 447-5346 x. 1, http://bvsd.org/schools/FairviewHS/academics/TeenParenting/Pages/TeenParenting.aspx
Genesister for Sisters of Parenting Teens, 303.413.7512, http://www.bouldercounty.org/health/commhlth/genesis/genesister/index.htm
Genesis for Pregnant & Parenting Teens, http://www.bouldercounty.org/health/commhlth/genesis/index.htm


Full Text:

KGNU – CASEY MIDDLE SCHOOL
Teen Pregnancy Call-In Show
NOTE--The Entire Show is not transcribed, but here are prerecorded Segments That Were Used During the Show


What Questions Should We Ask the Fairview High School Teen Moms? (With Casey Middle School Psychologist Carla Friedli)    

Listen to or download (60 seconds)

TEAM MEMBER 1
How old were you when you got pregnant?  Was this a planned pregnancy?  What was your experience when you told your parents?  Is your family supportive?  How are they supportive.  Are you still with the baby’s father?  Does he help with the baby?  How?  What have you given up since you got pregnant?  What have you gained? What do you hope for your baby’s future?  What advice do you have for others?  What do you suggest for girls who want to get pregnant?

TEAM MEMBER 2
Are there going to be any girls there who gave their baby up for adoption?

CARLA
No.  This program is for girls who are parenting or are getting ready to be parents.  And they have a daycare for the children there.  So, we could ask if we could meet their babies.

EVERYBODY
Oh, I like babies!  I want to meet the babies.  They’re so cute.  Yeah!

Teen Sex  & High School Pressure
(With Casey Middle School Psychologist Carla Friedli and KGNU’s Shelley Schlender)

Listen to or download (60 seconds)


TEAM MEMBER 1
Eighth grade is the most important year.  You go to high school next year.

TEAM MEMBER 2
You’re going to be presented with a lot more things, about, like getting pregnant and drugs.  And if you can’t learn about that now .  . . .

TEAM MEMBER 1
More peer pressure in high school.

TEAM MEMBER 2
So I think we should have a couple of days where we have a workshop, because it’s so important.

SHELLEY
From what you’ve been saying, there are obviously middle school students who are sexually active.

TEAM MEMBER
Exactly.  There are.

CARLA
Do you think that’s common?

TEAM MEMBER
Not really common, but it’s common.

CARLA
Do you think that will change in high school?

TEAM MEMBER
I think it will be extremely common in high school.

TEAM MEMBER 3
Everybody loses their virginity in high school.

CARLA
Say that again?

TEAM MEMBER 3
Everybody loses their virginity in high school.

CARLA
Mayra, your eyes went like this.  So I want to give you a little reality check.  Fifty percent of the people in high school, or more, so 50, 51, are not sexually active at all.

EVERYBODY
Really?

CARLA
That means half.  So in this room, for girls, it means have of you may, half of you are not likely to.  So that’s why we need health, so that you know that half the kids choose not to.

SHELLEY
If I was your age, it might change me if I thought every girl in high school is going to be having sex and not being a virgin by the time she leaves high school, and it might change me if I thought nobody ever does that.  I think those opinions would affect me.

TEAM MEMBER 2
I think that some people are going to think that everybody loses their virginity in high school, then, like, they have to.

CARLA
So it’s just a matter of when and who.  Alix, did you think that everybody loses their virginity in high school?

TEAM MEMBER 2
No.  I thought a good amount of people did.

TEAM MEMBER 1
I thought it was 75%of people  did.

CARLA
Do you guys know about Teen Clinic?

I do some trips to Teen Clinic.  Teen Clinic is a fabulous place.  They have all the resources, and that’s where I get all my information. It’s completely free and they offer wonderful services to young people on days that are just for teens.  So you can go in there and talk about anything to do with sexuality.  And for kids who are thinking of becoming sexually active, it’s a great place to go before hand.

TEAM MEMBER 4
And they won’t tell your parents.

CARLA
No.  It’s actually a right that you have.  You can have birth control as young as 11 years old.

