What should be done about underage girls who deliver and kill their babies? Should they be charged as adults? Should they be institutionalized? Should there be a mandatory pregnancy test done as part of school physicals? If a parent suspects pregnancy, should they be allowed to force their child into pregnancy testing?
Thank you-- Pam Whisman
15 comments:
I think underage girls who kill their babies should be charged as adults. If they think they are old enough or adult enough to engage in sexual activity, then they need to be charged that way, for a crime they committed because of something THEY did. The whole idea is just crazy, that you could kill your own baby. The baby didn't do anything wrong, the baby just wanted a chance at life, and it gets ruined by the person that created it. A mandatory pregnancy test is a good idea, and that should go along with educating these young girls about consequences, and having responsibility for your actions. If a parent suspects pregnancy they should be allowed to force their child to have a pregnancy test. They are underage, so the parent has every right. Also I think that more parents should be more understanding, most of the reason of why young girls kill their babies is because they are too scared to confide in anyone. I know that is no excuse, but if the parents made it more clear that they will be there to support them through whatever may happen then the underage girls might find it a lot easier to talk to them. Even having specialized counselors at schools to help teens with this problem, and having it highly confedential would help greatly.
Caitlin Parker
I guess it would depend on the age and maturity of the girl. I hate to say we should lock a young girl up, but if she has taken a life, then what do you do? I guess if they are really young, then juvie? But doesn't that really only teach them more bad things? Maybe if parents were more in tune and open with their kids, the kids would feel comfortable coming to them and talking to them about such things. I don't think there should be mandatory pregnancy tests as part of a school physical. That seems to be an invasion of privacy by the public. However, I think the parents of a minor girl should be allowed to force her to have a pregnancy test. It's non-invasive and might save a life.
Stacie Carlson
From Debra Porter:
I think that underage girls that kill their babies should be charged as adults. If they are old enough to make the decision to have sex and to keep a baby, then they obviously think they are an adult and are ready to take on the responsibilities. But then once they have their child and kill it, they realize they aren't adults at all. I believe that they should be tried as adults, and if the are found to have some kind of mental problem, then they should be institutionalized. But only after extensive tests have been done to prove this. I don't think there should be a mandatory preg. test, since physicals are only done once a year, if even that often. I believe if a parent suspects their children to be pregnant they should be able to have their child tested, but the final decision should be from the child. I guess it depends on their age. If they were 14, or 17, the circumstances would be different. But I also think that if a parent isn't close enough to their child to know what is going on in their lives, (ex. having sex, getting pregnant, etc.) then the parents are doing something wrong. It is the parents job to keep up in their childrens lives and prospects, otherwise, why did they have children?
From Barb Beals:
I think that girls who kill their children should be institutionalized. Just as any other murder is tried is how they should be treated. Murder is murder. Pregnancy tests can be done as part of a physical if the parent asks, I don't think it should be mandatory, not all kids are having sex. The government keeps taking the rights of the parents away, maybe with the right dicipline and education this wouldn't even be an issue.
I think that they should be kept in something like a jail until they are 18 or old enough to know what they did was wrong. No because maybe they didnt know what else to do and they just paniced.Yes i think some of them should be because it might help them in the long run. no there shouldnt be that is just wrong and stupid. No i dont think that they should force their child if their child isn't ready for them to know then they should just wait.
Edwidge Philizaire
I believe that anyone that kills another person, no matter what the age, they should be tried as an adult. They know exactly what they are doing, therefore, why should they get any less punishment then a man that robs and murders a family in their own home? These girls are choosing not to have an abortion, for whatever reason, but they end up killing the baby anyways. It makes no sense to me.
I dont think that any insitution will help them, so there really is no point in putting them there. I realize that they screwed up and now will have some emotional baggage to carry with them the rest of their lives, but they chose that path in life.
A mandatory pregnancy test in physicals is pushing the limits. That is very invasive of a young girl's personal space and if I was forced to take one when I was younger then I would have been a little angry, knowing that I had never had sex before. I can understand why people would want it because it may catch pregnancies early on and maybe save some of the innocent childrens' lives.
If a parent of a underaged girl feels like they need to have her take a pregnancy test, then they should be allowed to do so. If their child is still living with them and they are a minor, then they really dont have much of a choice.
Bridgette Overmyer
I don't read much news, but I haven't seen this topic come up too much lately. Maybe it's not happening as much as it did in the past, but I have no idea. Something needs to be done with these underage girls killing their own babies. It is definately wrong and immoral to do this. They are murdering their own chid. I don't believe these people should go to jail, but they need some help. Maybe sending them to some sort of an institution for a year or 2 would help them out. I don't think pregnancy testing should be mandatory with school physicals. I kind've think that would violate personal privacy. If a teacher or someone suspects pregnancy, I believe they should have the right to tell the child's parents. If the child is underage, I think a parent should be able to force their child into pregnancy testing. They are still a minor, and under their parents control.
