Teenage Pregnancy

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Another reason teenage pregnancy exists is also probably because of the teenager’s social and family background. Klein (2005) notes that there are teenagers that become sexually active because it may be the result of the teenager’s upbringing and from the environment he grew up in. Considering the decrease in American teenagers who engage in sexual intercourse, the rate and the average age of teenagers doing the act is still quite high. He cites that younger teenagers are more prone in engaging in coercive and nonconsensual sex because they are still incapable of fighting back. The teenager may also have seen sexual abuse at their home and may have already become a victim to this type of abuse and got addicted to it. Poverty and the absence of parents in the life of the child may also be a cause of this sexual activity because they are not properly guided by the parents in understanding the risks of teenage pregnancy and they are not provided with quality information from the schools they are enrolled in. The child’s environment may depict a very vocal support for pre-marital sex thus the want to be part of it. Each of these factors, according to Klein, is cited as the influential factors on why teenagers become sexually active (Klein, 2005).

Although many may speculate the credibility of teenagers who get pregnant with this reason, there is no denying that there is a possibility that the teenager may have been forced to have a sexual intercourse without his or her consent. According to Kabir (1989), she states that young women get pregnant because they may be victims of rape or incest either by a member of the family or by accident. If these women are asked on why they become pregnant, they may say that they wished to abstain u...

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...sed the influx of teenagers becoming pregnant in an early age, it is still a cause of concern even if it has already declined. It is important that each actor in the community contribute its own portion of the prevention to allow it to work. Abstinence may be a good way in preventing it but if it cannot be properly done without the information needed on how effective this method would be. Teenagers must be able to understand the risks, responsibilities and consequences of their actions for them to realize that parent, teachers, government officials and other adults around them are trying to protect them from these risks that they are not ready for. A creation of a systematic and interesting program to entice teenagers to learn about the consequences and risks of teenage pregnancies may open their eyes and help them abstain from sexual activity until they are ready.

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