US elections: Daughter of John McCain's running mate Sarah Palin is pregnant - Telegraph

On the back of this story an aside..I read with interest that Mrs Palin states that her eldest daughter 17 is to marry the father of the child she [her daughter] is expecting... Now my thoughts are is it responsible or wise to for a teenager to get married... Especially when the likelihood of the relationship ending in divorce has got to be extremely high!!!

Is this responsible parenting...[forget the about the colour of family] I'm just concentrating on the issue..because i think its bonkers myself...

At that point a parent doesn't have much of a say in what their kid does.

I don't think any parent should be giving their blessing though for either marriage or dating at that age.

In this case though the marriage is all about attempting to clean up a public image.

There are also still plenty of men and women who don't feel right about a child coming into the world without a "traditional" family.

Melissa: to be honesti don't agree, but I'm not going to labour the point any further, as the context of this thread is clear..

you do however raise an interesting question about the marriage bit.... Now my view as a parent and NOT out of outrage at this women.. I'm not sure its a good idea to push anyone male or female into a marriage at that age... For me its too young, not saying its not too young for her to be having a baby also..but as she is already pregnant the question from this point, as a parent is would I allow my daughter to make a further possible mistake of getting married at such a young age and my immediates thoughts are no...

Because people change and having gone through a divorce it is not something i'd wish on my worse enemy...never mind on my daughter or a child in that relationship so from that standpoint I'm asking is 17 too young for marriage I think it is...

I see your point K, however can we examine the reason why Mrs. Palin has decided to consider marriage? You and I will agree that this 17 year old is far too young for the responsiblities of pregancy and marriage. However, this 17 year made her choice: can we as parents always protect our children from the choices they make? It seems to me, Mrs Palin feels that her daughter has to face up to her responsibilites. Part of that is providing a home for this unborn child, with the father. So that is why marriage is on the cards: nothing like being responsible for a child to make one grow up. I also believe Mrs Palin is considering her other children, teaching them the lessons of facing up to one's mistakes.

I was discussing this topic with a colleague and we disagree on whether this young girl could be expecting because of a broken condom. I feel that, in this day an age, it is very hard to except, with so many options to prevent pregancy, that the explantion of a faulty condom is how this girl became pregnant..

Especially when you consider that the 'mechanics' of sex is discussed so readily in young peoples' magazines and in schools. Mrs Palin does not sounds like a person who would neglect to talk to her children about sex..

Well using marriage as a consequence/punishment is going to doom it anyway and create an unhealthy view on marriage for all involved, including the children. Marriage is hard enough, do you really think the premise of a marriage should be based on a "lesson learned?", and do you think the outcome of that marriage will be more or less damaging to the child "for whom" the marriage existed.
This woman is not doing a damn thing that's good for her grandchild and daughter, she is pushing what she presumes is good for herself and her mate's campaign. Most likely she and Mccain's "aides" (about a dozen or so I've read that were sent to Alaska to "assist" Palin's family's situation) are threatening this girl to at least go along with an intent to marry until after the presidency is secured.

Even if she truly believes her young daughter taking on marriage is the best thing this is not a good look. What does this say about your ability to logically analyze on a case-by-case basis, putting aside your personal "morals" and motives, to come out with the best possible result? I'm not talking about the means to an end at all cost either, but rather the special talent needed by a party of the President of the free world to understand that you can't always call upon your personal "beliefs" as a solution to every problem, especially when it is your duty to moderate nationwide and worldwide issues that will conflict with your moral beliefs.
Just like this woman is willing to throw her daughter into an explosive situation (a doomed marriage with a questionable young man) to blindly protect her worldview when it is not her view she needs to be protecting, but her daughter.
I do not want someone that distractable in office and I especially do not want someone like that in a position that would likely allow her to become President.

Encouraging a young, immature girl who is already dealing with pregnancy on a magnified level to enter into marriage is moronic and is just a robotic reaction to either one's perceived morals or to appeal to the masses with the appearance of strong morals...it's dangerous that someone with this mindset is not only being supported, but possibly goaded by the camp of a presidential nominee. It's disgusting is what it is, and backwoods ignorance.
It follows along the same lines of Bush repeatedly saying his belief in God, and our (America's) protection under him gives him faith that we will prevail (in the war, in economic depression), that God is "On our side"....I'm sorry but that scares the hell out of me that someone is putting my country's welfare in the hands of their faith.

I consider the role of morals as a tool of general guidance, not the end-all/be-all. Anytime you push good sense to the background in order to satisfy selfish morality stance it is no longer a moral act and you become nothing but another lemming and we've had enough lemmings attempting to run this country.

Are western values the only thing.
In america many teenagers get married. Age is not really a factor here. Solange Knowles got married when she fell preggers but now divorced

However I see nothing wrong in a 17yr old getting married to another of similar age. People will say that she was irresponsible but so was her boyfriend/fiance. They are doing the responsible thing by ensuring a solid foundation is being put in place for their child. So what of it does not work. At least they tried.


off topic.....@mellissa I agree there is far too much women hating on this board but of course can always be addressed in another thread

This is the idea that I disagree with. I don't believe getting married is ensuring anything. Marriage is not a fixer-upper. Getting married to "help"the child is along the lines of getting pregnant to help the relationship...dangerous grounds. The only thing a marriage in this case would do is make the parties involved feel temporarily better about themselves before things begin to explode in all directions.

Marriage does not change people or situations and I think it's naive to think it will add anything but extra stress to a situation like this. Two married crackheads are still two crackheads..just look at Whitney and Bobby.