Pregnant 14-year-old says it's 'fashionable' as four friends are also expecting
By TOM KELLY and LUKE SALKELD - More by this author » Last updated at 16:02pm on 23rd February 2007

A pregnant 14-year-old has told how having a baby is now regarded as "fashionable" among schoolgirls.

Kizzy Neal has been asked to give advice to four of her classmates who have also fallen pregnant since Christmas.

The teen, from Torbay in Devon, said: "When my friends see my bump they say they wish they could have a baby, then three weeks later they're pregnant and don't know what to do.

"Teenage girls think babies are cute, but they forget the physical side of being pregnant, then having to give up your own childhood to look after a baby.

"It seems to be fashionable to get pregnant."

Family campaigners said her comments showed how the Government's sex education policy had left teens with the "ridiculous but extremely worrying" misconception that having a child was no different to getting a new handbag.

Her revelations come as official figures show England and Wales have the highest rates of teenage pregnancies in Europe - with the biggest increase among girls under 16.

Kizzy became pregnant the first time she had sex with her 13-year-old boyfriend.

She is due to give birth in May and aims to take three months off her studies at Paignton Community College in Devon, before resuming her GCSE lessons next September.

The teenager, who wants to become a social worker, said: "I'm lucky because my parents have stood by me. "Others think their parents will do the same, but that's not necessarily the case."

Her father Kevin, 43, blamed the rise in underage pregnancies on growing "gang culture" where teenagers hang around drinking, taking drugs and having sex.

He said: "There's a mentality that wearing a condom is 'uncool' whereas having sex is glamorised on the television and in music videos every day.

"As a parent it's quite horrifying to hear about all the young girls falling pregnant.

"The fact that Kizzy has had to help four pregnant girls just goes to show we're all failing somewhere.

"And it's not just the parents, the school and the local authority - it's a social problem."

His wife, Kerry, 41, insisted she 'couldn't have done more' to educate her daughter about the risks of under age sex.

She said: "No-one was to blame for her getting pregnant apart from herself. She was defiant.

"There's nothing for children to do in Paignton. I honestly think they get bored and think it's a fashionable thing to get pregnant."

Of the four other girls at aged 14 and 15 at Paignton Community College have also fallen pregnant, two have already had abortions, one is keeping her baby and the fourth is undecided what to do.

Dr Adrian Rogers, of pressure group Family Focus, said: "It is absolutely vital that we start to teach teenagers that having a baby is nothing like having a fashion accessory like a new handbag.

"Falling pregnant so young will damage their child's chances of wealth, health and happiness. In many cases it will also change the girl's body forever and make her anything but fashionable."

Norman Wells, from the pressure group Family and Youth Concern, said the sex education in schools had cheapened it and reduced it to a "casual recreational activity."

On Thursday, Labour announced it would conduct a major review of its sex education policy after figures from Office for National Statistics revealed that the number of pregnancies among under-18s in 2005 was 39,683, up from the 35,400 recorded a decade ago.

These included 7,917 pregnancies recorded among girls under 16.

The bleak figures mean the Government is less than a quarter of the way to meeting its promise to halve pregnancy rates among under-18s in England by 2010.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/a ... ge_id=1770

There was another story about preggers British teens a while ago on RM, if I recall correctly. Is the teen pregnancy rate there higher than that of the U.S., or is it just more fashionable when white Britons get knocked up at 14 than when minority Americans do?

I'd like to compare these numbers to the numbers in the 1970s.

wow

can someone say "bad parenting"?

Yeah, the parents definitely have to take responsibility for most of this shit, but honestly, I had great parents, and I did a lot of stupid shit when I was 14. Granted, it wasn't at the level of fucking-without-rubbers-before-even-getting-into-hike school, but I feel there's some kind of an invisible line that hits different kids at different ages between about 13 and 15, where they are suddenly a lot more aware of who they are and what they're capable of.

It's mostly the parents' fault for not being aware of what's going on in their kids' lives, but there was a ton of shit I hid from my parents. In fact, I hid EVERYTHING from my parents. Sadly, I think my penchant for privacy and paranoia has completely isolated my parents from the person I actually am. Luckily, they instilled morals and convictions within me when I was completely impressionable, and they've stuck with me to this day.

I'm totally arguing with myself in this post, but hopefully that's a testament to the complexities of the situation. While it's the parents' responsibility to provide their kids with a moral foundation, they can only do so much. By the 8th grade, kids are going to start living their own lives. What separates good parents from other parents are those whose kids manage to get to adulthood without being seriously fucked up in some way. I guess.

Oh, and if I have kids and one gets knocked up/knocks someone up at 14, s/he's aborting or putting that little fucker up for adoption, because there's no chance in hell that I or my wife will be raising it.

anybody got an address for these girls?

i could become quite the fashion mogul

I don't think this is entirely new. Back when I was 14, roughly 1000 years ago, it was still considered cool to get pregnant and have a cute little baby to love. Especially girls from poor families or families where teenage pregnancy was common. Ironic that it's most accepted in families that have the least amount of financial stability to offer a child.

Not sure if this still happens, but pregnant girls were not allowed in school. Nor were they allowed to come back once they had a baby. They could do home schooling and then show up on graduation day. Why? Because teens copy eachother!

All the other girls would gush over her and her cute baby. I don't like the fact that pregnant teens used to be ostracized and sent away, but teenage girls always emulate each other. It's their culture.

"Everyone knows that the best time to get pregnant is when you're a black teenager."

--Sarah Silverman

but on a more serious note, that bitch is fucking stupid to be out whoring herself and saying it's fashionable at 14 and having kids. Dumbass people...

Them British kids is getting they fuck on.

my junior year in high school (aug 02 - june 03) there was a girl in my chemistry class that was a senior, got pregnant, and once she started to show she had to leave...but as soon as she lost all of her "pregantcy fat", she came back. if i recall, she even brought her kid into school one day

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4074760.stm

The last sentence in that article is great.

i'm full of anecdotes today;

there's a different school system in Holland, so it's a bit hard to explain but the college type place i went to had a daycare. mind you the youngest (school going) kids there are 15.

yeah that's the biggest no no. Because all the girls think the baby is SOOO cute and they want one.

Someone needs to tell her that stabbing herself in the face is fashionable.