Ball, J. Teenaged fathers confront their roles. (1987, April 20). Boston Globe.

OVERVIEW

In 1984, the National Center for Health Statistics reported 479,547 babies born to females under 19 years of age. There were approximately 106,000 fathers under the age of 19 (amounting to 60% of the fathers of babies born to teenage mothers).

Boston English High School has a Comprehensive School-Age Parenting Program. Teacher and counselor L. Michael Stiles spoke to four young men in that program. One 18-year-old was proud of his two-month-old daughter. Another 18-year-old was in the midst of a child support dispute. Seventeen-year-old Louis and his girlfriend had planned their pregnancy and felt that nothing could go wrong. Jose, 19 years old, had a seven-month-old son and was eager to finish high school.

Stiles feels that these young men "carry a shopping bag full of troubles...If they only had to deal with their youth and their situation as a parent, it wouldn’t be so bad. But being a parent is just their most visible problem. It’s the tip of the iceberg."

Boston University professor of social work, Stanley F. Battle, says of these young fathers, ‘Their chances of "making it in America" are slim or none.’ Leo Hendricks, a Washington-based consultant, has spent eight years studying the problem of teen fathers. He concludes, ‘Society has borne the high costs for out-of-wedlock births, but still is reluctant to commit full resources to research. The young man is seen as the perpetrator and the young woman as victim. To some extent that is a reason the adolescent father population is a mystery.’

Thirty young men will take part in the program at Boston English, the first in the greater Boston area. Its goals follow:

• Improve self image.
• Stress a sense of responsibility.
• Teach basic parenting skills (nutrition, diapers, etc.).
• Encourage education and job training.

Stiles also sees the challenge of reaching more young fathers. ‘There haven’t been a lot of young men who will come in the door of their own volition and say they’re going to become a father.’

Pedro, sexually active from an early age, knows almost nothing about birth control. He admits, ‘I never thought about it. I wasn’t thinking if she was going to get pregnant. But I said to her if she did get pregnant, I wasn’t going to walk away.’

Louis says of his girlfriend, now pregnant, ‘I call her my wife. I’ve settled on one, one love. I have love and happiness. My parents and friends say I’m doing the right thing. We planned it so we could start a family after we got out of high school. We’ve got it all planned. My parents taught me life, but mother never preached to me about what was right and what was wrong. Inside me, I knew what was right and wrong.’

Sam relates:

My girlfriend had a C-section. So I waited in the hallway until they called my name. Then I went in. It was real scary to see her with her stomach cut open. I turned my head away and when I turned back they were pulling the baby out. They cleaned her off and gave her to me to hold. That motivated me. I looked at that little girl and I worked out all my goals.

I live in the middle of Dorchester, drug city. I used to be a dealer, in reefer. When I got serious with my girlfriend, I settled down and gave up all of that stuff. I had to make up my mind I could make the same money in a job, the right way.

Studies show that teenage fathers contribute $10 a month for child support and teenage males who become fathers are 40% more likely to drop out of school to get work. But adequate income is scarce for urban dropouts.

Professor Battle concludes, ‘In this society, supporting a family means financial consequences, and the young fathers simply have no money.’ One father concurs, ‘You do what you have to do to get money.’ That can mean drug dealing and other ‘hustles.’

Andrew hopes for a college scholarship through his basketball ability. ‘I’m trying to bring my grades up. The SATs are coming up in June and I’m not ready to take them.’

With many young fathers, Jose finds the pressure almost unbearable. ‘There’s lots of pressure...Sometimes I want to walk away...But when you set aside all those pressures, you think about the baby and how you’re going to take him out and how he’s going to be just like me. It’s "orgullo" (pride). He’s my kid.’

IMPLICATIONS

1. We must remember that we have created modern adolescence and ghetto or inner-city dynamics. Part of the responsibility for school dropout rates, high unemployment rates and bleak futures rests upon society.
2. Urban youth are not problems. They are people who must be responsible for their values and actions.
3. It is a hopeful sign to see attention—too long riveted to teenage mothers—focused on young fathers.
4. Only as young people, adult parents, the church, school, agencies, and government work together can this enormous problem be sufficiently addressed.
5. The four goals of the program described above are a good basis for working with teen fathers.

Dean Borgman cCYS