“Among American adolescent girls who have ever had intercourse, approximately one in six becomes pregnant” (Ventura et al., 2008). Teen pregnancy is an ongoing dilemma that concerns the baby, parents, and other family members. Anyone under the age of eighteen years old is considered to be a child and every year approximately 750,000 women aged fifteen to eighteen become pregnant (Guttmacher Institute, 2006). Also, teen pregnancy represents eleven percent of all births in the United States (Guttmacher Institute, 2006). The underlying cause of teen pregnancy is mainly the lack of education on sexual and reproductive health and not enough being taught about how to use contraceptives. To help educate this knowledge it is dependent on not only the government but also the parents; they set the example starting first at home, teachers, and other leaders. In this essay I will be focusing on the causes and consequences of teen pregnancy, and how to help prevent it.
Back in the day teenage pregnancy was always seen as unacceptable. When a teen became pregnant they were often rejected or looked down upon by their parents, friends, and others in the community. Some pregnant teens were even sent to schools specifically for expecting mothers. It seems severe to send off a child that is expecting a child but the media today is taking it to even more of an extreme. Currently, some teens are being treated like celebrities by the media when they become pregnant, for example the MTV shows called “Teen Mom” and “16 and pregnant”, possibly portraying that it is okay to do, or maybe that they’ll get famous on television for it. These pregnant teens are shown to face many hardships in their everyday lives, but on the other hand it is reality televis...
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...uld also teach them how to practice safe sex and educate them in contraceptives and how to use them. Also, schools should always have a health ed or sex ed class to teach teens as well how to prevent not only teen pregnancy but sexually transmitted diseases as well. Contraceptives should be readily available for every young woman and man as well so that there are no excuses. There are beginning to be countless organizations as well to help in the prevention of teen pregnancy. For example, in the Bay Area, the Hewlett Foundation is a new organization reaching out to teens in unprivileged areas that are more susceptible to becoming pregnant. The three main strategies they use are, “expand or improve teen pregnancy prevention services, focus on teen pregnancy hot spots and key populations, and provide grants that enable grantees to become more financially sustainable.
Teen pregnancy is surprisingly decreasing over the years. According to Farber, “the most recent studies have shown that there has been a decrease in the rate of pregnancies among all teenagers and among sexually active teenagers (16). Although this issue seems is decreasing this is still a problem faced by many teenage girls today. Each year, 7.5 percent of all 15-19 year old women become pregnant (Maynard 1). Not only does this issue affects the pregnant teen but it also affects the economy. Teen pregnancy affects graduation rates. Many teen mothers cite pregnancy as the key reason of them not finishing school. Only 40 percent of teen mothers finish high school (Teen Pregnancy Affects Graduation Rates). The 60 percent of teen mothers that do not finish high school not only influence their future, but the future of their unborn baby. The best solution to help teen pregnancy become obsolete and save many teenagers futures is abstinence. Abstinence is the best solution because this solution has four advantages such as, it has the highest effectiveness, it teaches other important life skills, it aids teens in school and it halts the spread of STDs among adolescents.
As everyone knows, teen pregnancy rate is increasing more and more each day and someone needs to do something to try and either stop it or decrease it dramatically. Teen pregnancy is causing dramatic population increase and that’s just common sense. Teens getting pregnant at such a young age is also causing poverty levels to go up more and more. Mississippi Spent over $100 million on teen pregnancy alone in the year 2010 (“Teen Pregnancy”). Just think of what it is now. More teens are dropping out of school and not finishing their education. According to the authors of this article, “approximately 30 percent of teen mothers have mothers who dropped out of high school, 40 percent have mothers who are mothers who dropped out of high school, 40 percent have mothers who are high school graduates, and 30 percent have mothers who attended college”(Kearny et al 143). Many people don’t realize that there are many effects of teen pregnancy including higher risk of birth defect, more likely to drop out, and also abortion rates increase.
According to www.cdc.gov, in 2013, a total of two hundred and seventy-three thousand, one hundred and five babies were born to women fifteen to nineteen years of age. Though this is low for the typical rate of teen- child births, the U.S. teen pregnancy rate is substantially higher than in other western industrialized nations. There are many stories of teen mothers who feel like they have their lives together, and consider their stories “success stories”. What most teens don’t understand, is the difficulties of being a mother, especially at such a young age. Teen pregnancy has more negative outcomes than positive outcomes, as shown by a girl named Haley in her teen pregnancy story. The best way to prevent teen pregnancy is through information
In the United States today, many teenage girls are facing lots of problems. New problems are rising such as an increased pregnancy rate among teenagers. Our teenage girls are less developed and unprepared for the problems which come along with their decision to have sex. It is also too early for teenage girls to become pregnant. Many teens think having a baby is some sort of joke. They believe it will never happen to them but the reality is that every time teens have sex, there is a possibility that the sperm will find its way to the egg if they do not get protection. As a nation, or society, it is in our common interest to protect our teenage girls from getting unwanted or unplanned pregnancy. However, this issue of protecting or preventing our teenage girls from pregnancy plays a dynamic role and is a matter of choice. Many parents and educators have long argued over whether teens should get a comprehensive sex education or abstinence only education. The question is which of these programs is more effective at stopping teen pregnancy. To prevent teenage pregnancy, the United States, should force schools to teach comprehensive sex education for many reasons. For many people, instructing teenage girls about the usefulness of birth control and condoms is more important than just simply mentioning to avoid sex until marriage. Comprehensive sex education is needed to teach teens about the usefulness of condoms.
