Teenage Parenthood

3 Pages 684 Words

Teenage Parenthood

There are many struggles involved with becoming a teenage parent. I have endured varying degrees of support and negativity from peers, and school staff. Simultaneously, I became a statistic.
I was a typical teenager, I had many dreams, and high hopes of a bright future. This was all put on hold following the birth of my son between my sophomore and junior years of high school.
Determined to beat all odds, I unselfishly placed my own ambitions in a back seat position to care for the life of another. Fortunately, I had patient and understanding parents. They pledged to care for my baby during the day while I continued my high school education, but stressed he would be my sole responsibility when not at school.
Most teenagers spend these years hanging out with friends, attending after school activities, and talking on the phone for countless hours. Typical teens also use a great deal of emotional energy stressing over seemingly insignificant details such as the perfect prom attire and negative words another peer has stated about them.
For me, teenage years were a very different scenario. I attended high school just like my peers with an enormous difference. Directly after the school day ended, I had adult responsibilities. My countless nights of lost sleep were not spent thinking about the prom or stressing about what someone else had said about me. The lack of sleep I suffered was due to caring for an infant.
I also quickly learned the emotional hardships of becoming a teenage parent. Friends became scarce; I had nothing in common with peers outside the classroom. Most did not want to hear about my son reaching memorable milestones and most certainly did not want to hear about me spending the entire night in the emergency room with him.
As if complex friendships weren’t enough, treatment from school personnel quite possibly had the most negative impact on my emotions. Judgme...