14 DAY TRIAL // Bristol Palin, the 18-year-old daughter of politician Sarah Palin, is the poster girl for teen pregnancy and having a child out of wedlock. After openly defying her mother, though, Bristol has now reconsidered her stance, and has joined forces with “Heroes” star Hayden Panettiere to help raise awareness on the issue and, at the same time, help other girls avoid making the same mistake, as OK! Magazine informs.
Present at a town hall meeting in New York yesterday, sponsored by The Candie’s Foundation, both stars warned young girls to never make an uninformed decision, or have others make that decision for them. Telling young girls off is never the way out of the problem, as is doing what one thinks is best, but only after making sure one is properly informed about the consequences of all the actions, the stars said.
While Palin openly stated that there is only one “one hundred percent certain” way to avoid unwanted teen pregnancies, Panattiere played it safe by stressing that a proper education should decrease the number of young and unwilling mothers considerably. “You’re going to do what you’re going to do, but at the end of the day, it’s okay as long as you educate yourself, as long as you’re safe, as long as you’re smart. It’s a topic that’s not talked about enough.” the actress said, adding that she was not the one to tell people what’s right and what’s wrong.
“This is just a human thing. It’s natural, it’s what everyone does, but most people don’t realize how serious things are until it directly impacts them and their lives or the lives of the people around them, and I think this is one of those things where as a young female you go, ‘Oh, it’ll never happen to me, oh, it happens to people, but it’ll never happen to me,’ and then it does happen.” Panettiere added.
Palin, on the other hand, got a little more personal than that in the meeting, saying that she wanted to use her personal example as a warning sign for all girls out there. In order to best achieve this, she said that they should look at her life now and at how it should have been, had she not had a child at such a tender age. “You don’t have friends, can’t just go to the movies, get your hair done. You put your baby first. I would have been to college out of state, hanging out with my friends, a lot more freedom.” Palin said.