July in Review, Part Two

by Pam Connell | More from this Blogger

01 Aug 2008 01:30 AM

I blogged about a tragedy in which a young mother did not seek medical help for her daughter who wasn't eating, and the child died. The 19-year-old claimed that she had tried to plan adoption for her daughter but that agencies wouldn't work with her because she had no prenatal care. A hard-to-believe claim, but the story got me thinking : Could Education Have Prevented This Tragedy?

In Let's Educate Our Youth About Adoption, I suggested that preschoolers learn to call 911, and that young children learn to see adoption as a normal way of building a family. I suggested some books to help with this. I then proposed that older students do a unit on community resources.

Before going on to more specific education for older children, I wondered how schools could include practical life training along with everything else they have to teach, and suggested one possible solution in Just When Could Youth Learn About Adoption and Life?

Can Education Influence Teen Pregnancy and Adoption? considers programs some schools have tried to use to prevent teen pregnancy by bringing home a little bit of the reality of parenting.

Along these lines, I reviewed the book Annie's Baby, which is edited by a therapist from one of her patient's diaries. It talks about dating violence as well as teen pregnancy and describes how Annie attempts to go to school and care for her baby.

Controversy really heated up with Teens who Choose Adoption More Likely to Succeed--So Why Don't More Teens Choose It? This blog and Adoption Education for Teens, in which I shared what I'd tell kids who I suspect have very little knowledge of adoption, drew comments in which some birth parents said that in their experience, open adoption agreements are not always honored, and asserted their position that adoption is harmful to young mothers and children. One comment that I thought was interesting was that open adoption may leave birth mothers feeling even more guilty because it gives them the illusion of control, leaving them feeling betrayed but also guilty for choosing the family that they did.

In Helping Kids have a Clearer Vision of both Pregnancy and Parenting, I shared some resources for teen parents and suggested that students hear from peers their age who have chosen to parent their children as well as those who have placed their children for adoption.

I did book review of The Girls Who Went Away, a book about birth mothers who surrendered children for adoption between 1945 and 1973. My long book review wasn't enough-I needed another blog to share My Reactions to The Girls Who Went Away, and then still another one.

Learn more about Pam Connell

Pam Connell is a mother of three by both birth and adoption. She has worked in education, child care, social services, ministry and journalism.

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