http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15161985/

And she's only 16 Years Old.  Her boyfriend is 19

:-\\

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15161985/

And she's only 16 Years Old.  Her boyfriend is 19

:-\\



wow...that's really young.

wow...that's really young.


Apparently in New Zealand (Where she still resides apparently) 16 is the legal age to start having sex.  But still it's too young to have a child.  And I think the fact that she's kind of a well known actress (And Oscar Nominee) will make it a bit of a bigger deal in the eyes of most people.

It's weird to me now thinking that people born in the 90's are already having children  :o

Apparently in New Zealand (Where she still resides apparently) 16 is the legal age to start having sex.  But still it's too young to have a child.  And I think the fact that she's kind of a well known actress (And Oscar Nominee) will make it a bit of a bigger deal in the eyes of most people.

It's weird to me now thinking that people born in the 90's are already having children  :o



I mean...it's not impossible or anything...and more power to her if that's what she wants...but it would still be hard.

Biologically speaking, 16 is within the prime child-bearing years.  44 is not.  Funny it is socially taboo for a 16-year-old and a 19-year-old to have a child together as homosapiens sapiens did for 100,000 years, but it is perfectly fine for a a perimenopausal woman to demand hormone therapy when her biological clock is saying the time has past.  If we could tweak biology to please contemporary society, prime child-bearing years would be between the ages of 35 and 70!
::)

It's weird to me now thinking that people born in the 90's are already having children  :o


As one myself, i find that hard to believe too!

Biologically speaking, 16 is within the prime child-bearing years.  44 is not.  Funny it is socially taboo for a 16-year-old and a 19-year-old to have a child together as homosapiens sapiens did for 100,000 years, but it is perfectly fine for a a perimenopausal woman to demand hormone therapy when her biological clock is saying the time has past.  If we could tweak biology to please contemporary society, prime child-bearing years would be between the ages of 35 and 70!
::)


The point however is that 16 is far too young to start having children and "start a family", 44 is not.  Atleast at 44 the parent is responsible and old enough to care for a child. At 16, you aren't even an adult yet, you're still a kid and have alot to do before deciding to start a family.

Well, no College for her

Well, no College for her
Oh don't be ridiculous ! I'm not condoning having a child at such a young age but why on earth should it mean 'no college'. You are perfectly able to have a child and continue studying if that is what you want.

Biologically speaking, 16 is within the prime child-bearing years.  44 is not.  Funny it is socially taboo for a 16-year-old and a 19-year-old to have a child together as homosapiens sapiens did for 100,000 years, but it is perfectly fine for a a perimenopausal woman to demand hormone therapy when her biological clock is saying the time has past.  If we could tweak biology to please contemporary society, prime child-bearing years would be between the ages of 35 and 70!
::)


Having a kid at sixteen is baby having baby.  Homo sapien sapiens have done a lot of things for 100,000 years, doesn't make them the right, or intelligent, thing to do.

The point however is that 16 is far too young to start having children and "start a family", 44 is not.  Atleast at 44 the parent is responsible and old enough to care for a child. At 16, you aren't even an adult yet, you're still a kid and have alot to do before deciding to start a family.

Well, no College for her
I agree.A child isn't something that's "in" and then becomes out of style a few months later.having a kid is supposed to be forever.There's a committment.but i think one reason kids think it's okay to make babies is you can be totally untalented and uneducated,but just call themselves parents,and suddenly they think they're better than people who don't have kids.There's too much discrimination towards those who are child-free.This actress is a little more special than the average teenage parent,but still she's too young,even though she actually was something already.

Having a kid at sixteen is baby having baby.  Homo sapien sapiens have done a lot of things for 100,000 years, doesn't make them the right, or intelligent, thing to do.


I agree.  I was pointing out the irony.  Our biology urges us to have children at the age of sixteen, and that has not changed since our hunter-gatherer days.  The further we get from hunter-gatherer culture, the harder it has become to start a family at the age of sixteen...and yet the biological directive has not changed at all!

The phrase "babies having babies" has always bothered me.  If we regard adolescents less as adults and more as children, they will act more like children than adults.  If they act like children, they are far less likely to make responsible decisions.  They are less likely to postpone sex, they are less likely to use contraception if the are sexually active, thus they are more likely to get pregnant and drop out of school.

"Know thyself" said the Oracle at Delphi.  That's one of the most adult things a person can do.  We don't expect children to behave as responsibly as adults.  When do we stop treating our children as children?  It varies.  The Jewish tradition of Bar Mitzvah for boys and Bat Mitzvah for girls took place traditionally at puberty* because that is the time it is vital for people to become responsible for their actions.  The Mitzvah tradition explicitly states this. The rite of passage is the recognition of a young man or woman's initiation into the privileges and responsibilities of adulthood.  There's far more too it, and I'm not Jewish, nor am I a Judaic scholar.

