# Tell Candies To Get Ovah Themselves



## diamond lil (Oct 6, 2003)

Candies, the semi-hip clothing brand sold at most Kohl's stores, is launching a series of PSA's directed at their prime market: teens and young adults.

Their new PSA says, "You think being in school sucks? You know what sucks a whole lot more? A baby. Almost every 2 hours for feeding time, 3 times a day. Guess that school doesn't suck that bad, huh?" The face of this PSA is none other than Hilary Duff.

I just told them to shove it. Having a baby isn't a social disease. Teen mothers need love and support, not crap from clothiers.

http://www.thecandiesfoundation.org/


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## sapphire_chan (May 2, 2005)

But teens also need love and support before having babies so they don't fall into the trap of thinking their lives will be perfect if they just had a baby to love them. If a teen is thinking that having a baby is a good way to get out of having to go to school that's not a good reason to have a baby.

Not going to say if the way the Candies company is going about things is right, and I could definitely see them getting things totally wrong, but I don't think that "having a baby is hard" is a bad message to send to teens.

Teen parents, especially teen moms, already know having a baby is hard. That's why they need extra support from the people in their lives.


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## Ruthla (Jun 2, 2004)

What was that? Babies only need to eat 3 times a day? Huh?


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## dawningmama (Jan 14, 2003)

Ok, I just watched a couple of those ads and they are dumb. The bottom line seems to be "pause before you play." It would be much more effective if they gave teens an idea of what to *do* during the pause. It feels like even these psa's can't take a stand and actually use the word "condom."


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## superstella (Aug 25, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Ruthla* 
What was that? Babies only need to eat 3 times a day? Huh?









:


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## Periwinkle (Feb 27, 2003)

Uh, sorry... think the content of their message could use some tweaking, but it's an important concept for teens to get IMO.


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## mom2snugbugs (Nov 28, 2006)

ok, I went to the page, and the first thing I see is Fall out boy. Isn't the lead singer the bf to Ashlee Simpson who is PREGNANT!!

Uh...


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## barose (Dec 6, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mom2snugbugs* 
ok, I went to the page, and the first thing I see is Fall out boy. Isn't the lead singer the bf to Ashlee Simpson who is PREGNANT!!

Uh...

Ashlee Simpson is not a teen.


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## Viola (Feb 1, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *diamond lil* 
You know what sucks a whole lot more? A baby. Almost every 2 hours for feeding time, 3 times a day. Guess that school doesn't suck that bad, huh?"

They are giving conflicting feeding advice. I mean we hope babies suck at least every 2 hours, but then what is with the 3 times a day thing?

Some of the abstinence ads annoy me. One of them was pulled because it featured a girl saying that they have sex with their boyfriends and then feel cheap and dirty when the boyfriend dumps them. There is a tv ad that shows people gambling, and I always think it's going to be an anti-gambling ad and I'm mildly pleased they are running it, but then it's about sex.


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## Periwinkle (Feb 27, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Viola* 
They are giving conflicting feeding advice. I mean we hope babies suck at least every 2 hours, but then what is with the 3 times a day thing?

Maybe that's for the rice cereal.









Sorry, couldn't resist.


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## Sharlla (Jul 14, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Periwinkle* 
Uh, sorry... think the content of their message could use some tweaking, but it's an important concept for teens to get IMO.

I agree.


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## iowaorganic (May 19, 2007)

Well- I am not saying it is good- but there are alot of teen moms who didn't realize what could happen. My sister's bff was like that. A huge shocker that babies were so much work. I personally like the vd ads better! Nothing says true teen love like a souvinear!


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## UptownZoo (May 11, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *diamond lil* 
I just told them to shove it. Having a baby isn't a social disease. Teen mothers need love and support, not crap from clothiers.

Oh, yeah, I loved that scene in Juno where the parents say they wished she was addicted to hard drugs or into prostitution instead of pregnant.







:

Is the assumption behind the ads that there are lots of young women out there getting pg because they don't like school? Seems kinda far-fetched to me. Call me crazy, but I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that the reasons that teenage women get pg are a little more complex than that.


