A Teen Mom Talks "The Talk"

Being a teen mom means I am in the perfect position to make sure my son knows what I didn't know-all in the hopes that he doesn’t follow in my footsteps.

My 9 year old son was born when I was 17 years old. Many have asked what I would go back and change about that time in my life. My son existing is never one of them. I do follow up with the fact that it is my life’s goal to make sure my choices as a young person do not affect the life my son lives. Most importantly, I do not want my son to be a statistic and repeat my choices.

Not long after my son was born, I learned that my friends, another teenaged couple, would be having a baby of their own. What struck a sincere chord in me about that particular couple is that the father-to-be was born to a teen mother himself. I watched his mom, a dear woman that I respect, torture herself with the guilt of not having prepared her own son with the knowledge he needed to make a wiser choice than her. Knowing how much I wish I would have taken the initiative and said just one word of caution to that couple, I could not imagine, then or now, how his mother agonized over all of her missed opportunities to educate her child.

I know that my strongest chance of breaking the teen pregnancy cycle is for me to keep the lines of communication open with my son. We have to talk to our children. Parents have their children’s best interests at heart and need to give them the truthful information they need. Whether it’s reminding your son to take his “larger than average” friend's feelings into consideration before saying things; teaching him how to apply deodorant, or fighting back the embarrassment and having the sex talk-it’s important and it’s our privilege and our responsibility.


by: Nicole Blas, Let's Talk Month Guest Blogger