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Teenage mothers across London today insisted they are “positive role models” as a report attacked high pregnancy rates.
Three women spoke out to defend the 57,000 schoolgirls who become pregnant each year to say they are part of the diversity of the capital. It comes as a report criticises the difference between boroughs in young pregnancy rates, with 75 teenage girls in every 1,000 giving birth in Lambeth compared with 15 in Richmond. The London Assembly survey, to be published in July, is expected to call for a city-wide “teen sex czar” to help bring down rates.
Today young mothers backed the plan as they described the battle they face to dispel the “gymslipmum” stereotype and pursue their academic ambitions. Sarah Aouamria, 17, who is due to give birth in nine weeks with her 21-year-old boyfriend at her side, is one of 64 girls attending a new course in Haringey and Enfield on how to manage adolescence and parenthood.
She said: “There is a very negative opinion of young mums, but we are not all like that. We don't all smoke, we haven't fallen pregnant to get a house and we are not all single. I am determined to do A-levels and will not fulfil the stereotype of a teenage mother.”
She backed the call for a London sex czar, adding: “The standard of sex education is so different it would help if someone tried to even it out.”
Casita Sumner, 36, a former teenage mother who runs the course for 14 to 18-year-olds, said: “The girls feel very strongly about the negative view society has. They still face prejudice. One girl was on the bus heavily pregnant and an old man started pointing his walking stick at her and shouting.”
Seventeen-year-old Jahkeira Armstrong, from Tottenham, was 15 when she became pregnant with her daughter Anneshya despite being on the Pill. Ms Armstrong, who took her GCSEs while pregnant, said: “I had no sex education. When I went on the Pill I was not told it would not work for everyone.”
She is now studying ICT at City and Islington college. The Government's Care to Learn scheme funds her childcare at up to £175 a week. The London Assembly's report will be highly critical of the “fragmented” approach to sexual health, with sex education budgets varying between local health services and no single policy for the capital.
James Cleverly, chairman of the health and public services committee which will publish the report, said: “We need greater co-ordination. If we are not getting it right here you can be sure no one is getting it right.”
Girls in inner London are much more likely to get pregnant under the age of 18 than those on the outskirts. The conception rate is 45.6 per 1,000 girls compared with 41.9 nationally.
Dr Ruth Wallis, chairwoman of the Lambeth teenage pregnancy and parenthood partnership board, said the borough had cut rates with the number of girls getting pregnant under the age of 16 dropping by 30 per cent in six years.
Sarah Aouamria, 17
Got pregnant after “just not thinking” about contraception. The teenager from Enfield plans to go back to City and Westminster College and study A-levels in English, maths, French and sociology while her 21-year-old boyfriend looks after their baby.
She said: “I get angry about the stereotype of teenage mums. It was an accident that I got pregnant because contraception was not at the forefront of my mind.
“When you see programmes about teenage mothers they show girls who smoke and drink and who want free houses. But they never show positive role models like us. I want to do forensic psychology at university. I want to get everything done while my baby is young so he will see me as a positive influence.”
Casita Sumner, 36
Runs Keeping It Simple Training for teenage parents. The mother-of-three first got pregnant at the age of 17 with her son TJ, who is now 20. She split up with her boyfriend and lost many friends as a result.
She said: “I got pregnant with my first love. I was on the Pill but didn't take it correctly and had been sick so it didn't work. The father didn't really want to know and we split up.
“I carried on going to college and took A-levels but I remember being quite lonely. I didn't go to antenatal classes because I was embarrassed I was the only one there without a husband.
“There is more support for teenagers now but they still face stigma. Sometimes girls are coerced into sex by boys and other times it is a lack of education.
Reader views (20)
I was a mother at 15. An age which most people are having sex, including the sons and daughters of most of the people who have been making harsh comments to all young mums. I had the coil to which my body rejected. A fault not of my own! I didnt find this out until i was already pregnant. I have brought my daughter up alone whilst working. She has turned into a bright, talented, well mannered girl who is top of her year in most subjects. She is very well behaved compared to a lot of kids in her school born to parents that are much older. So i ask of you narrow minded, judgemental idiots who dont lead perfect lives to think before you speak. It could happen to one of your children!
