Curie Youth Radio's exploration of what it is like to be a teenage mother by utilizing two very different young women effectively engages the listener in an interactive, intimate conversation. Fantasia's music that is dispersed throughout the piece helps to connect the listener with a famous figure that was also once a teenage mother. The young women featured in this piece seem honest and intimate, regardless of how socially stigmatizing teenage pregnancy can be. Some of the audio within the piece was a bit unclear, primarily during Valerie's interview. However, the piece as a whole comes full circle. The comparing and contrasting of two women, one supported and the other not, contribute to the piece's balanced nature. Overall, an effective piece that exposes some of the darker truths of teenage pregnancy.

I agree with much of what's been said in previous reviews: This is a story that does two things: It humanizes young mothers, because the voices of the two girls are rich and they sound like they're talking to their friends. Second, it makes the mothers anonymous members of a group, by weaving their voices together without narration.

I think Curie would do stations a BIG favor by providing a host intro and outro to give some information about (and thereby personalize) the two mothers. What are their names? (Or if they wish to be anonymous, explain why). Where do they live? What are their kids names? How old were they when the story was made? What are they doing now? How old are their kids? What are their kids' names?

When we aired this story I was able to find out some of the answers: The mother with the supportive family is named Alca Usan; the other wished to be anonymous at the time the story was made because she was applying to college. Alca's daughter is named Mia Sol. Alca is 19 now (as of Jan 2007), her daughter is 2 1/2. Alca had her daughter the day after school got out in her sophomore year. She's in college now, lives with her grandmother, mother and siblings. Her boyfriend lives downstairs. She wants more kids.

After all the public service announcements and sex ed warnings that I have listened to in the past couple of years regarding the serious consequences of teen pregnancy, this piece provides a very nonjudgmental view of the topic--a matter-of-fact examination of the effects that motherhood had on two different high school students. The piece allows the listener to draw his or her own conclusions based on the stories presented. In addition to making the piece nonjudgmental, the producers' decision to eliminate unnecessary narration smoothes the flow of the piece. By moving back and forth between the two mothers' voices and thus juxtaposing their experiences, this method draws connections between the girls as much as it illustrates their differences and also allows the girls themselves to create the scenes for the listener. The final effect of the lack of narration is an added universality; instead of telling the story of two specific, completely described young women, the piece offered a less distinct description and, so doing, in some ways conveys the story of many teen mothers. In order to perfect the piece, the producers could shorten some of the music segments, which, although relevant, are quite lengthy and thus detract from the flow and overall effect.

This piece is so great! Eventhough teenage motherhood is a very serious subject this piece shows you theres a balance in terms of pro's and cons. Although being a teen mom is hard and is difficulot to deal with sometimes there's also a positive side of it. I love how they get perspective's from different teen mother's and how they told their parents the news. But I also love the ending where one of the mother's explains that her child brings her joy when she's feeling down and how being a mother is a beautiful thing. She says, "I call her my chocolate sunshine."Love It!!!!!

I have always found teen pregnancy to be a shocking as well as moving topic, and this piece confirmed that. I felt that the mother's stories were informative, and that the piece had an overall positive tone, as they seemed to be making the best of their situations, and they were both still in school. However, I know that there are some teen mothers who don't have such excellent support systems and have to drop out of school, and that teen pregnancy isn't really the best option for most people. I would have liked to have heard some talk of prevention, but overall it was positive.