Having a Child While Still a Child
On May 1, 1997, 17 year old Audrey Iacona unexpectedly gave birth to her son in the basement of her parents' home (Lipowski). Audrey swears that she never knew that she was pregnant. Periods came regularly and morning sickness and weight gain never appeared until Audrey stayed home from school with an "upset stomach." Feeling better around lunchtime, Audrey decided to raid the freezer for some food in the basement. As she approached the bottom steps, the pain returned like a thousand knives to her stomach. As she stumbled over her brother's weight bench, a baby started to emerge from between her legs. She caught the baby and stared at it in shock. Because she thought the baby was dead, she wrapped it in bath towels and put it in a trash bag. Panicking, Audrey ran upstairs to take a shower. Soon after she called a friend and told her the repugnant news. Shortly thereafter, a police officer was in her parents' house and Audrey was arrested for murder. Now almost three years later Audrey is awaiting to hear from an appeals court on whether or not she will be granted a new trial or if she will ha
ve to suffer the eight years in prison ("Audrey's Baby"). Most teenage girls that become pregnant have a hard time finding a well paid job because they did not complete high school. Although about 70 percent of teenage mothers eventually go on to complete high school, they are most likely to be poor in adulthood compared to women who have children after age 19. Some schools offer free prenatal classes for one half of a graduation credit to encourage the teenagers to stay in school. On average, only 5 percent of teen mothers ever get college degrees (Laskas). An education is not the only thing that a teenager misses out on; consequently, she no longer can attend dances, basketball games, or parties because of a child that makes her grow up. She no has longer the option to act carefree or spontaneous. "I thought that me and John would have a perfect family, that nothing would go wrong. John promised everything there was to promise, and he delivered on not one (Laskas). In many teenage pregnancies the father often promises the mother that he will be there for her no matter what, but he is not. Many teenage girls are manipulated
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 766
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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