ABSTRACT
The column "Momma Said", run in New Expression (NE) during the 1993-94 school year, gave first-person accounts of teen mothers and how being a parent affected their lives. An adult could have given some stats on teen mothers, gathered a few quotes, and maybe inserted his or her opinions, but no adult could have given the column the same passion a teenager did. Teen-age writers let teen readers feel their pain, experience their joy, understand their position. To people who have never been in that situation, teen mothers became real people and not just statistics taking advantage of the hardworking taxpayer. Often, teens reading paternal journalism became apathetic and ignored the media altogether because they did not feel it represents their reality. Adults could sometimes report on teens effectively, but only teens, themselves, could express their emotions and the emotions of their peers.
