Teen Pregnancy

The majority of America know Oprah Winfrey a mogul, television host and producer. “But did you know she was once a pregnant 14- year- old?” I gained knowledge of this from watching Oprah’s show. Oprah stated that she lost the baby. Hence, Oprah never had to face the dilemmas experienced by Nikkole a teenaged mother whose life can be viewed on MTV’s melodrama “16 and Pregnant.” “I’ve found myself watching several episodes, mainly on snow days.” In each episode the protagonists (teen moms) introduce you to their lives as pregnant teenagers. The girls are followed by cameras through the prenatal stage, birth, and the onset of motherhood. The girls talk about their lives and are interviewed by Dr. Drew Pinsky an addiction and personality specialist. “You might ask why the girls are being interviewed by a specialist,” Teen Pregnancy is a social problem because it adversely affects the life of the adolescent and society. Evidence also shows that Teen Pregnancy is related closely to several components which comprise Psychologist John P. Hill’s Framework of Adolescent Development.

“But what exactly is Teen Pregnancy?” McGraw Hill’s Concise Dictionary of Modern Medicine defines Teen Pregnancy as Adolescent Pregnancy by a female, age 13-19. It says that Teen Pregnancy is usually understood to occur in a female who has not completed her core education- secondary school, or has few or no marketable skills, is financially dependent upon her parents and or continues to live at home and is often mentally immature (McGraw- Hill, 2002).

What I learned about Teen Pregnancy is that it’s a complicated and convoluted

social problem. It’s an issue which receives more negative than positive press. Teen Pregnancy is a behavior which places the ma...

... middle of paper ...

...ger.

Kornblum, W. (2009). Social Problems. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education Inc.

Melissa A. Francisco, K. H. (2008). The Effect of Childhood Sexual Abuse on Adolescent Pregnancy: An Integrative Research Review. Journal for Specialist in Pediatric Nursing, Vol.13,No.4.

McGraw- Hill. (2002). McGraw-Hill Concise Dictionary of Modern Medicine. Columbus: The McGraw-Hill Companies,Inc.

Steinberg, L. (2011). Adolescence. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies,Inc. .

The Way to Give Your Baby the Best Start in Life; Breast Milk Is Ideal for a Baby as It Is Nutritionally Balanced with the Perfect Amount of Proteins, Carbohydrates Fats, Vitamins and Iron to Help the Child to Grow. Health Reporter HELEN RAE Reports. (2009, May 25). Evening Chronicle (Newcastle, England), p. 6.

Welsh, P. (2008). They're Having Babies, Are We Helping? Washington Post.