Baby Dolls=Teen Pregnancy?

What do you think?

from JoeUser Forums
As I see more commercials about these dolls that are "lifelike" I begin to think(scary, I know) that maybe these are some way to promote teen pregnancy. Something like......Give kid doll, kid enjoys doll, wants to have real baby, gets knocked up and ruins life. Has anyone ever thought about the possibility? Kids usually imprint on what they do and see when they're little and seeing a "lifelike" doll may bury within them a certain desire to have a baby.....and when they're teens some, may really want one...but, they forget that a human being needs constant attention and you can't just put it down when you're tired of playing with it.

Just another of my paranoid/crazy thoughts...but you never know what brilliance comes out of the mind of a madman.
(And remember...I LOVE comments...make your voice heard!)

~Zoo
philosophy
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Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top
Which is where good parenting and those classes at school come in. My school had the baby think it over program -- with the real life baby - 2nights of interupted sleep by a crying and baby and girls and boys know they don't want to be parents.
Those baby borns are pretty good for little girls (and boys) with new siblings - they want to help with the new baby - or they're jealous of the new baby.

I don't think you need a lifelike baby to put a desire in you for motherhood - and if they're any good (like the ones who cry automatically at 3am) they'd put your child off for a few years anyway.
Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top
I think there's probably a little bit to this idea--but rather than the dolls by themselves causing it, they are part of a larger cultural system at work. Basically, our culture has always promoted having children, and lots of them. In older times, teenage marriage was not uncommon--it's just that now we're having the children without the marriage. Another point to consider: a lot of girls who get pregnant too soon have issues with both poor self-esteem and poor relationships. They try to use their relationship with a guy to make up for the lack of positive relationships/love in their lives. A lot of them, upon telling friends they are pregnant, hear such comments as "You're so lucky--now you'll have someone to always love you." Not realizing that babies place extreme demands on a person, and not realizing that a baby is not able to give you emotional support in that way, a lot of young women get into trouble thinking that the baby will make up for what they lack.
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Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top
Ah, I smell the embers of a roaring fire of a discussion....(Don't disappoint me...)

trina-Good point, I think my school has the crying rubber baby things...I find them evil...and I'm not taking that class...of course I have no desire to be a parent at this particular time.

Llama-Ah, I love conspiracies...thanks for the input....it is valued, as are all comments...(unless you're being an asshat)

~Zoo
Reply #4 from JoeUser Forums Top
Actually, I feel that baby dolls are great role playing toys for little girls (and boys, if they'll take 'em) that help them develop their nurturing skills (I can back this up with some research if you'd like but I'm lazy and won't unless you request it). I do agree with LlamaLamp that the major factors in teen pregnancy tend to be the teen's desire to feel loved and accepted, by a boy or (unconditionally, they think) by a baby. I also think the state of our oversexed culture plays a role in it as well as home taught values and some other things.

For the record, however, I became pregnant with my oldest child when I was 17. My husband and I married about a year and a half later. I've earned a bachelor's degree, and he is close to his, we have a good relationship and a stable lifestyle, and are very happy. However, this tends to be the exception to the rule. Everything worked out for us, but it does not happen that way for everyone, and teen pregnancy is a serious, and widespread, problem.

This is an interesting idea for an article, and a very interesting hypothesis, Zoo.
Reply #5 from JoeUser Forums Top
This is an interesting idea for an article, and a very interesting hypothesis, Zoo.


Aren't I just wonderous that way?...

~Zoo
Reply #6 from JoeUser Forums Top
Humm....I don't know about these here baby dolls. I used to play with them up until i was about maybe 11 or 12. I don't know I can't remember. Maybe i stopped playing w/ them before that. But have I gotten knocked up yet? No. So...I'm kinda thinking they don't promote sex and teen pregnancy. I dunno.....

~carebear~
Reply #7 from JoeUser Forums Top
Hey...I didn't say it was a fact....just a theory, but if you look at how lifelike these little things are getting...they're almost real....and they could mould some kind of crap in some little kid's mind....you never know....

~Zoo
Reply #8 from JoeUser Forums Top
Good point Zoo, good point. but not every girl has the same reasons for having dolls...
I got like 4 American girl dolls (and an American girl baby) within the span of about 3 years from my parents and i loved them so much because they were so pretty... even though they are made for playing with, you should take into consideration that not every girl likes dolls because they are so lifelike, and that they want to take care of it.
Reply #9 from JoeUser Forums Top
I don't think you need a lifelike baby to put a desire in you for motherhood


That's too true. My daughter (4 years old) is already talking about what she wants to be when she grows up - A mother.

Part of it scares me (she is my youngest of 4 and the only girl). Part of me accepts it for the praise it gives my wife. If she wants to be a mom that strongly, it is a just reflection of the wonderful example of motherhood that she's got before her everyday.
Reply #10 from JoeUser Forums Top
I think there have been little girls playing with dolls for as long as there have been little girls. I also don't think the "life-like"ness has any baring since nothing compares to the imagination. I think some little girls, like myself, were born feeling in their heart that being a mommy was something they had to be. I myself set out to learn how to become a good mom because I didn't want to become a mom just for my sake but to raise a good family also.

Like others have already said, I think teen pregnancy is prompted by many other factors than wanting to have a baby. Matter of fact, I bet there are statistics to show that the teens who actually wanted to get pregnant are in the vast minority.