Compassion for teen-age mothers ALL Edition

• Published in: Bangor daily news
• Main Author: Wahlstrom, Lisa
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bangor, Me Bangor Daily News 10.05.1996
• ISSN: 0892-8738

Teen-age mothers have become a popular scapegoat in America today. For politicians, they are easy targets -- targets who don't vote and don't fight back. They are often portrayed as immoral and uneducated individuals basking in an abundance of public welfare support. However, not all teen-age mothers qualify for Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), Medicaid or other government aid. Yes, there are certainly instances of teen mothers who have taken advantage of the system, but that does not mean that all teen-age mothers need to be punished. The system itself makes it extremely difficult for young, single mothers who do try to make it on their own. Of course, we would all like to see educational programs aimed at preventing these kinds of horrors from happening. We would all like to live in a world where child abuse, neglect, incest, rape and teen-age pregnancy did not occur. Realistically, no matter how much money and effort is put into prevention, we will not completely eliminate the problem. Given this fact, having an attitude of disapproval toward young, single parents or blaming all teen-age mothers because of the few who may abuse or take advantage of the system does nothing to improve the overall problem. One example of their service to Good Samaritan was the annual flower sale on the streets of Bangor and neighboring towns. A Bangor Daily News article from 1936 has a headline that reads: "Volunteers For Good Samaritan Flower Sale On Wednesday" with the subtitle, "Large Corps of Workers to Work in Worthy Cause Under Direction of Mrs. Oliver L. Hall; Teams in Bangor, Brewer, Hampden, Orono and Veazie." Over a dozen teams of 6-15 women each would cover the main street corners in Bangor and neighboring towns and sell hundreds of flowers for contributions to Good Samaritan Home Association.