- Rebecca, Chesterfield, 21/12/2009 19:36
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i married at 18 and had my first child at 19, so i was a teenage mother. that said, both my husband and i wanted the children we have, have worked bloody hard to support them, have never asked for or recieived benefits (other than child benefit). i do know of people that have had children with a variety of partners for financial gain. rent paid for, money in the bank every week and you dont have to do anything for it. disgusting behaviour.where is the dignity in living this way? my husband and i work hard for what we have, our children share the same views on life, if you want something work for it! im sure some of these mothers will do their absolute best to work and support their own offspring, but the vast majority dont. i personally think people on benefits should be made to do some sort of work within the community for the money they receive.
- Lavinia, bedfordshire, england, 18/11/2009 13:43
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A friend of mine lives on a local estate populated by the unemployed and feckless single mothers, with hoards of out of control kids running wild, if this is meant to be an example of positive role models then heaven help us.
Just look at the crime statistics.
- Heather Mills, Lambeth, UK, 18/11/2009 12:43
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When the pill is issued, not only does the GP run through all the pros/cons, side effects etc, but the packet also comes with instructions. Oh, but why should they bother to read anything when more kids equals more benefits, better housing, all sorts of grants/allowances whilst the tax payer struggles for every penny.
Yeah, I can see why they are role models. I think we, the tax payer should take some lessons on how to play the system and stop being such pushovers!
- Smb, London, UK, 18/11/2009 12:43
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I have no problem with people having children when they decide to, but they should be able to support and bring them up by themselves. Giving such generous benefits, additional help with education etc. has simply encouraged it. When the choice is starker people think harder about the consequences.
- Mark, London, 18/11/2009 12:43
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"The teenager from Enfield plans to go back to City and Westminster College and study A-levels in English, maths, French and sociology while her 21-year-old boyfriend looks after their baby." How many times have I heard this one...and who exactly is going to support her while she goes back to school, her boyfriend? Of course he will, I can just see him now, making a packed lunch for his girlfriend to take to college, then cleaning their flat, before taking the baby to the local nursery or parent/toddler session then back home for a bath and of course he'll be there in the kitchen preparing a healthy home cooked meal just in time for his girlfriends return.....no way he will, wake up girl...you have no idea of life and as for your boyfriend supporting you NO, it's Joe Public and the taxes we pay that will be supporting you and your boyfriend as he obviously hasn't a job if he's going to be available to stay at home. Next time you fancy a shuffle under the covers or behind the bike shed, 1. DO THINK ABOUT CONTRACEPTIVE or is thinking difficult at 17, or 2.CROSS YOUR LEGS. As for the comment that “they never show positive role models like us". You are NOT a positive role model until you have something to be a role model about....just like a junkie who talks about going clean...its exactly that...TALK.
- Alan, East London, 18/11/2009 12:43
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To get pregnant at 15 doesn't bode well for a role model.Irresponsible more like.More taxes wasted on work shy little girls that bring up feral kids just to claim a flat and child allowance.
Not to mention the rest of the handouts.
- Eddie, London, 18/11/2009 12:43
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I'm fed up of hearing them whinging. My partner's daughter got pregnant at 16 - after I gave her all the advice she needed to know and after she decided that she "didn't want to work" (her own words). She got £1500 put in her bank account and went on holiday three times within the first year. She runs a car, smokes and gets her accommodation paid for. Two weeks before Christmas she went and spent £200 on clothes for herself. If she could actually be bothered to get off her bottom to study, she would find that she could get childcare, extra benefits etc. I'm a taxpayer - can I have some please? The only thing that worries me is that offspring of offspring like her will be running the country soon. Time to get out, me thinks.....Oh, by the way I agree with blaming the parents for some of it (although personal responsibility comes into it as well). She still gets everything from her Father, he even steals from our house to furnish hers as she constantly complains about having no money.
- Sarah Coverdale, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, 18/11/2009 12:43
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I would hate to see negative role models.
The message here children is for a few minutes of adult behaviour these kids have messed up many life's, these are not children to be respected, they are selfish and irresponsible kids who have the wrong kind of background to make good parents and will encumber the state for decades.
One normally has to look no further than the parents of these pregnant children to find the root of the issue
- Gary, Brentwood, 18/11/2009 12:43
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Even those few with the best of intentions are going to be tarred by the same brush as the majority who have no intention of paying their way through life. If they think they can work their way around that reality of life they are living in a fantasy world - or in a state of denial.
