Bristol Palin - on Teen Parenting

Bristol Palin on Teen Parenting

Bristol Palin, Gov. Sarah Palin’s 18-year-old daughter, sat for her first interview since giving birth to Tripp, which aired Monday on Fox News Channel’s “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren.”

News of the unmarried high school student’s pregnancy emerged within days of her mother’s introduction as Senator John McCain’s running mate in August. In addition to being a mother, Ms. Palin appears to be embracing a potential role as an advocate against teen pregnancy, saying that abstinence is “not realistic.”

Ms. Palin, who said she was “exhausted,” at moments seemed to have a poise and world-weariness that belied her age. But there were still flashes of a defiant teenager.

She said she had been particularly irritated by media rumors that her mother, a social conservative, had forced her to have the baby.

“It doesn’t matter what my mom’s views are on it,” she said. “It was my decision, and I wish people would realize that, too.”

Though she declined to elaborate, Ms. Palin’s views on abstinence appear to differ from those her mother, a proponent of abstinence-until-marriage education, would like to see espoused.

“Everyone should be abstinent, but it’s just not realistic at all,” she said, adding that among people her age, “it’s more and more accepted now.” But though she said she hoped her story would help change that acceptance, she did not advocate the use of contraception or go into greater detail as to how to prevent teen pregnancy.

When Ms. Van Susteren asked if she knew how to take care of a baby, Ms. Palin responded, “Yeah,” with a note of irritation. She added, “Because I’ve been babysitting my whole life. So it’s not just the baby part of it that’s hard, it’s just realizing that I’m not living for myself anymore; I’m living for another human being.”

Ms. Palin said she felt “blessed” to have a large extended family to help her take care of Tripp, born Dec. 27. During a brief appearance, Governor Palin added: “I don’t know how other families do it if they assume that the young parent will make it on their own, or if they assume that the government is going to take care of the young parent and that child. That’s not government’s role.”

Bristol Palin: Media Maven with a Message

In a stroke of media mastery, Bristol Palin harnessed the Palin-family-doting Fox News last night to announce a powerful (and decidedly non-Fox News) message for policy makers: abstinence only is "not realistic." The new teen mom also told Great Van Susteren that she would "love to be an advocate to prevent teen pregnancy." Making this announcement on one of the most watched, and most conservative, news stations in the nation is already a pretty good display of her ability to reach a large swath of Americans (particularly the most difficult to reach on this issue.)

As we all remember, Bristol and her unplanned pregnancy dominated the national news for a month during the Presidential campaign. Yet this is really the first time we've heard from Bristol herself. It appears she is striking out on her own.

In fact, she told her mother about the interview, and her plans to discuss teen pregnancy prevention during it, just the day before. Some have spun this story as Bristol Palin attacking her mother's abstinence-only policies. She clearly is not, but she is finding her own voice.

What the interview reveals is that Bristol Palin is lovely, humble, honest, no doubt still a teenager and refreshingly free of any political agenda--except to use her experience to steer teens away from the same fate.

In startling candidness, Bristol Palin expresses the conflicting emotions that come packaged with teen parenthood; her love for her child and of motherhood and her belief that waiting ten years before becoming a parent would have been a better path.

She explained,

"I like being a mom, I love it. Just seeing him smile and stuff, it's awesome...It is very challenging but it's so rewarding...Of course, I wish it would happen in ten years so I could have a job and an education and be, like, prepared and have my own house and stuff... I just hope that people learn from my story and, I don't know, prevent teen pregnancy I guess... It's not just the baby part of it that's hard, it's that I'm not living for myself anymore I'm living for another human being...I'd like to be an advocate to prevent teen pregnancy because its not a situation you strive for I guess...Kids should just wait--it's not glamorous at all."

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