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## hanno (Oct 4, 2006)

gah!
My organically clothed and fed (out of pocket)homebirthed and cloth diapered one year old has cost us around $4000 so far, $3000 of that was the midwife. We don't own a stroller or a crib.
"Breastfeeding is not always easy"??
"Nasty diapers"??
scare tactics are not that way to go, teens are not stupid


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## jlutgendorf (Aug 15, 2006)

Quote:

Oh, yeah, I loved that scene in Juno where the parents say they wished she was addicted to hard drugs or into prostitution instead of pregnant.
It was actually they were hoping she was into hard drugs or had gotten expelled, not prostitution.








: (I've seen the movie&#8230;a few times)


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## jimblejamble (May 18, 2007)

The thing I don't like about it is how it doesn't say "having a baby to feed and care for *when you're not ready or old enough* sucks". It just says "Babies suck".

Edit - Oh duh...I just looked at the site and saw the picture of the bottle. Babies suck _when feeding_ a whole lot. Riiight I get what they're saying. I wasn't thinking about babies literally 'sucking'.


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## attachedmamaof3 (Dec 2, 2006)

sometimes babies do suck.

often in fact.


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## hibana (Jun 9, 2006)

Wow, it really would have sucked if I'd only fed my dd 3x a day. I'd have died of mastitis or something. (Actually, I suppose it wouldn't have sucked _enough_ in that case?







)


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## ShannonCC (Apr 11, 2002)

Wait, I don't get it. Dropping out of school causes pregnancy? What does teen pregnancy have to do with school?


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## Mavournin (Jul 9, 2002)

I saw that this morning and clicked around the site, but what bothered me the most was the overall feeling that the best way to avoid getting pregnant was to be abstinate.

Teenage pregnancy doesn't necessarily ruin lives, but STDs - for which the teenage rate of infection has skyrocketed - can have lifelong negative effects; or possibly, in the case of HIV infection, be life threatening. One in four American teenagers has an STD. The rates for African American females is quoted to be as high as 50%. The real epidemic here is not pregnancy, but rather poor education and inadequate access to appropriate, non-judgmental care for sexually active teens.


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## frontierpsych (Jun 11, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *barose* 
Ashlee Simpson is not a teen.

lol, yeah, she was born in '84!


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## UptownZoo (May 11, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *jlutgendorf* 
It was actually they were hoping she was into hard drugs or had gotten expelled, not prostitution.








: (I've seen the movie&#8230;a few times)









Gotcha! I've only seen it the one time. I thought that scene was brilliant!


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## UnschoolnMa (Jun 14, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *frontierpsych* 
lol, yeah, she was born in '84!


Yeah and Pete is 28. I think it's perfectly acceptable for them to have a child.









The message is semi good I guess, but it's coming out all wonky. It's like they are trying to be clever but failing. Miserably.

(Former teen mom here )


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## UnschoolnMa (Jun 14, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *UptownZoo* 







Gotcha! I've only seen it the one time. I thought that scene was brilliant!

In that Juno scene weren't they just saying that they had assumed/thought her issue would be drugs or that she'd been expelled, not that they hoped that was the case? I thought it was just to highlight that pregnancy was the last issue that crossed their mind.

I didn't get that they had "hoped" those were the issues.


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## JamesMama (Jun 1, 2005)

Huh...the "Breastfeeding isn't easy and if you use formula you're looking at $1000 a year" annoyed me, but at least they MENTIONED bf'ing!

Meh, I'm sure even most teen mama's would say that having a baby at 15 isn't IDEAL, it's not a death sentence by any means and many teen mama's are perfectly wonderful, responsible, mature mama's...but it's not the ideal (usually)

I don't like the abstinace only preaching....hmmmm


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## jimblejamble (May 18, 2007)

I just looked it up on IMDB:

Mac MacGuff: Did you see that coming?
Bren: Yeah... but I was hoping she was expelled, or into hard drugs.
Mac MacGuff: That was my first instinct too. Or a DWI... anything but this!


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## acannon (Nov 21, 2007)

I don't think Candies has any business telling the teens who buy (or don't buy) their clothes not to have sex. They're a clothing line. I could see if it was the health dept. or something, but they're not. The ads are stupid and, although their hearts might be in the right place, I don't think it's something a clothing line should be promoting. I think they should just shut up and make clothes. Just my $0.02.


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## terrordactyl (Jul 19, 2006)

i like there messages it makes you stop an think for minute


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## Verity (Aug 29, 2003)

I clicked on the link in the op, and though the print is awfully small in the Hilary Duff PSA, I didn't see anything about "three times a day." Did I just miss it?