Jeremy Lamb
I agree that if they are old enough to have a child, they should be charged as an adult. it doesn't matter how young they are, if they're old enough to have sex they're old enough to know that taking the life of another human being is murder, and they should be charged that way. I can't even understand how you COULD kill your own child. I guess we should be taking more precaution to make people more aware of the consequences earlier, since we're still having so much trouble. i also agree that parents should be able to force a pregnancy test if their child is a minor and they suspect pregnancy.
the 7:50 comment was Blake Diehl
I guess I feel in todays world, with so many people wanting to have children and people willing to adopt that there should be no reason to kill a child. Young mothers who have done this and will do this in the future, maybe didnt get enough information or the right upbringing to start with. But do you take a life for taking a life? " Eye for an Eye" if thats the case, then the death penalty should be in effect throughout the US period. But wait, thats a whole other issue. Yes, I do feel people regardless of thier age should be held accountable, if not them, who thier parents? I do believe that some children are brought up living in violent homes and don't feel they can communicate at home so they make poor decisions.I guess thats it, more communication is the key in my book. I don't agree with the mandatory pregnancy testing for schoolage children. Big Brother is way too far into our lives now as far as I am concerned already.
Dave Crain
I think they should be chaed as adults, but no death punishment. But if the mother of the child is alittle crazy or insane, they should be put in some coucling for some help and closy watched. I mean they are already punished enough once they realized what they have done. If the mother is going threw some derpresswed stages, she would just need alot of help. There should be some type of jail time but not to long, just mostly professional help.
Fabion Harris
wow. this is such a sad subject. It breaks my heart that someone would ever kill a child, especially a child that they carried in their body for 9 months. I can't answer this question about how they should be treated. I honestly believe that each individual case should be looked at. I think the real question we should look at is "WHY did they kill their baby?" Something is obviously wrong with the girls that do this. Is it a mental issue, a chemical imbalance, a result of emotional abuse from a boyfriend or threat or fear of physical abuse from a parent? There are so many reasons that may lead someone to making this choice. I don't think it is fair to judge a child for making a mistake of getting pregnant. I do think we should question why did this child engage in sexual activity and why did she feel it necessary to kill her baby? Stories like this will continue to happen if society doesn't start looking at why they are happening. Locking someone in jail is not going to prevent the next young girl from getting pregnant and commiting they same horrendous murder.
This is really hard for me as a mom to even say....
but, I think there should be a part of a school physical where the parents aren't present and a child can have the option of taking a pregnancy test with out their parents knowing if they did or didn't do the test.
And then it would be really nice if the doctor would be able to set up counseling for the child to recieve if she was pregnant so that she could know her options. Again, I think this should be private, with out the parents knowledge. The doctor should however first suggest that the child seek help from the parents, but in reality not all teens have parents that can help their child properly. Some parents might even physically hurt their child.
Like I said before, as a parent, I am not fond of the idea of my daughters keeping this kind of secret from me and choosing to handle this with out my knowledge...but I am also confident that my daughters and I have a great relationship and they would share with me. However, I would take comfort in knowing that if for whatever reason they felt they couldn't confide in me, they would have good medical testing and be made aware of all of their options in a safe manner.
I think as a parent, if I ever suspected that my daughter was pregnant and she refused testing, I would have no choice but take her to a doctor so that the doctor could figure out whatever was
"wrong" with her. If the doctor had the same suspicions, I am sure he would do a pregnancy test. In fact, my daughter was having some medical problems and the doctor had me leave the room so that he could ask her is she had been sexually active and explain to her that he needed to order a pregnancy test be ran on her to rule out a pregnancy before he could pursue other testing. So she did the pregnancy test and then was able to have other blood work done, so that we could find out what was wrong with her.
Well, I hope I have sort of answered your questions.
Jan Baker
I think they should be punished, It is murder and they are taking away a life. I think they should be charged as an adults, if they think they are old enough to handle a baby and get pregnant, then they should be considered an adult. They would have the same resopnisbilites as an adult, by being a parent. I dont think schools should make pregnancy tests mandatory, that is going a little to personal for a school level. I could see them making pregnanct tests mandatory for athletes, but not for the otherss. I think that parents should talk things over with their kids first See what is going on, if they suspect something, then they should sit down and have a serious talk, and then get a pregancy test. I dont think they can force their child into taking one, most teens would refuse and things would get worse and nothing would get solved. I do think parents should talk with them first and see what is going on.
From Stephanie Einck
I think that if they go through the whole 9 months of pregnany and then they turn around and kill the child then they should be punished. If you don't want the kid then you should have had an abortion. Not wait until it was born and then become a murderer. I think if they are old enough to have a baby then they are old enough to be charged as an adult. Especially if they have become a parent. I do NOT think that their should have a pregnany test done at school physicals. You can't punish a kid for getting pregnant at school and if you do, then that is discriminating and the school should be punished. I think that if the child is pregnant and they know and they hide it from their parents and the parents have a hint, being the attority of the house they should force their child to have a test. I mean if the child is pregnant and is going to keep the child, the whole house is going to change, and i think the owners should know about it.
Sonja Paul
by the time girls begin having menstrual cycles they are old enough to know that killing is wrong. if they are old enough to physically have the ability to deliver a baby-and then kill it- they should be charged as an adult. they're fully aware of what they are doing. I'm not sure how I feel about mandatory pregnancy tests though. in theory it sounds good, but I'm not sure if it is actually a good idea. I'm not really fond of violating people's rights, and this would be considered a violation...
Ashlee Meredith
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