Today the idea of treating a 13-year-old like an adult in any manner horrifies us.  It shouldn't.  To be crude about it, when you get your adult plumbing, you must have your adult wiring as well!  We need to instill in teenagers the gravity of consequences.  However, such counsel is ineffective if a teenager is still regarded as a child.  That is why I have always been in favor of more rights and privileges for teens.  Rights and privileges make it possible to instill self-awareness and responsibility for one's actions.  Both must go hand in hand.

I had to google her to see who she was, and now I remember

16 is like way too young to have a baby, though some have had babies at like 14 years old

I had to google her to see who she was, and now I remember

16 is like way too young to have a baby, though some have had babies at like 14 years old


If you ever watch "Maury" you'll see some shows on 12 and 13 year olds who are Pregnant or already have children.  So kids that young having children "today" seems to happen quite often actually.  It's just sad really.  But they really have no one to blame but themselves (unless they were Raped, which would be unfortunate)

Atleast at 44 the parent is responsible and old enough to care for a child.
Not always. I'm sure ALOT of 44 year old parents should never have been parents in the first place and a 16 year probably could do a better job than them.

Not always. I'm sure ALOT of 44 year old parents should never have been parents in the first place and a 16 year probably could do a better job than them.


A 44 year old has alot more time on their hands and patience to take care of a Child

At 16, you're young, immature, still in school, and probably still live with your parents.  No 16 year olds should be having children, period.

What, no cheap shots about "Whale Rider" yet?
(as in, "musta been a sperm whale, arf arf arf!)
:P

What, no cheap shots about "Whale Rider" yet?
(as in, "musta been a sperm whale, arf arf arf!)
:P


6 months from now, she'll be the size of a Whale :D

"Know thyself" said the Oracle at Delphi.  That's one of the most adult things a person can do.  We don't expect children to behave as responsibly as adults.  When do we stop treating our children as children?  It varies.  The Jewish tradition of Bar Mitzvah for boys and Bat Mitzvah for girls took place traditionally at puberty* because that is the time it is vital for people to become responsible for their actions.  The Mitzvah tradition explicitly states this. The rite of passage is the recognition of a young man or woman's initiation into the privileges and responsibilities of adulthood.  There's far more too it, and I'm not Jewish, nor am I a Judaic scholar.




The Mitzvah tradition also began when the lifespan of the then thirteen year old was about 30.  At 13 he was entering middle age.  At that time the "it takes a village" concept was not ridiculed, a female that young did not raise a child on her own, the extended family was there to help with every aspect.  Todays post industrial societies place pressures on young mothers that they are too naive, too undereducated, and too inexperienced to handle.  Hopefully Keisha and whoever the guy is have to the support and money to raise this child.

I find it all too coincidental that a couple of months after she turns 16 (The legal age to start having sex in New Zealand) she winds up Pregnant.  Seems obvious to me that the guy was just waiting for her to finally reach the legal age so that they could finally have sex.  I doubt either of them planned on having a child.

That guy she's dating better help take care of that child or else he's a scumbag

She's 16 and having a kid. That happens EVERY DAY to some unlucky teenager who should've known better. And, unless her parents or agent screwed her over financially, I'm sure she'll be able to afford help while she's in school. So she's got the jump on the majority of teenage mothers.

And no, I don't condone teenagers having sex and babies and all that jazz. I do, however, agree with Luke about older people sometimes being as unprepared and immature as a teenage parent. Wisdom doesn't come with age, and I've witnessed people in their 20s, 30s, 40s who are just horrible parents.

Wisdom doesn't come with age, and I've witnessed people in their 20s, 30s, 40s who are just horrible parents.




Just about everyday, especially in the supermarket.  What is it about supermarkets?

The Mitzvah tradition also began when the lifespan of the then thirteen year old was about 30.  At 13 he was entering middle age.  At that time the "it takes a village" concept was not ridiculed, a female that young did not raise a child on her own, the extended family was there to help with every aspect.  Todays post industrial societies place pressures on young mothers that they are too naive, too undereducated, and too inexperienced to handle.  Hopefully Keisha and whoever the guy is have to the support and money to raise this child.