I don't think it's a bad idea to try to convey to teens how much work is involved in caring for a baby.


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## kmeyrick (Aug 30, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mavournin* 
Teenage pregnancy doesn't necessarily ruin lives, but STDs - for which the teenage rate of infection has skyrocketed - can have lifelong negative effects; or possibly, in the case of HIV infection, be life threatening. One in four American teenagers has an STD. The rates for African American females is quoted to be as high as 50%. The real epidemic here is not pregnancy, but rather poor education and inadequate access to appropriate, non-judgmental care for sexually active teens.

Yeah, that. I have seen bad results from teens having babies, but a terrible STD is what truly makes me quake with fear. STD's ALWAYS have negative consequences.


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## Smokering (Sep 5, 2007)

My newborn *never* made 14 'nasty diapers' a day. Not even close. These ads astound me. _Even if_ it's the business of a clothing company to tell young people not to have babies (hmm, guess pregnant women wouldn't fit into Candies clothes?), slanting the campaign as 'Ew gross babies are nasty and expensive' is more juvenile than their target audience. And taking the money statistics from the most mainstream-of-the-mainstream (disposable diapers, cot, umbrella stroller, formula) is either ignorant or a dirty tactic.

To be fair, Rowan's only 7 weeks old, but I have to date spent... about $67 on her. That was for a nappy bag/changing pad thing I liked, and for some fabric for cloth nappies. I haven't yet had to buy her any clothes, formula, a cot (we even have one, it was a hand-me-down, not that she sleeps in it!)... our stroller, carseat and Ergo were all gifts... And yeah, maybe my friends and family are more generous than average, but speaking to other people I know who've had babies, I don't think so. This is how it works with babies. For me to rack up several thousand dollars on Rowan by the end of her first *year*, she'd have to either contract a very expensive disease or, I dunno, take a trip to Disneyworld, or something.


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## samstress (Feb 21, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Ruthla* 
What was that? Babies only need to eat 3 times a day? Huh?

but it also says "every 2 hours". i'm a little confused by that one.


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## CariOfOz (Jun 30, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Smokering* 
_Even if_ it's the business of a clothing company to tell young people not to have babies (hmm, guess pregnant women wouldn't fit into Candies clothes?)

THAT was my first thought.. Candies doesn't MAKE clothes that would fit a pregnant teen, thus they'd lose sales so they're really all about the job security


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## gardenmommy (Nov 23, 2001)

Mavournin said:


> I saw that this morning and clicked around the site, but what bothered me the most was the overall feeling that the best way to avoid getting pregnant was to be abstinate.
> 
> Why does this bug you? Being abstinent *is* the best way to avoid pregnancy. If you don't have sex, there is no chance of getting pregnant. No matter your stance on premarital sex, birth control, etc., that is an undeniable fact.


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## acannon (Nov 21, 2007)

I think she meant that they don't discuss ways to prevent pregnancy, like using a condom or birth control. Teens are going to have sex whether they get abstinence only education (like I got) or education that tells them ways to prevent pregnancy and leaving the choice up to them. I would rather that teens know these methods than telling them to just say no (which sometimes works, but not well enough to make it mandated) and have an unexpected pregnancy. I know school officials and the Bush administration want to put their fingers in their ears and pretend that teens don't have sex, but they do. It's hurting teens to tell them these lies. For example, it took a very long time to convince me that condoms don't fail all the time. I was told that they did, which is, I found out, a complete lie. That's the kind of stuff kids are told in school, which is, IMO, a waste of tax money.


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## angelpie545 (Feb 23, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *acannon* 
I don't think Candies has any business telling the teens who buy (or don't buy) their clothes not to have sex. They're a clothing line. I could see if it was the health dept. or something, but they're not. The ads are stupid and, although their hearts might be in the right place, I don't think it's something a clothing line should be promoting. I think they should just shut up and make clothes. Just my $0.02.

I agree 100%. As a former teen mother ads like this disgust me. I knew a *few* teen moms who were the typical irresponsible types, but by far the majority of them were loving, committed mothers who took a lot of crap based on their age.


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## The4OfUs (May 23, 2005)

I don't think they're telling teens to NOT have sex. Their tag line is, "pause before you play" - to me, meaning pause to use some protection before you have sex. They're not saying, "don't play", they're saying "PAUSE before you play".

