By BRAD PERRY

THE highs and lows of raising a child at a young age are being shared in local schools through Riverland headspace’s Talking Realities program, with the latest group of graduates ready to share their stories. Involving parents aged 22 and under, the program offers teenage mothers support and advice while they gain accredited training. A group of six young mothers, with the youngest being 16, recently graduated from the program and will now deliver a peer education program to schools across the region. Riverland headspace education community officer Narelle Hughes said the program has been an overwhelming success and hopes the information about the young mothers’ experiences will filter through schools and see students making healthy choices regarding their relationships and sexual health. “This is our fourth or fifth lot of graduates for the Talking Realities program, so we have got a decent pool of peer educators now,” she said. “They talk to students about the realities of choosing to become a parent at a young age. “Often there is that stigma that because you have had a child at a young age, you must not want it or must not be a good parent or it was unplanned, which is sometimes the case, not always, so we let the students and teachers know we are not there to send a “do it” or “don’t do it” message, just to give the realities.” Twenty-two year old Bianca King, from Berri, who graduated from the program last week, said the support has helped her to face the reality of bringing up a child at a young age. “It has been really good to hear the other girls’ stories and I guess it does make you realise that every pregnancy and birth is totally different and I think it has been good for us to open up to other people,” she said. “The friendships we have seen being formed in this group means they have support from somebody who is in the same circumstance,” Mrs Hughes added. Miss King said she and her partner had talked about having a child but did not expect it to happen so quickly. “We were having unprotected sex for a while and we weren’t getting pregnant or anything and then we actually started using contraception a bit late,” she said. While her one year old son Shayden has brought happiness to her life, Miss King knows that every young mother’s situation is different. “I kind of feel like I was born to be a mum,” she said. “I know there is at least one girl in that group who doesn’t have a partner and I have seen some of the things she has to juggle and I kind of think myself lucky that I have a partner who is caring and there for me.”