Sarah Palin, Bristol, and parenthood

So VP candidate Sarah Palin has a daughter who recently god pregnant out of wedlock. Her name is Bristol, and she is now in the public eye. Poor gal.

Some critics have been jumping on Sarah Palin's case, saying "See? She's not a very good mother, is she?" Now, I'm not going to attack or defend her parenting skills, as I don't think that would be appropriate. Rather, I want to emphasize that this criticism of Governor Palin is patently unfair.

Does her daughter's pregnancy make her an inattentive or otherwise incapable mother? I don't think so. You can't necessarily place the blame for this child's failing firmly at the feet of her mother. Children can always make their own mistakes, even with the best of parental guidance.

Heck, how many times have we heard people say "You can't stop teenagers from having sex" (a statement which is technically true, but which oversimplifies the duties of parenthood). Now that Palin's daughter is pregnant though, all of a sudden it's "Omigawsh, she's pregnant! This proves that Palin is a neglectful mother!"

As for accusations that Bristol was "sexually active"... again, that's technically true, insofar as she has clearly had sex. However, this says nothing about whether this was a continuing habit, an occasional failing, or even a one-time mistake. To lay this blame firmly at the mother's feet is both unduly harsh and unwarranted.

Mind you, I'm not saying that she was some lily white virgin who simply made a single mistake. (I hasten to emphasize this, since one person did challenge me on that point.) Rather, I'm saying that we don't know if she was sexually loose, or if she gave in during a moment of weakness, or if the truth lies somewhere in between. It seems to me that we should avoid making too many assumptions about what's going on behind the scenes.