Let’s cut Bristol and Levi some slack

Don't journalists care if they destroy a marriage?

Every time I see a headline with the names Bristol and Levi, my blood pressure skyrockets. Long after the campaign in which Bristol’s mother, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, ran for vice-president on the Republican ticket, her daughter is being hounded by the media. Not long ago we learned that her boyfriend and the father of her child, Levi Johnston, had quit his job with ASRC Energy Services over questions about his qualifications. After an Anchorage columnist suggested that Bristol’s mother secured the position for her future son-in-law, a position that typically requires the high school diploma that Levi lacks, he quit to “calm the waters.” Teen parents Bristol and Levi were back in the limelight—and it was the last place they needed to be.

I don’t know Bristol and Levi. But the media’s sordid obsession with their relationship gets me all riled up. Divorce statistics suggest that first marriages have a higher rate of success if the wife is 20 or older when she marries, does not have children already and has a college education. Although Bristol does tick some boxes associated with marriage success (grew up in a two-parent home, has a religious affiliation) the deck is stacked against her. Attempting to navigate the challenging early years of marriage and parenting will be even more difficult if she is subjected to constant media scrutiny.

My own experience working with pregnant and parenting teens as a Chicago high school teacher makes me particularly concerned. I have seen the sometimes agonizing struggles of young people who have made a courageous decision to give life to the child of an unplanned pregnancy. One young woman I knew persevered through sleepless nights with an infant only to wake up early the next morning, take the baby to day-care, attend a full day of school, work late to pay for the day care, finish a challenging homework load (en route to earning all As and Bs), and crawl into bed exhausted. The next day was the same.

For many of these teens, their children motivated such determination. At the same time, though, they occasionally battled loneliness and isolation from peers as they put their dreams on hold and stepped into adulthood. It takes incredible strength to choose life in the face of so many cultural obstacles . The resulting vulnerability requires an equally strong system of support. The media’s condescension towards Bristol and Levi and their newly-arrived baby Tripp is like watching someone kick a puppy.

What bothers me the most is the fact that so many people continue to harbor a desire to make the Palin family suffer. What is it about their commitment to life—a large family, a son with Down Syndrome, an unwed daughter supported during her teen pregnancy—that makes people so contemptuous? Why does “political” commentary so frequently degenerate into “You know, they just have such weird names.” Somewhere along the line charity flew out the window.

Governor Palin can take the criticism—deserved or undeserved. She’ll have to if she plans a run at the presidency in 2012. But it’s Bristol and Levi I’m worried about. These two need support. They need confidence. They need reassurance that they are doing the best they can and encouragement when they feel like giving up.

Maybe I’m naïve, but I don’t understand why we can’t just try to be nicer. I’ve seen people mobilize behind kids in this same situation, cutting them some slack and rallying around them. Why can’t Saturday Night Live do the same for Bristol and Levi? Why not declare a media blackout on Bristol and Levi stories—at least until they’ve had a chance to adjust to life as a married couple? Give these two young people the dignity they deserve.

Anne McClure, an educator and mom, writes from the Chicago suburbs. Read more at http://catholicmommybrain.com