Hi, my name is Katie. I am a 22 year old mama to a 2.7 year old boy. I am a member of the National Coalition to EMPOWER Teen Parents. October 11th is the Day to let everyone know that we, as teen parents, are not just a statistic. I am including the mission statement for NDTETP and the website. You can help other teen moms. There will be Teen Mom Speak Outs held across the country on October 11th,

National Day to Empower Teen Parents Mission Statement

em�pow�er ( m-pou r)
tr.v. em�pow�ered, em�pow�er�ing, em�pow�ers
1. To invest with power, especially legal power or official authority.

The National Day to Empower Teen Parents is an effort to ensure that all parents, regardless of age, are given the tools needed to act with knowledge, authority, wisdom, and strength. We have created, promoted, and distributed a zine/booklet of information to help make sure that as many teen mothers as possible are reminded of their rights as women, citizens and parents. Teen parents are routinely vilified in our society, and their rights as parents are stripped away. �Babies having babies� we are told, over and over again, without any reasons given as to WHY teenagers are told that they are unilaterally unable to parent effectively. Our society has not been able to collectively realize that the more you tell any person or groups of people that they will fail, the more likely it is that they will do just that. Fail.

What we are trying to do is give a reminder to all teen parents that it is within THEIR CONTROL whether or not they become effective, successful and happy parents, and that their fate is not pre-determined by their age.

We are working to give teen mothers step-by-step guidance about how to overcome life�s biggest hurdles for a teen parent; how to finish school, how to file for child support, how to breastfeed successfully, how to deal with your own parents, how to leave an abusive situation, how to advocate for yourself medically, how to find childcare, how to have a positive postpartum body image, and much more. The way that we are doing this is through our National Coaltion to Empower Teen Parents, which is working across the country to produce our EMPOWER zine/booklet. Teen moms have written step-by-step guides to helping moms overcome personal and social obstacles. We are working to distribute this information to as many cities and towns all over the country as we can, where coalition members will copy and distribute them to teen mom "hot spots" such as clinics, hospitals, teen parent high schools, malls, buses, etc.

Through this zine/booklet, and the formation of EMPOWER teen parent support groups all over the country, we are fighting to end discrimination against teen parents and form communities of support and encouragement for these marginalized mothers.

Teenage pregnancy is not a social �phenomenom� that will end some day, with enough shame tactics and birth control education. Teenagers always have and always will become parents, and instead of shaming the young adults who have taken this route, we must work to make sure that they are doing so in a supportive society, where all parents are awarded the same respect and resources and all children are supported and loved. If teen parents are expected to act as responsible, caring adults and parents, instead of reckless and irresponsible teenagers, then they must be preemptively viewed as such. They must be given the tools for personal empowerment and success. They must be allowed the right to make their own choices for their futures. If all parents were equally supported and respected, many of the problems that are typically associated with teen pregnancy would dissipate. We do not claim that teen parenting is an easy path to choose. Rather, we recognize the intense difficulty that comes with teen pregnancy and we are working to ease some of that burden for teen parents everywhere, so that they are freer to be the best possible parents.

We are not working to promote teen pregnancy. We are working to make sure that all young adults who have become parents are allowed the greatest possible chances for success.

It is our right as mothers, fathers, and citizens to have the power to make choices for ourselves and our children and to pave our own life courses. We will struggle to achieve this, and will not end our struggle and work until we have.

strug�gle (str g l)
v. strug�gled, strug�gling, strug�gles

1. To be strenuously engaged with a problem, task, or undertaking
2. To make a strenuous effort; strive.
3. To progress with difficulty

hey my name is trina am 17 and i have a 1 year old son his name is lavar. i really didn't understand what all that was but it souned kool . I live in york sc. I have been e-mailing people for a long time about getting back into. i only finshed the 8th grd. i know that lookes really bad. when i was in school i didn't care about that stuff but know i do my son has changed all that. if you can help me plz do you can e-mail at onelove_09*hotmail.com

i'm 17 and am a mother of a 1 year old. after reading your post several different times i was trying to come up with an idea for you. Then it just hit me, as far as i know there isn't a magazine for teen mothers/fathers out there. I think a magazine would be a really good idea. i have a passion for writing and it would be ideal to have an emotional outlet for teen parents. after all we're not failures and we struggle just as much as the mother stereotype. I mean a long time ago we would be married with a family by 16 so why are they so surprized now? why do they treat us like we're babies when we make more important choices everyday some of which they never had to? it could be a magazine written by teen parents for teen parents with questions,help,articles and many other promotions. please get back to me about more of your ideas, i would like to help any way i can. if you like my idea please let me know,
diamondeyes36*cs.com

there is a zine! That is the main purpose of NDTETP. It is written by teen moms for teen moms. You can get information about it at Http://www.empowerteenparents.org

You can get involved with the Coalition to EMPOWER Teen Parents through the website. Also where the idea for the zine (and the women who wrote the zine) can be found at Http://www.girlmom.com


I think that a monthly or seasonal actual magazine would be a great idea.

Feel free to email me at punkrockteenmom*yahoo.com