Stacey realizes that without her mothers help and understanding life would be harder. Stephanie tried to take precautions against Stacey becoming a teen mother like herself. Stephanie suspected her daughter was sexually active, and asked Stacey if she wanted to go on the pill. Stephanie regrets that she didn't pursue birth control with her daughter. When Stephanie hears that Stacey's friends at school want a baby of their own, she gets upset and tells Stacey they shouldn't be so stupid.
Some politicians believes all teens get pregnant to receive welfare and avoid getting a job.
In Stacey's case she had no idea before she was pregnant what benefits or cash she would receive from the government. Even now that she has a child she doesn't understand the system and lets her mother take care of all the paper work. One of the most cited reasons girls in poor rural communities are having children is the lack of role models. They see other young mothers getting by without a job and give it no thought beyond that. Stacey admits that if the government had cut many of the cash benefits to teen mothers before she became pregnant it would not have made her stop and use birth control to prevent her from having a baby.