I must respectfully disagree once again.  The 30 year average lifespan is deceptive because it is skewed by the high incindences of infant and early childhood mortality.  If you lived to be age 5, you had substantially good chance of living to adulthood.  If you lived to be 13, you had almost as good a chance of living to be 50 as you do today.  There were more people dying of ilnesses we could treat easily today in their 40s, 50s, and 60s, so it was less likely an individual would live to be 70.  It was rare, but not unheard of, for luckier hand hardier individuals to live to be 75 or 85 back in medieval times.
From the sources I have read, in the middle ages (when the Mitzvah traditional actually started, there was no Mitzvah in Biblical times) the age of 13 was considred young, not middle aged.  Not sure, but I don't think the term "middle age" was used in the Middle Ages!

Today the idea of treating a 13-year-old like an adult in any manner horrifies us.  It shouldn't.  To be crude about it, when you get your adult plumbing, you must have your adult wiring as well!  We need to instill in teenagers the gravity of consequences.  However, such counsel is ineffective if a teenager is still regarded as a child.  That is why I have always been in favor of more rights and privileges for teens.  Rights and privileges make it possible to instill self-awareness and responsibility for one's actions.  Both must go hand in hand.
How hypocrytical is this statement?? I refer you to your own thread 'Molestation double standard--my story'.

I can't believe Keisha's pregnant at 16! She must have been 13 when she was in Whale Rider. In my current Bliss magazine there's an article on teenage dads and three of them are my age (19) while the other one is 17.

How hypocrytical is this statement?? I refer you to your own thread 'Molestation double standard--my story'.
Thank you.  I was thinking the exact same thing.....technically, a 13-14 year old has their "adult plumbing" so, if we're to treat them as "adults", then we should have no problem with people over 18 ("legal" adults) having sex with them, right? 

Thank you.  I was thinking the exact same thing.....technically, a 13-14 year old has their "adult plumbing" so, if we're to treat them as "adults", then we should have no problem with people over 18 ("legal" adults) having sex with them, right? 


Both of you speak to soon and contemplate too little.  I could run on for paragraphs trying to clarify what I mean for you folks, but I think it's high time you start using you own gray matter. 

I was not saying 13-year-olds should be treated more like adults so the can start having sex.  I was saying the opposite.  In modern society it does not work for young teens to have families and at that time it is wiser for them to postpone sexual activity.  "Know thyself" means understanding what your responsibilities are and how to mak choices that will allow you to carry them out.  Thus, I was saying, if you treat pubescent teens as children, they are more likely to see there actions as having the same consequences they did when they were six.

I was a prime example of a teenager who did not know himself well enough, and therefore behaved in self-distructive and hindering ways.  I was unguided by rite and by structure and knew not how to go about things.  My story bolsters the points I have previously made.  It does not contradict it. 

I would discuss this matter further, but it's obvious certain people are in a "gotcha" frame of mind.  Biology versus society poses questions you may not have the patience to analyze.  I wish I could wrap it up in three elegent sentences, but even the most prestigious anthropologists, historians, and sociologists are writing volumes on these questions, and they argue amongst one another in peer-review journals.  Heck, I just have a BA in journalism.  No way way in hell I can sum it all up!

If you want to call me a hypocrite for a something I said months ago on the politics board, I suggest you take it to the politics board.  This thread is already getting too political for the 2000s board, just like what happened with my Amish School Shooting thread.

::)

Both of you speak to soon and contemplate too little.  I could run on for paragraphs trying to clarify what I mean for you folks, but I think it's high time you start using you own gray matter. 

I was not saying 13-year-olds should be treated more like adults so the can start having sex.  I was saying the opposite.  In modern society it does not work for young teens to have families and at that time it is wiser for them to postpone sexual activity.  "Know thyself" means understanding what your responsibilities are and how to mak choices that will allow you to carry them out.  Thus, I was saying, if you treat pubescent teens as children, they are more likely to see there actions as having the same consequences they did when they were six.

I was a prime example of a teenager who did not know himself well enough, and therefore behaved in self-distructive and hindering ways.  I was unguided by rite and by structure and knew not how to go about things.  My story bolsters the points I have previously made.  It does not contradict it. 

I would discuss this matter further, but it's obvious certain people are in a "gotcha" frame of mind.  Biology versus society poses questions you may not have the patience to analyze.  I wish I could wrap it up in three elegent sentences, but even the most prestigious anthropologists, historians, and sociologists are writing volumes on these questions, and they argue amongst one another in peer-review journals.  Heck, I just have a BA in journalism.  No way way in hell I can sum it all up!

If you want to call me a hypocrite for a something I said months ago on the politics board, I suggest you take it to the politics board.  This thread is already getting too political for the 2000s board, just like what happened with my Amish School Shooting thread.

::)

Nope, your argument does not make sense to me and I find you extremely patronising. You are not the only educated thinker on these boards and I find it offensive that you assume just because I disagree with your opinion I am incapable of rational thought.Get over yourself.