>This article discussed findings based on a study of twenty-eight urban
>African Americans, both male and female, at a Richmond Virginia
>alternative school. These adolescents were already parents.
The purpose
>of the study was to identify patterns or themes in their thinking
within
>and across gender groups about sex, love, intimacy, pregnancy and
>parenting.
>
>The study found that patterns arose in the following areas: males
were
>having sex at an earlier age than the females but most had used
>contraceptives in their last sexual encounter. The article stated,
"this
>may point to the fathers' being more aware of the consequences of
>unprotected sex" (Harris 1998: 834). Also, a cycle of adolescent
>motherhood seemed to exist in which the adolescent mothers were children
>of teen parents themselves.
>
>One important finding according to the article was that both males
and
>females produced definitions of love and intimacy that did not necessarily
>include sex. An equally important finding was that pregnancy
was rarely
>used as a means to gain/retain the love of a boyfriend or baby, a
>stigmitism we often place on teen mothers. In fact, only two
of the
>twenty-two mothers in the study confessed to getting pregnant
>intentionally (Harris 1998: 841).
>
>Alarmingly, the study also showed that these teens ran the risk of
being
>poor parents with the lack of education to get good parenting skills.
>When questioned about childcare and what should be done in certain
>situations, they often were incorrect in their answers (Harris 1998:
841).
>The study did reveal that while they did lack pertinent parental
>knowledge, they did not show signs of being abusive parents.
>
>Furthermore, the study's findings indicated that while the parents
were
>off track academically, it was not pregnancy or parenting that derailed
>them. Most had already dropped out of school before the pregnancy
>occured. However, "with the added burden of a child, these adolescents
>may never finish high school" (Harris 1998: 842).
>
>I chose this article first because I am interested in the subject
of teen
>pregnancy/parenting and their ideas about love etc. I came across
this
>article in my research on this topic and was interested to read about
how
>the views of urban African Americans on the matter of love, sex, intimacy,
>and pregnancy/parenting would differ from any other adolescent.
I would
>have to say that of all the research I have done, none of their thought
>patterns seem to differ from any other average teen no matter whether
they
>are of color or not.
>
>The first question I have for the author is why she targeted the African
>American population in specific? It seems that the study which
defines
>theme in their thought relates more to the demographics than race.
I
>doubt that white children in this same area would have thoughts that
were
>greatly different. This leads to my second question of could
the higher
>teen pregnancy rates for minorities relate to the cycyle of oppression
and
>poverty that is occuring in this region? Next, I am interested
in
>knowing, how do these views of love etc. of urban African Americans
differ
>from those living in suburban areas and how does it differ from white
>children living in this same urban area? Also, how does maturing
at an
>earlier age effect these views as it has been found that no parralel
>acceleration in cognitive development occurs? Lastly, I would
ask the
>author, if parenting education were to be offered to these students,
how
>she feels this might effect their thoughts on these subjects.