For example, Collin Allen states, “Girls whose fathers left either before they were born or up to age 5 were seven to eight times more at risk of becoming pregnant as an adolescent than girls living with their fathers.” In other words, parents are supposed to be the teachers and the ones who protect the child. Therefore, if such presence is not there, the child will not have that person how tells her what to do or not, or what is correct or not increasing the probability of committing an erroneous action. For example, Aubrey, Behm-Morawitz and Kim state, “Girls who watched "16 and Pregnant,"… reported a lower perception of their own risk for pregnancy and a greater perception that the benefits of teen pregnancy outweigh the risks” (qtd. in Lori Harwood). In other words, due to the fanciful perception this program transmits, …show more content…
Children born to teen mothers are also twice as likely to be victims of abuse and neglect” In other words, due to the lack of education a teen parent tend to have, it will affect the child because the parent will not be to provide a correct one. Also, the majority of teen pregnancies tend to be unplanned. Therefore, children are who suffer since they were not desired hurting their esteem and assertiveness. For example, Youth.com states, “Teen pregnancy costs U.S. taxpayers about $11 billion per year due to increased health care and foster care, increased incarceration rates among children of teen parents, and lost tax revenue because of lower educational attainment and income among teen mothers.” In other words, when teens get pregnant, they use to leave school. Therefore, their job opportunities are lesser provoking their reliance in public help. Unfortunately, workers and taxpayers are the ones who pay for it without having to do with their
... is the direct effect of teens and young adults not being educated on the things that come with sex and the consequences of their actions. Teens need sex education because the knowledge will give them an insight on the subject and help them think about the proper precautions to take in order to be a responsible person insuring that they use the right contraception and/or abstinence in order for them not to have children as a teen. Other factors play into why teens become pregnant as well. In the results for my interviews, parent/child relationships should be established and upheld as a relationship that is strictly parent and child. Teens who do not have a true parent/parents in their lives to care about the important thing that contribute to the child’s well being such a becoming pregnant at a young age, tend to make decisions that are not healthy in their lives.
Teenagers who become mothers have harsh prospects for the future. Teenagers obtaining abortions are 20% and girls under 15 accounts for 1.2%. They are much more likely to leave of school; receive insufficient prenatal care; rely on public assistance to raise a child; develop health problems; or en...
The female teen stares into the eyes of her newborn son, not realizing the type of life her and her son will have in the near future. Katrina L. Burchett excellently explicates teenage pregnancy among female adolescents living with domestic problems in her book titled Choices. The various elements that aid to the wide range of teenage pregnancies in the world should all be taken in to consideration. Getting pregnant at an adult is no longer substantial or conventional in our society. Everyday, female young adults are getting pregnant, which is why it is a social issue for the youth today.
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.
The District of Columbia is the 23rd most population city in the United States with a population of 658,893 (Census). According to UNICEF, teen pregnancy is defined as “A teenage girl, usually within the ages of 13-19, becoming pregnant” ((Link 1). Nationally in the United States, there has been a steady decline of teen pregnancy within the past decade. However, it is not occurring in the District of Columbia, specifically Southeast DC (Ward 7 and 8) which includes areas such as: Lincoln Heights, Twining, Anacostia and Woodland. As of 2011, DC was ranked number nine in the nation for the highest rate of teen pregnancy. For the total amount of births, only 908 were from young women who were below the age of 20 in Washington DC. About 879 were from young women that were around high school ages 15-19. Specifically, Southeast DC is a low-income area, with approximately ¼ of teen mothers going on welfare within three years after their child’s birth (Link 2). As of 2012, out of the 790 births from teenage mothers, more than half, or 457 of the births mainly occurred in the Southeast DC area (Link4). This area has been plagued through various social determinants of health. This includes having repeated cycles of poverty, lack of comprehensive sexual education, especially in regards to contraception and a lot of violence occurring as a result of crimes. Ward 7 has approximately 95% of its citizens being Black and 2.3% of their citizens are Hispanic(Link 5). While in Ward 8 have about 94% of their citizens that are Black and 1.8% are Hispanic. Between both wards, about 63% of households including both Blacks and Hispanics are living below the federal poverty line and about 37% of births from the 2010 census were from teenage mothers. Abo...
Babies, as well as the teenage mothers, face long-time problems may face long-term problems from the pregnancy. These problems may include school failure, poverty, and physical or mental illness. Babies born to teenagers are at greater risk for neglect and abuse than those of a woman. Teenage mothers may feel like they are being demanded to do the job and they may take their frustration out on the child (When 1).