And seriously, I had NO idea how all consuming a baby would be before I became a mother....and I was 30. If this campaign gets a few teenagers to think a moment and use protection because there are some big names sponsoring it, I just don't see why this would be a bad thing.


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## acannon (Nov 21, 2007)

Okay. I looked at the site in more depth and they do briefly mention contraceptives (as in, they just say the word contraceptives once) but they mostly talk about abstinence. They have links to abstinence-only sites and, from what I saw, no links to sites that talk about condoms or other forms of birth control. They say on the site that no form of birth control is 100%, which, while true, makes it seem like birth control fails a lot of the time. Combine that with the message that most kids are getting in school and it enforces the "fact" that it fails nearly all of the time. I watched some of the video ads. They're completely in black and white. In one that really irked me, the guy and girl are laying in the girl's bed making out and then the bed transforms into a white crib. The room behind it is completely black and there's a crying baby in the crib that you never see. The girl looks horrified that she has this little baby to take care of now. The celebrity then says, "Not what you had in mind for your first crib, huh?" I saw a t-shirt on the site that said something like "I'm sexy enough for you to wait for me" or something.

Also, I've seen some of their clothes in Kohl's. They have tight-fitting low-cut tops and short shorts. Their clothes scream SEXY and yet they have this campaign going on. That's something that I don't get. It seems like an oxymoron at best, and hypocritical at worst. Like I said before, I could understand if it was the health dept. or even the Girl Scouts (there are buses here that have signs on them that show a handbag and a diaper bag and it says under it, "Which one would you choose?") but not a clothing line that makes sexy clothes for teen girls. It's weird and backwards to me. I know they're not selling the clothes so teens will have sex, but they are selling the clothes so the girls will look more attractive to guys and sex is, most often, the eventual goal.


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## gardenmommy (Nov 23, 2001)

Well, that makes more sense to me. I do think that teens need to be made aware that contraceptive measures are not foolproof. And they need to know that abstinence is the only foolproof method of preventing both pregnancy and STDs. Teens aren't stupid, just because they are young; give them all their options and help them think through the consequences and they will usually make a good choice.


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## tex.mom (Jun 30, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mavournin* 
what bothered me the most was the overall feeling that the best way to avoid getting pregnant was to be abstinate.

You mean there's a better way to avoid getting pregnant??

LOL...No comment on abstinence education, or any other type of sex ed, or dumb scare tactics, but at least I don't think they're misrepresenting in that respect.

As for the whole school vs. baby thing, I think the overall comment is just that teens gripe a lot about trivial things and have no idea what real responsibility entails. Although major thumbs down to them IMO for making babies seem like a punishment.


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## the_lissa (Oct 30, 2004)

I think those ads are horrible.

I also thought activism was support only, no debate?


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## tex.mom (Jun 30, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Smokering* 
slanting the campaign as 'Ew gross babies are nasty and expensive' is more juvenile than their target audience.

Maybe they did some market research to determine what scares teens most about pregnancy?...just kidding, 'cause I know it wouldn't have been the expense!!


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## Mavournin (Jul 9, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *gardenmommy* 

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mavournin* 
I saw that this morning and clicked around the site, but what bothered me the most was the overall feeling that the best way to avoid getting pregnant was to be abstinate.


Why does this bug you? Being abstinent *is* the best way to avoid pregnancy. If you don't have sex, there is no chance of getting pregnant. No matter your stance on premarital sex, birth control, etc., that is an undeniable fact.









You are totally missing my point. It goes without saying that being abstinate guarantees not getting pregnant. What bothers me is the lack of education about birth control. Because guess what, *teens have sex*. And studies have shown time and time again that teens who are not taught anything about sex or are only taught with an abstinance only curriculum are more likely to have unprotected sex. And we have already established that unprotected sex leads to pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

Contraceptives are not 100% effective, true - but again, teens will have sex and prevention is the key here.


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## kapatasana (Apr 5, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *acannon* 
Okay. I looked at the site in more depth and they do briefly mention contraceptives (as in, they just say the word contraceptives once) but they mostly talk about abstinence. They have links to abstinence-only sites and, from what I saw, no links to sites that talk about condoms or other forms of birth control. They say on the site that no form of birth control is 100%, which, while true, makes it seem like birth control fails a lot of the time. Combine that with the message that most kids are getting in school and it enforces the "fact" that it fails nearly all of the time.

