Shock and Awe: Pregnant Teen Sues Parents

Every since last week, I’ve been going OFF about this pregnant 16-year-old who had the audacity to sue her parents.
So is that what they’re doing now? Teens are rewarding their parents by bringing lawsuits against them, eh?
In case you haven’t heard about this foolery, let me give you some background in what I’ll be ranting and raving about.
Parents of the pregnant teen were unhappy to learn that she was with child and so, they were pressuring her to have an abortion.  They supposedly issued threats (that her life was going to be ruined; she was flushing her future down the drain; she wasn’t going to amount to nothing; they were going to make her life miserable, etc) in hopes of steering her to abort the fetus.
Turns out her parents were indeed making her life a living hell. Plus they must have taken away the vehicle that they purchased for her.
This child got the bright idea to solicit the help of some group (obviously pro-lifers) to support and represent her in suing her parents.
To shorten the story, she won the case against her parents. They couldn’t force her to have an abortion (which we all already know. No clinic would ever perform an abortion on an unwilling patient) the parents can no longer go around making her life a living hell or uncomfortable. The parents agreed to let her use the car that they purchased, in order for her to get back-and-forth to school and work. She will be allowed to marry her 16-year-old boyfriend. The parents will also pay her cell phone bill and half of her health insurance.
This is what our country has boiled down to. Teens are being rewarded for their bad decisions and choices, while the parents are being punished. What responsibility are these two irresponsible “children” being taught when they’re being rewarded the “gifts” they seek in a court of law?
I agree. No one should be threatened with physical force when it comes to an unexpected pregnancy, but why would the parents have to be responsible for half of her medical expenses? Why do they have to allow her to enjoy the privilege of driving around in a car that they purchased? Why on God’s green earth do they have pay for her to have the luxury of a cell phone?
I’ve always been under the assumption that grown people take care of themselves. Grown folks don’t “need: anyone to pay their cell phone bills; they don’t “need” to use the car they someone else bought; they don’t “need” some to pay for half their medical expenses.
The mere fact that this child “needs” her parents for these minute things is a testament that she doesn’t “need” a child because she can’t even take care of the basic things that she needs (wants) to survive.
If she and her boyfriend want to make grown-up decisions, then why wouldn’t they be ordered to endure the grown-up consequences?

All-in-all there was definitely a better way for this unfortunate situation to be handled, besides this child dragging her parents to court.
If you found yourself in this situation what would your reaction be? How would you handle such a court ruling?

Had it been me:

Chances are extremely high that I’d be held in contempt of court and ordered to jail for an extensive amount of time.
First, I would have taken my SUV and ran over the car that I was told to let her drive. I would have driven back and forth over the heap of rubble until it was obliterated! While in the midst destroying that vehicle I would have called the insurance company to cancelled my coverage before calling the cell phone company and breaking whatever contract I had remaining on the account.
The nerve of that child, the judicial system and whatever idiots represented her in court!
I know my reaction would be extreme, but I’m an extreme kind of gal. I firmly believe that when there are no consequences, these are the messes that you end up with!

Food for thought:

Did it not cross anyone’s mind that maybe it was the privilege of having access to a car and the luxury of a cell that got her into her pregnancy fiasco to begin with? Hmm.

She has all of these people in her corner now, but where will they be once this child is born? What help will they (especially the little loud mouth 16-year-old boy who helped to get her in this mess) provide when it’s 2-years-old? 5-years-old? 13-years-old? Matter of fact, where will any of them be when this child winds up pregnant (or has someone pregnant) at 16?
We all know how this fairy tale will end.
I’m so certain that it’ll end with a big fat, “I told you so!”

More in the Life of the Oldest Boy

 

In case you’re not sure what’s different, the boy got both his ears pierced, at the mall,  last night. Not entirely sure how I’m feeling about it. Didn’t want him to do it (never wanted either of my son’s to have pierced ears)  but he’s old enough to give a compelling argument as to why he wanted his ears pierced…..plus, he’d successfully  convinced his grandmother of it, too.

It could be worse, huh?

Don’t Second Guess It

Ask any parent and they’ll tell you that raising a child, particularly through the puberty stage, is not in the least bit an easy task. In fact, I would go out on a limb and say that it’s probably the most trying part of rearing a child. For the very first time today, I realized the importance of having friends or a friend in your life.

After reading something that my teenage son posted online, I was quite annoyed, disappointed and irritated. I had quickly jumped to the irrational decision of writing him off. I’d convinced myself that he was no longer my issue and that I wasn’t about to invest any more energy in him. Without washing my hands of him, I was washing my hands of him.  It was one of my latest and bestest girlfriends that talked me out of my plan via text messages.

In between fulfilling her work obligations, she texted me messages of encouragement; telling me not to give up, telling me that he’s going through a phase; don’t write him off; trust what you instilled in him to prevail in the end; most importantly, don’t second guess yourself and the foundation that you set.

Reading those change the course of my day, the course of my thoughts and the course of my perspectives.  I read them over and over again. It was just what I needed to read. It also prepared me to have a “sit down” with the boy as soon as he walked in from school.

So, that’s my exact advice for any of mother, father or child-rearer. Don’t second guess all that you’ve instilled in your child/children. In the end, all of your work will pay off. Nothing that you’re doing is in vain.