We (Summer and Jezmyn) came up with the idea to act like teen moms. We both know that when you find out a teenager is pregnant it becomes a big deal. A lot of people start talking about it and about the soon to be mom. We also know that when you see a teenager pregnant or carrying around a baby it gets a reaction. We think that almost everyone is guilty of looking a little longer then they should at a young girl with a big round belly or find themselves talking about a teen that is pregnant or even supposedly pregnant. To carry out this plan we came up with a few possibilities and back up plans. In the end we ended up doing three different things.
Summer’s report:
First off, I dressed up like I was pregnant. When you see a young girl with a pregnant belly chances are you are going to look longer then you should. You would probably make a comment to someone with you, or possibly even make a comment to the teenager.
On September 1st we decided to carry out our plan. To make it seem like I was pregnant I put a pillow in my stomach. Of course the pillow made it look like I had a very deformed square belly. My mom helped me fix this problem by wrapping prewrap around my body and shaping it to look like I was pregnant. It wasn’t the most realistic belly ever but it was the best we could do with what we had. unfortunately it was over 100 degrees out. The pillow made me hotter then I normally would be. It also made it difficult to sit or bend over. Needless to say, I was very thankful that I didn’t have to have it on for a long time. That made me stop and think, teen moms don’t get to just take there bellys off. For nine months they have to adjust to their stomachs getting bigger. Another problem I had was that I had to search for a shirt that would go over my belly. My normal shirts did not come close to fitting. When you are pregnant you have to buy clothes when you start getting bigger. That can be very pricey.
After pondering for a while about what it would be like to really be pregnant I decided to go to Buffalo Wild Wings. Jezmyn, my cousin, and I piled into my car to head there. I had to adjust my seat so that my belly wasn’t smashed against my steering wheel. I also had to adjust to the fact that I had a huge stomach in my way while driving. It was extremely frustrating. On the way there I started to get really nervous. There was no way to tell how people would react. Having friends with me made it a lot easier. Being completely honest I probably wouldn't have gone through with it if it wasn't for them. As soon as I walked in I was ready to walk out. My face got red and my heart started racing. When our waiter came to ask us how many he was seating, he asked three? Jezmyn then replied well actually there is four of us. As soon as she said that I started to get really nervous. We all just kind of laughed and the waiter said "is that your belly?" in a very shocked, suprised way. I couldnt imagine how I would handle this reaction if I had been really pregnant. All three of us couldnt stay serious so we started laughing. Then he could tell it was all a joke. He asked if it was a school project or if it was just fun. When i told him that it was a school project he was even more suprised. "Your school is teaching you how to be pregnant?" he asked. We laughed then explained our project. He said that I needed to hold my back and sit down like I was pregnant. Every time he came to our table he would make a comment and laugh. I got a few stares and a group of boys eating there started nudging each other and looking at me. They didn’t even stop when I was looking right at them. Thankfully, my cousin was sitting on the outside of me so people just coming in did not notice. As soon as she got up to go to the restroom I felt very uncomfortable. I was thankful to get out of there and get the belly off.
I could not imagine being a pregnant teen. What i went through for an hour some teens go through for months. It definitely made me realize how uncomfortable they feel when everyone’s looking at them. It really made me stop and think. Most teens do not ask to get pregnant. Accidents happen and they have to deal with the consequences for the rest of their lives. We should not look at them any differently. Chances are they acted the same way toward pregnant teens before they became one. This project definitely helped me learn and realize a lot.
Jezmyn’s report: My part of this project seemed to me a lot different. I did two different things for reaction. Summer and I were getting reaction from people we didn’t know, so we decided to see what some of our friend’s reactions to a teen pregnancy would be. I posted a facebook status saying, “I’m pregnant.” That’s all I put. (I did warn only a few people, like my family, Kaleb, and his family as a lot of them are my friends online.) Within seconds I had 4 “likes” and 10 comments, most of which I did not know who the people commenting even were. (one guy I didn’t know messaged me and told me to text him?!) I replied to no one until later that night. After a couple hours of the status being posted I posted a new one saying, “Today I announced on Facebook that I was pregnant. Indeed I am NOT. In English, we are doing a project on stereo types and how people judge others before they know their stories. I was not making fun of anyone. Our assignment was to do something out of character and see how others react. So that I could honestly tell people's reaction Summer and I did not let anybody in on what we were doing. and I really am not pregnant!! Lol so please if you have been telling people which I know some people have, better tell them the truth please! Thanks guys.” Kinda cheesy but it got the point across. I had one “like” (from Summer’s cousin, who knew the whole time) and one person comment it. The person that commented is a teen mom and told me that it shouldn’t matter what people think even if I was pregnant, “it’s YOUR life,” she said, “not theirs!” She is 20 and still has people come up to her and tell her she’s “too young to have a baby” and stare at her. This comment was very important because want she said, was the importance to this whole assignment.
It did bother me a little that of course drama and a rumor was being spread and how I was told everyone was talking about it at the volley ball game, but once you find out the truth, it’s over with and people are done talking. People only want to talk about the bad in people’s life it seems like. And only if it’s about other people, like they should care more about other’s actions than their selves. I was not a happy camper about this outcome.
Another thing Summer and I did was actually take a real baby out in public. We have a friend who has a son, Alex, who is about a year old and we took him out to Wal-Mart for a few. We had my mom drive us because she is a more experienced driver and let’s be real; driving with a baby is a BIG responsibility! That’s one thing we took into consideration. You have to be extra cautious driving with a baby. It’s another human, and they can’t talk if they see if something (like oncoming traffic for example) is coming our way, like a friend could do. When we got to Wal-Mart, my mom stayed in the car, and when we tried putting his car seat in the cart we found out it’s not an easy task! People were giving us looks like we were bad parents! It was extremely embarrassing.
We decided to do three different tests about people’s reactions to us. We both walked around with Alex for about 20 minutes, counting second-too-long stares people gave us. We went to the baby isle and put baby food and accessories in the cart. We had 20 people look at us with that long pause throughout the store. 2 men working stopped what they were doing and glared at us, and one person commented to a group of people, “That’s sad.” The second and third test happened at the same time. I walked with Alex, and Summer walked alone. We tallied up the looks we got and met up again. Summer got 8 stares, but I on the other hand, got 47 stares. I was soo embarrassed. During this experiment I about had a panic attack, it was so nerve-wracking. I actually felt like a teen mom and I was so scared. I started taking a faster pace, found Summer and told her we were leaving. We got more looks going into the parking lot. I don’t think Summer was feeling the rush of emotions I was feeling, because it looked like she was just a friend going on a shopping trip. My face got really red and I just wanted to go home. All I wanted was to go home, tell everyone on facebook that I wasn’t pregnant and go to sleep. I cannot imagine how teens can go 9 months plus 18 years with a child. I was just babysitting and people made me feel terrible. Why should they care anyways? It’s not their life, it’s not their mistake. Some people wouldn’t want others to feel sorry for them, I sure in the heck didn’t! If people would have just ignored the fact that I was there with a baby, my “shopping trip” would have been a whole lot easier!
