Reasons for Increased Rate of Teen Pregnency

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The current rate of teen pregnancy is 67.8 pregnancies or 7% of the population. 62 pregnant teens out of every 1,000 women get pregnant. Today in society the media, TV and movies, where young girls, and young men, are constantly exposed to sex and sexually charged subjects is the reason why teen pregnancy is beginning to get be a growing problem. Another reason that this is happening is because of the not only the lack of values in today’s society, but also because parents today are not educating their young ones about the birds and the bees so that the youth will know about the dangers of getting pregnant so young. Young people should be taught about sex and pregnancy so that they are well educated on the topics. The more teens know about sex, the more likely they are to use protection or to abstain from sex to prevent teen pregnancy. Not only is there a big impact on the teen mother of getting pregnant at a young age, it could also impact the child of the mother. “Teen mothers have a higher rate of low birth weight babies and infant mortality than mothers in the ages of 20. They are not only less likely to finish high school, but also are more likely to live in poverty and rely on public assistance like food stamps” (South Carolina Campaign). When it comes to the children of the teen mothers, they are less prepared to enter the school system and score lower on measures of school readiness. Some are even likely to repeat a grade, less likely to complete high school, or have lower performances on standardized tests.
Teen pregnancy has always been a social problem for society, everyone has different opinions on it. Teen pregnancy is a social issues because it is where society lacks parental guidance, sex education, and positive me...

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...mes emerged— all of which are linked to, and maintain, the ideals of what it means to be men: (1) gendered assumptions regarding pregnancy and contraception— specifically that women are in charge of preventing pregnancy; (2) a belief that male sexuality is uncontrollable; and (3) the utilization of love and intimacy talk” (Weber 907). The most common cultural assumption the teen fathers relied on was the belief that women are in charge of preventing pregnancy or trying to maintain taking birth control. Teen guys should realize that they also have a big part in the makings of a baby. According to the article, a lot of the teen males mentioned that they did not wear a condom, the woman told them not to because she wanted to get pregnant. Teenage guys do not think when a female tells them not to wear a condom just because they feel like sex is better without a condom.

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