I was talking with some of my friends about MTV’s Teen Mom a few weeks ago, and one of them said, “They’re all whores.” My friend wasn’t calling the guys who the girls had sex with whores, just the girls—not that anyone deserves to be called a whore. I was really surprised and upset that my friend said this.

Why is it that if you’re a teen mother you’re a whore? I don’t hear people calling 20-something-year-old mothers whores, even though they have unplanned pregnancies too. People—teens and adults—make mistakes and birth control fails. But that doesn’t mean you’re a whore, and it doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. I don’t look at any of the girls on Teen Mom as whores or sluts. So, they have kids? So, they’re young? So, what?

Being a parent is the most difficult job in the world, especially when you’re young and not ready to take care of a baby. Why say hurtful things about young mothers who are in a really difficult situation?

People may use words like “whore” because they are insecure and want to feel better about themselves by putting someone else—a girl or woman—down. It would make a big difference if people spent half the time they spend talking bad about other people doing something good, like making sure teens get the information they need to help prevent unplanned pregnancies.

—Kait Hamilton, 17, Staff Writer

The cover of the November issue of Teen Vogue pictures 19-year-old Jourdan Dunn and 18-year-old Chanel Iman along with the cover line “Teen Supermodels Jourdan and Chanel on Their Rise to the Top.” Inside the magazine, Jourdan and Chanel talk about their careers as supermodels, but it’s what Jourdan reveals that’s got people talking.  Jourdan is expecting a baby sometime this December and her boyfriend, mother and modeling agency are supportive of her.

There was some debate at Teen Vogue, as to whether the magazine should still run the cover after they found out Jourdan was pregnant. But a number of factors, like a tight production schedule, kept the cover in place. Jourdan’s pregnancy and other recent celebrity teen pregnancies, like Jamie Lynn Spears and Bristol Palin, have been enough to get the public’s attention and start a conversation about teenage pregnancy.

Take a look at the cover. Can you even tell which one’s pregnant? I don’t know about you, but I don’t look at that picture and say “Omigosh! That supermodel is pregnant! That’s sooooo totally awesome! I want to be a teenage mother, too!!!” I’m smart enough to realize that this girl is an internationally famous supermodel and probably has a lot more money than I do to financially support a baby. I’d understand somebody having a problem with her being on the cover if she was promoting teen pregnancy, but she isn’t. Jourdan said that her pregnancy was unplanned and “really hard,” so she’s certainly not the poster child for how much fun being a pregnant teen is.

Dealing with an unplanned pregnancy means having to make some tough choices. Become a teen parent or have an abortion? But what about the other option? Adoption.

Recently MTV’s 16 and Pregnant featured Catelynn and Tyler, a teen couple who chose to put their daughter Carly up for adoption. If you saw the show, then you know there were a lot of tears, disagreements with their parents, nine long months of pregnancy and, finally, labor. In the end, Catelynn had this to say about choosing adoption:

“Giving my child up for adoption was the hardest thing I’ll have to do in my life…. I just did what my heart told me to do. I think that Carly’s gonna one day come to me and Tyler and tell us, ‘thank you.’ I’m at peace with my decision.”

For teens who aren’t ready or able to be parents, adoption can be the most loving thing to choose.

Check out this Sex, Etc. story about another teen who chose adoption.

Teen mom Bristol Palin is back in the spotlight, promoting abstinence as an ambassador for The Candie’s Foundation. She recently spoke to teens at a town hall meeting and talked about how becoming a teen mom has changed her life. See what she had to say:

We think it’s great that Bristol is speaking publicly about her experience as a teen mom. But is her message confusing? In an interview on Wednesday with Good Morning America, Bristol said “I just want to go out there and promote abstinence and say this is the safest choice.” Yet she told Fox News earlier this year that abstinence is “not realistic at all.”

It’s absolutely true that abstinence is the only 100-percent effective way to prevent both pregnancy and STDs. And Bristol’s suggestion that teens wait as long as they can to have sex is great advice. But with teen birth rates on the rise and young people at a higher risk for STDs, is it irresponsible to tell teens “just say no,” while leaving out important info on condoms and other forms of birth control?

Maybe teens can learn a lesson from Levi Johnston, the father of Bristol’s baby. Here’s what he said in response to Bristol’s abstinence-only campaign:

There’s been a lot of talk about Bristol Palin, the pregnant, 17-year-old daughter of Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin. Parents play an important role in teaching their children about sex. What did Bristol Palin learn about sex from her mother?

First, you have to know a little bit about where Sarah Palin stands on the issues. She is anti-choice, even in cases of rape or incest. She’s also anti-comprehensive sex ed and wants abstinence-only-until-marriage programs in schools, which means information about condoms and birth control wouldn’t be taught.

Did Sarah talk to Bristol about using condoms to protect herself from pregnancy and STDs? Or did she only push for abstinence and leave her daughter without important info about condoms that could have prevented a pregnancy?

There’s no way of knowing what Sarah and Bristol talked about, or if they talked about sex at all! Teens need and deserve honest and accurate information about sex—not only from comprehensive sex ed classes and resources like Sexetc.org, but from parents as well. Parents really do matter when it comes to learning about sex, so make sure you talk to them!