:Adds Candies to boycott list:: I only have one pair of their jeans and they fit really badly anyway.


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## bjorker (Jul 25, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *hanno* 
"Breastfeeding is not always easy"??
"Nasty diapers"??
scare tactics are not that way to go, teens are not stupid

I agree. I think talking to teenagers like this just contributes to "the problem".
Scare tactics have a history of backfiring, as far as I can tell. Like DARE? Please. I'm young enough to have been through the DARE program, and I tell you, all it did _not_ make drugs any less appealing to me (but trying them did! I'm way past that, because I pushed my limits and found out for myself what to trust, and what not to trust-- and it sure wasn't the police officers that came to my school in fifth grade to tell me that _drugs are bad, mmkay_). Maybe if I felt like somebody was leveling with me and telling me real information, instead of adding to the taboo-factor. That just doesn't even come close to addressing why people take drugs at all. Same with putting a slogan about sex and parenthood on a t-shirt. I find that rather insulting. I find all the mean anti-smoking ads insulting too, even though I'm not a smoker. Why is it okay to berate people? I'm much more worried about that message.

I also think that their "message" with that style of clothing is ... confusing, to say the least.

Just keep in mind that this isn't anything different than what ALL companies are trying to do: think of a really great marketing campaign. They're doing this because they think it's going to help them sell their clothes. It's all to make money, not because they really care about anything that they're saying, or what message it appears that they're trying to get across.


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## SophieAnn (Jun 26, 2007)

I haven't looked at the Candies site, but I just find the idea of Candies doing a PSA about teen pregnancy a little hilarious, and ironic.

When I was a pre-teen/teen I remember Candies ads in the magazines being the most racy/most sexy and most objectifying to women. I found their ads to be quite offensive - back when I was reading "Seventeen" magazine and was their target audience!

One look at Jenny McCarthy cleaning a toilet in an ultra-short miniskirt looking all pouty/sexy was enough to turn me off Candies.

Anyone else remember the Jenny McCarthy ads? I did a google image search for "candies & ad" and the first result looks like people having sex on a bathroom counter, and the 2nd result is Jenny McCarthy looking all pouty/sexy wearing her Candies SITTING ON THE TOILET!!!

ARGH!! Candies just makes me mad. I find it hard to imagine a teen taking a PSA from them seriously.


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## MilkTrance (Jul 21, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *JamesMama* 

Meh, I'm sure even most teen mama's would say that having a baby at 15 isn't IDEAL, it's not a death sentence by any means and many teen mama's are perfectly wonderful, responsible, mature mama's...but it's not the ideal (usually)


I know at LEAST five women who are happy, settled and comfortable (not wealthy, but comfortable enough) -- and were "teen moms" at some point. (My MIL being one of them!)

It's not a lifestyle CHOICE I would want my son to make, as with age, you -- hopefully -- gain wisdom and a bit more financial security. But most of the time, it's not really choice. Especially for girls. Aren't most teen moms pregnant by men who are NOT teens? I'm not saying that teenaged girls are incapable of making adult decisions, but I certainly would NOT have sex with the men I did at 17-19 if I could make the choice now at 28.


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## TiredX2 (Jan 7, 2002)

Just a reminder, from Activism Guidelines:

Quote:

In addition - if you do not agree with a call to action/rally/protest, please do not post to the thread. Instead begin a thread in News & Current Events, or other appropriate forum, for discussion or the topic. Do not discuss the thread, or the original poster of the thread. If you find a counter cause of one posted here to be worthy, please start a new thread in Activism. THIS IS NOT A DEBATE BOARD.
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=227174

Another thread to support Candies?

A thread in News & Current Events to discuss?

Parents of Pre-Teens & Teens?


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## MommaLyon (Apr 11, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *iowaorganic* 
Well- I am not saying it is good- but there are alot of teen moms who didn't realize what could happen. My sister's bff was like that. A huge shocker that babies were so much work. I personally like the vd ads better! Nothing says true teen love like a souvinear!

I am 33 years old and I am still in shock how much work they are!!
I agree with you Iowaorganic


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## intorainbowz (Aug 16, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *attachedmamaof3* 
sometimes babies do suck.

often in fact.

Sometimes even when you are a prepared adult in a stable family having a baby sucks.


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