THE choices we make shape our lives. But some may have fewer options than others.
  
Young women in Britain are behaving badly, with a significant rise in binge drinking, drug taking and crime, along with the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Western Europe.
  
“It’s important that we understand what’s happening around us in our communities,” explains Bafta-winning film-maker Morgan Matthews.
  
“Whether these are issues that affect us directly or not, they are issues we should care about. If anything is to change in the future then we need to understand their situation.”
  
The Trouble With Girls (BBC2, Monday, 9pm) is a two-part documentary series which follows the real people behind the statistics.

It begins with Jailbirds, featuring Shona and Abbie, two young girls who are no strangers to arrest and imprisonment.
  
The following week’s film – Three Girls and Three Babies – tells the story of Rochdale teenagers Becki, Stacey and Vanessa.
  
It was filmed and directed by Morgan over a period of 12 months, set against the backdrop of a town with high unemployment and a higher than average rate of teenage pregnancies.
  
All three girls have been best friends since they were five. Now 16, the film captures a year in their lives when there are three pregnancies within the group.    
  
The first expectant mum is Becki, who fell pregnant by her boyfriend Andy, 26, when she was just 15. “I was very worried,” confesses Andy when asked about his partner being under age. “I kept things very close, quiet. We didn’t say that much to anybody.”
  
Becki has moved in with the father-to-be. “I am growing up,” she reflects, “and I want to be with Andy and I want to spend most of my life with him because I’ve got a baby, and I don’t want to be on my own.”
  
Vanessa lives at home with her parents in basic rented housing. She talks about her history of getting into fights and her anger. “I can’t control it.” Adding: “I just like getting into trouble sometimes. It gives you a buzz being in the back of a police van.”
  
All three girls have all but dropped out of school, having been failed by the education system.

Becki is asked why she was kicked out. “Arguing with a teacher,” she replies. “She made out as if my mum couldn’t cope with me. So I warned her three times and she still wouldn’t listen. So I hit her over the head with a chair.”
  
Vanessa wants to join the Army. Or the police. “If they saw me fighting, they’d know I’d be a good copper – if anybody tried getting away from me, I’d rugby tackle them…or I’d crack ‘em one in the mouth. It’d be fun.”
  
The three pals know little about Rochdale’s past or their own futures. And as the voice over puts it: “The girls often seem to target the Asian community in anger at their own disadvantage.”
  
Stacey is adamant that she does not want to get pregnant. “I wouldn’t want kids. I hate kids – I’m not going to try and be stupid.” We later learn that she is seeing Andy’s brother David, 23. “I’ve got common sense,” she maintains at one stage. “But obviously not a lot of it.”
  
Becki is overdue, set to be induced and vows to give up smoking in the morning. That’s as well as moving, again, to escape a cold and damp rented home.
  
Trapped by their lack of options, Stacey and Vanessa see the Army as their ticket out of Rochdale and visit a recruiting office to see what is on offer, having abandoned Becki.
  
Morgan hopes the two films reflect the reality behind the headlines. “You might be quite judgemental about people and when you actually get to know them you might realise that it’s more complicated than you first imagined,” he says.
  
“It didn’t seem that people were really spending any time with the girls behind these statistics to get to know them and to understand their situation.  I hope by watching, people might not be so quick to draw conclusions. Although they may be shocked by what they see.
  
“I think the girls in Rochdale come out of it pretty well. They’ve made choices which might make things difficult for them in the future.

"But who’s to say where they would have gone if things had turned out differently? It’s not an easy call to make on the rights and wrongs of that situation.”

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