Questions for Teen Moms Tatiana and Sonia

Do you think it’s harder financially or emotionally to have a baby?

Listen to or download (43 seconds)

TATIANA
I think it’s emotionally more harder.  Because, there’ll be times that your baby’s crying and you’re like, what’s wrong?  Talk to me!  And your baby can’t talk to you.  They can’t tell you Oh, my God, like mom my chest hurts or My stomach hurts, or hey I haven’t been able to use the bathroom for a while.  So can you help me out or something.  Like all they can do is like, cry.

SONIA
If you have a supportive family, then it is, emotionally.  Like right now, me and my daughter are both sick, it’s really hard.  I get really frustrated   but I wake up in the morning and she smiles at me and I know she’s always going to be there for me, just like I will be there for her, too.

Do you think you should have waited?

Listen to or download (1:08)

TATIANA
In a way, I think I could have waited a little longer to have a baby with him.  But at that moment, I think we were thinking at the time, okay we’re ready to have a kid, we’re married, we gotta do this, we gotta do it right.  

SONIA
I know I should have waited, but having her here now, I don’t regret getting pregnant cause she’s changed my life for the good.

TATIANA
She’s changed me for the best.

YAIRE
It’s weird how having a baby can change a person’s life a lot.

SONIA
You think all they’re there for is to ruin it.  But when you think about it, that’s what you get up for in the morning.

TATIANA
You might have lost a lot of things, but in the end you’ve gained something that can never be taken away from you.

SONIA
Someone who’s always going to be there for you no matter what.

YAIRE
Someone who’s always going to need you guys.

TATIANA
And love you back even when another person can’t love you the way they do.

SONIA
Your support basically.  You’re always going to be there for them.  They’re always going to be there for you.

What are your goals?  Your lifelong goals?

Listen to or download (23 seconds)

My lifelong goal is to either work at a bank and make a lot of money or do hair, cause I love to do hair.  I like to color my own hair and cut my own hair.

I’m going to go to school to be an aesthetician.

Do you Like being Moms?

Listen to or download (1:49)

SONIA
It's hard, and sometimes I wish I wasn't.  But now that I think about it, it's fun.  The happiest moments I've had in my life are with my daughter.

TATIANA
I wanted my own daughter, and that's why I had my own.

SONIA
Now you see why your parents say kids grow up to fast.  I started crying when my daughter started crawling.

I can't wait to send her off to school.

I cried the first day I dropped my daughter off here because I had her here for the summer.

No one's going to take care of your daughter like your mom.  Cause you're the mom.  You know them better than anyone

Do you Want More Kids?

Listen to or download (1:32)

What Suggestions if you want to get pregnant?

Listen to or download (23 seconds)

TATIANA
If you want to get pregnant, make sure the guy can actually support you financially and emotionally, because there’s guys out there that will get you pregnant, say they want you to have their baby, and then they leave you.

SONIA
Make sure you’re ready for it too, cause it’s really hard.  

Would you want your girls to be teen moms?

Listen to or download (1:25)

YAIRE
Do you both have girls?

TATIANA SONIA
Yeah

YAIRE
Right now, if they were listening to this . . . If they were a little older, would you want them to be in the same position as you, having a kid as a teenager?

TATIANA
I don’t think I’d want to see my daughter in this position.  But If it happened, I’d try to be there more for her.

SONIA
I wouldn’t want her to be in it, but if it does, it happened . . . that’s what happened to me!  

YAIRE
Some statistics say that if their kids, if they’re born having a teen mom, they're more likely to be teen parents.

SONIA
My mom was a teen mom.  My mom actually went to this program.

TATIANA
My mom wasn’t a teen mom, but all my sisters were.  So, it kind of just wanted to see what they were doing and how they did it.

SONIA
My mom got married at 15.

TATIANA
I got married at 16.

Ending -- Natalie talks with 14 year old mom who was a former Casey Middle School student

Listen to or download (2:10)