Very realistic and accurate portrayal of the difficulties teenagers have dealing with pregnancy and a baby without being the least bit preachy. No teenager is prepared for the emotional and other challenges of raising a baby. To those who think the emotional difficulties were overdone, I can assure you that they were not. Growing up, there was a teenager just down the street for which this movie could serve as a biography for his teen years. His girlfriend became pregnant. They had to drop out of school to raise the baby. He worked at a low paying menial job (in the movie the job was a busboy). He was stuck at home and couldn't go out with his friends nor go to college as most of his friends did.
In the movie, the couple went on welfare which again is quite common among teenage parents. Most teenage parents never escape poverty. Let that sink in for a moment. It's not that teenage parents initially struggle before achieving some financial success; most teenage parents will live in poverty their entire lives. Statistically speaking, teenage pregnancy is the surest path to poverty in existence.
I also liked the fact that the movie dealt with two sexual myths which gives the movie some educational value. The first, which I never understood, is the myth that you cannot become pregnant on your first time. No, as long as everything is functioning correctly, you can get pregnant the first, second, third, or potentially any time. In the movie, they got pregnant on their first time which they didn't know was possible.
The other myth is that the "pull and pray" method is guaranteed to prevent pregnancy. "Daddy" was perplexed as to how his girlfriend became pregnant when he always pulled out in time. He asked one of his teachers whether it was possible to get a girl pregnant when you pulled out in time. He correctly explained that sperm is still present before ejaculation and hence, it is possible to get somebody pregnant even if you "pull out in time."
