Papa Don't Preach (Madonna)
Special Feature: Teen Pregnancy
The Song
Papa Don't Preach
(Madonna)
Papa I know you're going to be upset
'Cause I was always your little girl
But you should know by now
I'm not a baby
You always taught me right from wrong
I need your help, daddy please be strong
I may be young at heart
But I know what I'm saying
The one you warned me all about
The one you said I could do without
We're in an awful mess, and I don't mean maybe - please
Chorus:
Papa don't preach, I'm in trouble deep
Papa don't preach, I've been losing sleep
But I made up my mind, I'm keeping my baby, oh
I'm gonna keep my baby, mmm...
He says that he's going to marry me
We can raise a little family
Maybe we'll be all right
It's a sacrifice
But my friends keep telling me to give it up
Saying I'm too young, I ought to live it up
What I need right now is some good advice, please
(chorus)
Daddy, daddy if you could only see
Just how good he's been treating me
You'd give us your blessing right now
'Cause we are in love, we are in love, so please
(chorus)
Papa don't preach, I'm in trouble deep
Papa don't preach, I've been losing sleep
(repeat)
Oh, I'm gonna keep my baby, ooh
Don't you stop loving me daddy
I know, I'm keeping my baby
The Movie
The excellent Spanish film Goodbye Stork Goodbye (Adiós Cigüeña Adiós) was directed by Manuel Summers in 1971. Paloma, 12, is pregnant by Arturo, 14; they try desperately to get information about their predicament, and their schoolmates do their best to help - as they can't expect prude parents, or a closed society to help. The movie includes many humorous moments as the gang of friends try their best to conceal the pregnancy from the adults, and come to terms with reality: babies are not delivered by storks from Paris (hence the movie title).
Manuel Summers was born in Seville and later made adoptive son of Lepe, Huelva. His family has got origins from England. He is father of David Summers, lead singer of pop group Hombres G.
The Province
The province of Misiones in Argentina has acquired notoriety for being the place with the highest number of illegal adoptions and substitution of identity cases. Baby trafficking has become so widespread that the province itself has been called The Factory of Babies. Extreme poverty forces teen mothers to sell their babies to strangers for either money or home appliances.
Facts about Teen Pregnancy
(from http://www.pregnantteenhelp.org)
Prevention
As a teen, finding out that you are pregnant is a life-changing and scary event. As a parent, finding out your teen is pregnant can both shock you and cause despair as you wonder, now what? Before this ever happens, you can help your teen learn important lessons on how to prevent teen pregnancy.
So if you are parent of a teenager, what else can you do to help prevent your teenager from getting pregnant or getting someone pregnant?
- Keep communication between you and your teen open so that talking about sex is easier to broach.
- Be approachable so that if your teenager has questions about sex or relationships, you can be ready with answers.
- Teach your family values and help your teen see how much they are worth. Explain that no one should be able to make him or her feel like they have to be sexually active.
- Encourage safe and fun activities and sports. Show them their strengths and keep education a top priority.
- Watch for warning signs of heavy relationships with the opposite sex. Also watch for signs of depression or a drop off in previously enjoyed activities. You may need to take further steps to help them avoid becoming sexually promiscuous.
- Teach your teenager the problems associated with unsafe sex. Show him or her the diseases that can result as well as the threat of unplanned pregnancy.
- Know what your teenager is doing and where they like to hang out. Make your home an open place for your teenager’s friends and encourage fun activities at responsible and respected places.
Finally abstinence is the only sure way of preventing teen pregnancy. Family values that promote abstinence as well as talking with your teenager over and over about the importance of abstinence can go a long way in preventing teen pregnancy.