I think it is beyond sad that these girls are ruining their young lives, and won’t realize it until a few years up the road when their opportunities for higher education are slimmer and the need for a bigger paycheck looms large.

Also, all the press about Britney Spears’ sister giving birth so young cannot have helped deter these girls. So very sad.

I feel for the babies. What does an under 16 year old know about raising a child when she’s still so young herself?

After my daughter was 3, I raised her as a single parent. It ain’t easy and these high school girls have no idea what they are doing to their lives. In a word, they are stupid!

In my opinion these teenagers do not all share the same reason for becoming pregnant. That seeing a movie whould encourage them to become impregnated seems highly unlikely as well: however, because this extraordinary situation has occurred in a small town, counselors and adoption agencies should offer some guidance. Perhaps, the girls will not change their minds, but someone might point out that they are the adults to provide the attention. If the school currently provides daycare for student mothers, these girls need to get enrolled immediately. Peace and grace

I raised my 3 children as a single mom. That was so hard. I can’t even imagine how I would have survived if I had been a teen mom. I didn’t start having my children until I was 30! I guess I’m a slow starter.

My son was born when I was 17. I met his father, my first husband, when I was in a Catholic girl’s school. My son turned our very well, educated in Jesuit schools, grad school in Paris with degrees in International Relations, Foreign Policy, UN Charter law, and while interning at ABC News Paris. He’s traveled everywhere, is multi-lingual, a UC-French citizen and most of all a very kind individual. When I became a mother, my husband and I both were very serious about the beautiful life we wanted for our son. And we had it and with a great deal of love and support from our extended family. Everyone was crazy about him from the start. All the time growing up and now he has been an enormous source of pride, joy and delight. I couldn’t have possibly had a more wonderful child. I always wanted to have a baby because when I was young and Jackie Kennedy was First Lady it seemed so glamorous. I also took to heart her words that , “If you bungle raising your child nothing else you do well matters.” I admired her totally for being so brainy and productive, and her interests were natural for me too: painting watercolors, jumping horses, being athletic, loving everything French, running a beautiful home. Also, when growing up with 5 children and a big home, I appreciated it, but wanted my own style including the must have swimming pool. And we had it. I did life a little backwards….but it worked out for us. My son and I did everything together, and always so much fun. Naturally it’s best to wait till finished with education, have a career and an adult life and then have a child. But I was a very smart and capable girl and did what was the right thing for me. When my friend’s had their child at 40…mine was already through graduate school. Teenage pregnancies are actually going down. This gives parents an opportunity to speak with their children. I wish the girls and their babies as much luck as I had…but hope it isn’t a trend.

I wonder sometimes if we aren’t encouraging “those” girls to get pregnant by making it so easy on them in other ways. Day care in high schools, food vouchers, all those classes in “self esteem” because whatever you choose to do with your life is A-OK!!!!!! Telling people of any age that a behavior is shameful just isn’t done any more, and maybe it should be. I really resent the daylights out of having to help support people who make stupid decisions - of their own free will, mind you - and then can’t manage the consequences. The media is partially responsible by making shack-ups and illegitimate births, etc, seem like viable lifestyles, but ultimately? It all boils down to how smart you are, because the intelligent girls aren’t going to fall for the Britney/Lindsey/Jamie Lynn/Brangelina nonsense that passes for news and is portrayed as decent behavior. “Stupid” might be a politically incorrect term these days, but it sure seems to apply to a lot of people out there.

Look at our culture today….look at the soaps, look at what Hollywood is belting out for kids and teens, then count how many hours kids are with their parents, and how much “stuff” most kids have because parents give it to them to pacify them…the teen particularly. Did you ever listen to the dialogue of a preteen tv show, they sound like 50 yr old adults. By the time a kid is 10 he/she has seen every facet of life, both real and unreal. What’s left to wow themselves, yep, let’s get pregnant! Because these kids have had everything or almost everything, what the heck, somone will take care of the baby, the state will pay for day care or the grandparents will absorb the baby into their lives. There is no responsibility. We are rearing kids who skip all the important stages of childhood, and they are jumping into adulthood….. and they are way over their heads. Mary S.

We have blamed everyone but THE PARENTS! Where are these girls’ moms/dads/grandparents who should have been giving them the counseling that was needed? I’m not blaming the media, movies, celebrities, or anyone who had nothing to do with the upbringing of these young ladies. If we as women aren’t teaching our young ladies that “this situation isn’t what you want”, then its our fault.