Teenage pregnancy remains a catastrophic occurrence that wreaks havoc on the lives of millions. Wes Moore’s The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates published in 2010 compares and contrasts the lives of two different individuals with the same name. The lives of the two men overlap at times, but ultimately the final paths of their lives remain extremely different. The author Wes Moore has led a successful life as a Rhodes Scholar; however, the other Wes Moore will be in prison for the remainder of his life for manslaughter. In the course of the other Wes Moore’s life, he faces the daunting problem of becoming a teenage parent. Some say that abstinence-only education is the best way to prevent teen …show more content…
By constantly missing school, he was prevented from gaining the instruction that he deserved and needed. Part of this missed education would have been a proper sexual education. Wes Moore had a biased attitude that it was the sole responsibility of the female to prevent pregnancy, which was reflected as he questioned, “How could Alicia have let herself get pregnant? He thought maybe it was a mistake. Maybe the results would change” (Moore 99). To Wes, it was Alicia’s job to use protection, or Alicia’s body “chose” to get pregnant. As comprehensive sexual education would have taught Wes, it is both partners’ responsibility to prevent pregnancy because it takes two people to create a child. The fact that he thought the “results would change” signifies a lack of mental maturity even though he is physically old enough to create a child. Furthermore, comprehensive sexual education would have educated Wes on the mental maturity that it takes to become a parent. Parenthood is not something that anyone should take lightly, especially …show more content…
Alicia had ideals that “[she] hoped that she could giver her child the two-parent household that she’d never had. But before the baby even came into the world, she realized how unlikely that would be” (Moore 101). Alicia seems to care for her unborn child already, but she is not happy that Wes is already discarding her for other women. She wants to provide a good life for her child, yet she recognizes that she will be a single mother. If she had the chance to go back in time and chose not to get pregnant, would she? Most likely because she is not happy with the way Wes is acting. She wanted to give her child what she never had, but she recognizes that it will never happen. If Wes or Alicia would have used protection or practiced abstinence, then Alicia may not have ever gotten