America has one of the largest pregnancy rates in teens in the whole world (“Sexuality, Contraception, and the Media”). Pregnant teens have to make many hard choices. They must decided to keep the baby or not., and to continue on with school. or not. Teens moms can lose everything they’ve worked for after one bad decision. Sex is in teens lives because of media influence.
Teenage pregnancy is a problem for all involved. It truly puts a great strain on the young parents, especially the new teenage mother, and also on the new grandparents, who more often than not, end up help to raise the new baby while the young parents are at school, or while they are out enjoying being a teenager and socializing with their friends. The spread of this epidemic needs to be stopped before more young adults dreams are dashed by the responsibility of parenthood. Through strong parental guidance and support, appropriate media exposure and more readily available birth control, this issue can be brought under control.
Teenagers have to be knowledged about the bad things that can result from teen pregnancy. There are numerous ideas we can do. Schools programs, and organizations can become more involved with prevention. Yes, there is policies like the absinience policy. Thats obviously not enough to help. Even though there is a decline in teen pregnancy in the United States doesn’t mean we can’t keep help preventing. Let’s all bring awareness before its too late.
Teen pregnancy continues to be an issue. Although teen pregnancy has been cut nearly in half in the last 25 years, it still continues to be a huge economic and public policy issue. “U.S. teen birth rates remain disproportionately high compared with other developed countries” (“Study Examines”), as many studies observed. But it’s clear that public awareness of the issue, its causes and its effects, along with outreach programs to instruct teens on the risks and dangers of teen pregnancy and unsafe sex can have dramatic effects on the issue and lead to massive reductions in the problem. Continuing on this path and increasing public knowledge on these issues is a surefire way to continue to decrease the number of girls who become pregnant before they become adults, and continue to secure greater economic access to women in the future.
Teen pregnancy falls into the category of pregnancies in girls age 19 or younger (NIH). Although statistics have shown a decrease, the number of teen pregnancy in the U.S. is still relatively high compared to the rest of the world. Sexual health is one of the top priorities in early adolescence health in the United States. Consequences of having sex at a young age generally results in unsafe sex practices. The consequences can be due to the lack of knowledge about sex education, and access to birth control/contraception (NIH, 2005). Due to the lack of knowledge and access to birth control, adolescents involve in risk taking when they start to explore sexual intimate relationships. Consequences of unsafe sexual behavior include sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy (NIH, 2005). This paper will focus on the majority aspect of pregnancy in adolescent.
Society has its own beliefs of why teenagers become pregnant. The public tends to blame the high rates of teen pregnancy on the uncontrollable sexual urges and the lack of knowledge of contraception (Crosson-Tower, 2013, p. ***). This may ring true for some instances, but in other cases there are some teenagers who are not consenting participants in any sexual activities. Some of socie...
The birth rate among teens in the United States has declined 9% from 2009 to 2010, a historic low among all racial and ethnic groups, with the least being born in 2010; and in 2011 the number of babies born to adolescents aged 15-19 years of age was 329,797 (“Birth Rates for U.S.”, 2012). Although the decline in unwanted and unplanned teen births is on the rise the United States continues to be among the highest of industrialized countries facing this problem. This is a prevailing social concern because of the health risks to these young mothers as well as their babies. Teens at higher risk of becoming pregnant are raised at or below the poverty level by single parents; live in environments that cause high levels of stress (i.e., divorce, sexual psychological and physical abuse); are influenced by peers or family members that are sexually active; and lack parental guidance that would direct them to be responsible and self-controlled.
Your child comes to you and tells you that she needs to have a serious talk with you and your wife. She is frowning, sucking up her tears, and speechless. You see that there is nothing good that is going to be said in this conversation. “I’m pregnant!” she says. Your teenager comes to you that claiming that they are going to have a child. You are going to be a grandparent. You start to think what you did wrong, how she is going to balance school, the child, and her life. Many parents can agree that they would never want to see their child raise another child. A good number of families can have a teenager that has put themselves in this position and can all agree that is not an easy challenge. The show, “16 and Pregnant," is a great way to discourage
Over the years, cases of teenage pregnancy have been on the rise and it is imperative to initiate measures through which the issue can be reduced if not eliminated. Statistics provided by the Center for Disease Control for the year 2009 pointed out that nearly 400,000 teenage girls that were aged between 15 and 19 gave birth (Carter, 15). The increase in teenage pregnancy has been blamed on the increase in sexual activities among the teens and with little information, these teens end up not protecting themselves. Sex education has been pointed as one of the ways through which teenage pregnancy can be curbed. Through sex education, teenagers can be taught the consequences of sex if not practiced safely (Beh & Diamond). Sexual education provides various ways through which teenagers can protect themselves from pregnancy. For instance, teenagers can be taught the various contraceptive methods that aid in preventing pregnancy just in case they decide to have
Attention Getter: Nowadays, no one is astonished by the presence of pregnant or parenting teenagers. In fact we have a fascination with pregnant adolescents which is evident in the creation of “16 and Pregnant,” a MTV series that follows the real-life stories of American youth who have engaged in sexual activity and who have realized that reproduction system works because they are or will be parents to a cute baby boy or girl. We watch this series in anticipation of the child’s birth and to witness how the teen parents cope.
As time goes on, teen pregnancy is becoming more and more common throughout the world. So many people frown upon this whole idea. Such people act as if the teenage parents’ world is going to come to an end. Although these kids’ life is going to be making a big turn, there are many of them who are mature enough to take on the responsibilities of a baby.