Life Choices: The Gift

As a fomer DCF CPS teenager myself I picked up this comic book hoping it would be a good tool to help with current generation of DFC CPS teens with there self esteem thus making better lifee choices.

The pros for this comic book was how It was laid out very simple I also liked how they were realistic as far as high school interaction between different races clicks and so on very realistic and true to real life along with peer pressure I also like how similar to the book series you choose your history you and get to choose three different routes to see the consequences of each action.

That being said I do think it fell flat and came off rather preachy which would really be a turn off to teens who are already impressionable even in a stable home environment

I also felt certain scenes were not realistic for example when they talk about birth control failing I applaud the fact that they are actually taking a fair balance approach as far it takes two to tango and it's not just the girls fault however speaking realistically from real life experience high schools don't offer health education and when they do they very rarely talk about birth control and how and why it fails in detail I also felt like the main character blaming their high school health educator for not truthfully telling them about using birth control and it's failure consequences could be misunderstood by real life teens to avoid taking responsibility for their actions and thus blaming the issue on someone else.

Also in one scene which dealt with the consequences of abortions there was interchanging terminology using the teen Biology book would rather graphically shows a developing embryo and not clarifying as far as what a full-term baby and an embryo is and the stages of development again realistically that could psychologically cause more pain teens need to respect and understand the life growing inside of them but it needs to be done in an empathetic manner while giving them a balanced approach between faith if applicable to their situation and medical science I think a more appropriate response would have been the girl crying and showing her boyfriend the developing embryo and her Biology book and saying we gave life and we took it I wish we asked for help before we even consented to this abortion we did a very stupid thing together with both of our life choices.

Finally in the back which has a different discussion answers I did not agree with the treatment of not only avoiding the actual word rape which is a very important topic that every parent should have with their teenagers but how it was lumped together with other pregnancy choices a child conceived in rape is a very psychological and physically delicate Manner and should have been treated separately versus lumped in with other unplanned pregnancies

Overall this is a great start but I would not feel comfortable using this with my teens both inside and outside of church groups because I'm concerned if I'm not there to educate them they might misunderstand the message in this comic book especially some of the teens that have been through sexual trauma and are currently pregnant in my group and are in a very traumatic life choice situation if the comic book updated these issues and address these I'll gladly rebuy this but for now I'm sticking with one comic book to use with my teen church group with other more suitable age appropriate Church material dealing with abortion

Coming from a teen's perspective I thought it was well portrayed and liked how the book made you sort of make the decisions. After reading through it all it made me thonk more about the consequences of my actions more. Well done Voyage Comics!

The graphic comic style is appealing to teens!
I loved the message. Well written with all included options. It was GREAT!

Such a loving look at choices for those in an unplanned pregnancy. My teenage granddaughter was a bit shocked after reading a couple pages and came to ask me if I was sure I had read the book through and if it was ok for her to continue. When I told her yes to both she finished the book and said she really liked the book but was a bit concerned at the beginning. Great book that holds a teenagers attention!!

I thought the messaging clear and poignant. My only hesitation is how it will be perceived by young people.