High school students weigh in on low birth rate
I teach AP biology. In the last few months of school we wrapped up the year talking about population ecology. Global birth rates were a hot topic in the news this year and I decided to ask my students on how they felt about this and did they intend on of having kids of their own.
For context, out of both sections of 50 students I only had 4 boys. The rest were girls. 11 out of 50 students said “they would want /would consider” have kids in the future. All 4 of the boys wanted kids.
The rest were a firm no. Like not even thinking twice. lol some of them even said “hellllll noo”
Of course they are 16-19 years old and some may change their minds, but I was surprised to see just how extreme the results were. I also noted to them, that they may not be aware of some of the more intrinsic rewards that come with childbearing and being a parent. Building a loving family with community is rewarding
When I asked why I got a few answers:
- “ if I were a man, then sure”
- “ I have mental health issues I don’t want to pass on” -“in this economy?” -“yeah, but what would be in it for me?”
The last comment was interesting because the student then went on to break down a sort of cost benefit analysis as how childbearing would literally be one of the worst and costliest decisions she could make.
I couldn’t really respond as I don’t have kids, nor did I feel it necessary to respond with my own ideas. However, many seemed to agree and noted that “it doesn’t we make sense from a financial perspective”.
So for my fellow teacher out there a few questions:
- are you hearing similar things from gen Z and alpha?
- do you think these ideas are just simply regurgitations of soundbites from social media? Or are the kids more aware of the responsibilities of parenthood?
Edit: something to add: I’ve had non teacher friends who are incredibly religious note that I should “encourage” students in the bright sides of motherhood as encouraging the next generation is a teachers duty”
This is hilarious given 1. I’m not religious nor have ever been a mom, 2. lol im not going to “encourage” any agenda but I am curious on what teaches who do have families would say abut this.