I was appalled by the article ”Expanding the male conception of pregnancy” on the front page of the Tempo section Oct. 4. Jim Spencer suggested that teenagers who get pregnant are ”attention-starved,” and that if they were ”forced to wear the thing (pregnancy simulator) for a couple of hours as I did, the rate of teen pregnancies would probably plummet.” These are some of the most insensitive and ignorant comments I have ever read.
Trying to scare teenagers with the discomforts of pregnancy won`t work. For one thing, men can take the device off and never have to worry about it.
(As he points out, 61 percent of teenage mothers are unmarried.) Parenthood is a lifetime commitment. That`s what`s scary.
Encouraging real sex education in our schools and making effective birth control readily available to teens will work. Teenage women aren`t
”attention-starved.” And teenage men aren`t just ”curious.” They`re human-with fears, insecurities and doubts-just like everyone else. What they need is our understanding. Not our preaching-and not our ”devices.”