- Rogan, Irving, 18/11/2009 12:43
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So this "practice" is now being described as a form of "diversity"!
I suppose thats one way of looking at it - after all, their are many "diverse" chosen lifestyles - from drug dealing to lolling about watching TV all day and getting fat on benefits - in fact, the only "diverse" life style choice that springs to mind that doesn`t benefit from such freedoms is choosing NOT to pay tax for freeloaders?
- Darius Midwinter, London UK, 18/11/2009 12:43
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If you get pregnant and can't support the child, you should be forced to give him/her up for adoption especially if you are under 18.
We need to stop providing an easy option for some sections of society who think that the Welfare state owes them something, that it is their right to claim as much as possible and that there's no need for them to work.
- Adam, Harrow, UK, 18/11/2009 12:43
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totaly agree with eddie some after 35 seconds of giving birth hey mum this is your responsibility im off out with me mates to many youngsters want instant money for doing vitually nothing stop family allowance after 2nd kid .
- C Hris, bromley, 18/11/2009 12:43
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ADAM HARROW.
Very well said, not only would it be a deterrent to young girls, but probably fairer on the poor child, and FAIRER TO US BLOODY TAXPAYERS.
- P Staker, London, 18/11/2009 12:43
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Adam, Harrow - Girls view this as a career move. Beats working for a living; or doing exams. They are given a Free house, hundreds of pounds a week in benefits, Promiscuous girls/ chav drop outs who hero worship Jordan, Chantelle (spawn of the devil), and Jacqui Smit and dream of a GTI and a boyfriend called Dave and feed the children bargain buckets.
Is this real or just a fantasy? We pretend this is not happening even though it is the elephant in the room, we see it every day. Jam tarts that give birth to litters of little burglars in a campaign of breeding with as many different dads as possible and collect different coloured babies as a trophies of honour and name the spawn Courtney, Cortnee, Cortnie, Danielle or Jade and have pit balls for pets who like to hang from trees.
- Ge, Cornwall, 18/11/2009 12:43
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Shame on all those readers that have left such nasty comments! These girls are at college or uni, not making a career out of being a young mum, and when they qualify I'm sure they will work 100 times harder than any of you do. If you really need to look down on others to make yourself feel better I suggest you look somewhere else, not at those who are making something positive of their lives.
- Joe, UK, 18/11/2009 12:43
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I am working class and have worked since leaving school. I also continued working when I had my children in my late 20's and when I did my degree and Masters. However, my teenage daughter is 19 and has two children. She doesn't see why she has to work or go to college, she sits and smokes and watches Jeremy Kyle all day. She refuses to dress her kids in clothes other than branded names like Nike. She now wants a bigger house because her garden isn't big enough. Although the front garden has lots of rubbish outside of it. I feel sick that she has different values than me. She expects everything for free in life and says why should she work when she can get her false nails done each month and live in a nice house without having to do anything. She says I am just jealous because I work long hours. I just think she is wrong.
- Samantha, York, 18/11/2009 12:43
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Girls from certain backgrounds should be made by law to have the injection pill or the implant! The only people these people are role models to are ther brainless scum who cry about not knowing much about sex education, this being the reason they're pregnant! It's vicious cycle and will lead to the ruin of this country!
- Sadie, Manchester, 18/11/2009 12:43
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“I had no sex education. When I went on the Pill I was not told it would not work for everyone.”
I'm all for sex and pleasure - I'd be a hypocrit if I suggested otherwise - but Sex-Ed 101 - Choose to play the game and you risk losing! Don't have sex and you won't get pregnant. Again, it's called 'choice'. It isn't 'someone else's fault' - it's yours, and yours alone.
Final note - making mistakes does not add up to much in the way of 'role-modelling' unless you use negatives to teach others.
- Rogan, Irving, 18/11/2009 12:43
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Oh please? Life on benefits, broken homes, new wave of youth committing crime, no input into society financial or otherwise.
There is nothing positive about having an unwanted child midway through home ec's class.
Yet more of my money being spent on Labour's ill educated disaffected youth.
- Frank, Home Counties, England., 18/11/2009 12:43
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