Sexual Education: Teenage Pregnancy a Global View by Andrew Cherry

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Recommended: Benefits of teaching sexual education in schools

“Out of sight, out of mind” seems to be the philosophy of most schools when the topic of sex is brought up. Teen pregnancy is becoming more and more common across the United States. In Andrew Cherry’s book, Teenage Pregnancy a Global View, he states “the United States has one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancy”. I believe it could help be prevented by revising the sexual education classes taught in late elementary school, middle school, and high school, if taught anything at all. As I recall throughout my years of schooling all I had been taught was how my body worked and what could happen if I had “sex”, a term so foreign to me I honestly didn’t know what it meant. I was not educated about what it is, what occurs when it happens, or what stipulations could come along with the action. Nowadays, some schools aren’t even allowed to speak of the subject. This is where the problem begins.
Teen pregnancy is an issue sweeping across the United States. Having one of the highest birth rates among teens, it has become a great ordeal. Teenage Pregnancy sends a person from childhood to adulthood in a matter of months. It is common that most people who have a child while in their teens will most likely not complete their schooling. It is also very common that these new teen parents will find themselves living in poverty after having their first child, which just so happens to be one of the leading causes of teen pregnancy therefore creating a path for the cycle to repeat itself. This matter isn’t only a problem for the teenager, but for the baby as well. Cherry states that “There are a number of serious medical and social problems associated with adolescent childbirth in the United States: premature birth, higher rate of infant mortal...

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Work Cited
Cherry, Andrew L., Mary E. Dillon, and Douglas Rugh. Teenage Pregnancy: A Global View. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2001. 183-97. Print.
Frick, Lisa. Teen Pregnancy and Parenting. Detroit: Greenhaven/Thomson Gale, 2007. Print.
Luker, Kristin. When Sex Goes to School: Warring Views on Sex--and Sex Education--since the Sixties. New York: W. W. Norton &, 2006. 241-59. Print.
"State Policies on Sex Education in Schools." National Conference of State Legislatures. N.p., 11 Apr. 2014. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.
"NAEA - National Abstinence Education Association." - FAQs. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
Culp- Ressler, Tara. "State With Highest Teen Pregnancy Rate Slowly Moving Away From Abstinence-Only Education." ThinkProgress RSS. N.p., 20 Feb. 2014. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
"Fast Facts | GCAPP." Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power & Potential. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.

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