know, I just thought I was sick,” she said. “I felt real bad while in school, and I knew I had to go home, but no one else was there, I was by myself.” Te next day, Scott stayed at home while the rest of her family worked. Scott was not taken to the hospital until
nine o’clock, a day after her water broke. Scott’s most memorable moments from having a baby were the difficult hours of labor, and when the time of labor came, Scott found yet another task to overcome. “Tey gave me a c-section, because I was too numb to push from the epidural,” she said. “I didn’t understand what the tugging feeling was, then I looked into the mirror, all I could think was ‘Oh my god, they’re cutting into me.’” Throughout the whole process, Scott
never thought of adoption or abortion as a choice for her. Scott’s family, as well as Robin’s father, wanted her to keep the baby. Scott felt accountable for her daughter. “She was my responsibility, not anyone else’s. It was not [Robin’s] fault, so why should she be punished? Why should I kill her?” Scott said. “She was meant to happen.” During this difficult journey, Scott ac-
knowledges that the people in her support system are the ones who help her cope. She especially appreciates Robin’s father, for being supportive and continuing to be in his daughter’s life even though they have broken up. “He sees her at least five times a week. In fact, he wanted custody of her,” she said. Scott and Robin’s father get along well, and he is an active participant in Robin’s life. Sadly, this is not common with other teen moms. According to Te National Campaign, teen mothers spend more of their young adults years as single parents than women who delay childbearing do. One thing that Scott does not want to
do is rely on her family’s money for eternity. “I can’t live off of my family forever, I don’t want to,” she said. Scott will be taking care of Robin for the next 18 years and is preparing herself day by day for the challenges. “I have more responsibility now,” Scott said. “I am even looking for a job.” She yearns to become an independent person and become a role model for her daughter. “I want Robin to look up to me,” she said. Scott wants to be an educational and financial role model for Robin, but other teen moms in America have found this hard to accomplish. According to Te National Campaign, approximately one fourth of teen mothers go on welfare within three years of the child’s birth.
A Mother’s Compromise Motherhood is a demanding and difficult
process to go through for anyone, especially for teenagers, who are kids themselves. Ac-
cording to Assistant Director of Communi- cations for Te National Campaign, Jessica Pika, “It is difficult for young teenage girls to be mothers because our society isn’t set for teen moms, so it becomes an extremely complicated process.” Splitting time between the many aspects of life is difficult for an av- erage teen, and for a teen mom it is especially challenging. “It’s really difficult, because [teen mothers] have a lot to give up. [Teen mothers] basically have no time for school and no free time at all,” Pika said. Not only is it hard for teen moms to raise kids, but the kids themselves are often negatively affected. “Tere is a high chance that a daughter of a teen mom will be one herself and that the son of a teen mom has a higher chance of going to jail,” Pika said. Pregnancy has changed Scott’s life in
many ways. In order to prepare for Robin, Scott had to make many compromises. She gave up many things, like her favorite hobby, when she had Robin. “Te thing I miss most is dancing,” she said. Scott was a part of the drill team at Decatur, and planed to continue dancing, until she found out that she was pregnant with Robin. Scott realizes that she is lucky to have help and support, but even with support she still has had to sacrifice on certain things. “I used to go out whenever I want[ed], but now I have to make better choices for [Robin and me],” Scott said. She also gave up some of her education because of motherhood. “I am in 11th grade now, but I take the tenth grade classes that I missed last year,” Scott said. “It is hard for teen moms to balance
motherhood and school, and usually school work is the one that suffers,” Pika said. Rais- ing a child and going to school is a compli- cated process. In spite of this, Scott still plans to finish school at Crim High School and go to college in order to succeed in taking care of herself as well as Robin. “I have to [fin- ish school] because I have somebody else to take care of, not just myself,” she said. Luckily, Scott has enough support to be able to go back to school. But accord- ing to Te National Campaign, parent- hood is a leading cause of school drop- out among teen girls. In fact, 30% of teen girls cited pregnancy or parenthood as a reason for dropping out of high school.
Life Lessons
Monday through Friday, Scott takes her daughter to daycare, goes to Crim High for class and then comes home and takes care of Robin. Tough she doesn’t like Crim, Scott understands how cheap the daycare is. “At other schools, it is like 150 dollars a week for daycare, but here at Crim, it’s only 50 dollars a week,” she said. Scott plans to be the best mother that she can be and is willing to work hard now so that she can achieve that goal. “I don’t want [Robin] to want for anything,” Scott said. Scott does not suggest having kids while being a teen. She believes that people should be stable in their life before having kids. While Scott does not regret having Robin, she wishes that it could have happened later in life. “I wish I could have had Robin in eight years, then I could have been more prepared,” she said. “You should never have a kid while young because you will struggle, and you don’t want your kid to struggle.” Scott understands that as teenagers, girls are not ready to have children and she strongly believes that they should wait until they are ready, especially if they do not have the means and tools to take care of a baby. “Don’t have kids young, especially without support. I had support, and I was not ready,” Scott said. “It still shocks me today.” Scott believes that even though she still has to take care of Robin, she also has her- self to worry about. She still makes time for friends that have stayed by her side. “I still go out. Now, I just make sure that my mom is okay with taking care of Robin,” Scott said. Nevertheless, Scott understands the responsibilities ahead of her, and she feels that she will be able to handle them. “I don’t know what will happen in the future,” she said, “but I’m taking it step by step.” n
Anna Scott and her family watch while Robin plays around the house. “I don’t know what I would do without my mom or my family,” Scott said.
OCTOBER 2011 • CARPE DIEM 29
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