Children coming from adolescent parents are more likely to have poorer health, behavioral, and educational outcomes throughout their lives (comparing to children with older parents). Infants born from teenage mothers are at an increased risk for health issues. (This explains why our ancestors had lost so many of their infants.) Pregnant juveniles are less likely to gain sufficient weight during pregnancy, this can lead to a low birth weight of the child. Low birth weight is associated with several infant and childhood disorders and a higher rate of infant mortality. Low-birthweight babies are more likely to have organs that are not fully developed, which can result in complications, such as bleeding in the brain, respiratory distress syndrome, and intestinal problems (Health Communities). Also, teenager’s brains have not fully developed yet. Scans have revealed changes of the volume, of gray matter in parts of the cortex that are “responsible for more ‘top-down’ control, controlling impulses, and planning ahead—the hallmarks of adult behavior…”(The Teen Brain). This means, minors do not understand the concept of ‘what they are doing now can affect them later life’. Plus, these young mothers may have not had the education to even know what is wrong from right in pregnancy! Adolescent mothers are more likely known to smoke cigarettes, use
In 2011, I became an aunt to an amazing little girl. My sister was just sixteen years old when she found out she was pregnant, a junior in high school. She was already into her second trimester and it was too late for her to even think about aborting the pregnancy. So her decision to keep the baby was the only decision she could make. She had my niece and struggled to finish her senior year in high school. It took special privileges and her taking classes outside the school for her to graduate with her class. She knew that her whole life was going to change the moment she decided to have the baby. There were ten other girls in her grade that got pregnant that year and six decided to abort their pregnancies, four decided to have their babies.
More information on the effects of teen pregnancy would cause a larger decline in pregnancy rates. Although there are many books and students are educated on human development. If teens were better educated then it would help them to make better decisions. Not much information is given on what effects of becoming pregnant or the resources available to pregnant teenagers. For example, there is less than a 2% chance that a teen mother will have earned a college degree by the time she is 30 (11 Facts about Teen Pregnancy). One of the effects of teen pregnancy is depression due to the many fluctuating hormones. The loss of any supports from friend or colleagues throughout the pregnancy cycle leaves the mother feeling alone. Parents don’t know what to do and are unprepared to deal with their child’s pregnancy. A second effe...
When it comes to the topic of “16 and pregnant," most of us will readily agree that it is a debatable topic amongst teens and adults. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of whether, 16 and pregnant promotes or discourage teen pregnancy. Whereas some are convinced that it does not discourage, others maintain that it promotes teen pregnancy, because some girls just want to get pregnant to become famous. I agree that the show promotes teen pregnancies because, the show does not show how it really like to be a teen mom.
Teen mothers go through many problems- that consists health problems, economical problems and social problems. They receive poor prenatal care and have many complications during pregnancy. They have psychological distress, depressive symptoms and high suicidal rates. School dropouts are also higher among pregnant teens than non pregnant teens. Because of school dropout, most of teens work in unskilled jobs. They are not able to find good jobs because of low education. (Lee & Hahm, 2010)
Teenage pregnancy has always been present in society. There is research stating that about half the women, born between 1900- 1910, who were interviewed were non-virginal at marriage (17 Ravoira). This contradicts some thoughts that premarital sexual behavior is something new. There was another study done in 1953, it found that one fifth of all first births to women were conceived before marriage (17 Ravoira). Even before our modern openness in discussing sexual behavior and acceptance that it does occur, it was quite routine. In earlier society, the incidence of teenage pregnancy was a moral problem. This was because people looked at the child as filius nullius (nobody's child), or illegitimate and the mother as bad, immoral, over- sexed, etc. (18 Ravoira). The child was being blamed for mearly being born, this is unfair to the child who had no fault in the matter (18 Ravoira). The real problem that was seen was the fact that the children were born out-of-wedlock. People seemed to have real difficulty accepting that the baby is still a baby no matter what conditions it was born under.
The concept of comprehensive social intervention has been defined as the process of identifying social problems in an attempt to eradicate them. In looking at the broad range of social characteristics and the behavior associated with teen pregnancy, it is obvious that the emphases placed on the effort to recognize and alleviate teen pregnancy can be celebrated through the effectiveness of education, family planning, and abstinence. However, the attempt to analyze and deal with the cause-and-effect relationship with teen pregnancy is an attempt in understanding the social world itself. In 2006, statistics show that there was a significant increase in teen pregnancy after a decade long decrease. The potential for understanding this increase motivates us to look beyond simple explanations for cause-and-effect behavior and to look at what interactions may be occurring between variables that result in specific behaviors or social conditions. What is it that influences behavior? In looking at teen pregnancy in the realm of the family, it is evident that a large number of family structures have evolved, or perhaps devolved, into a variety of combinations which challenge responsible parents to consistently expose their children to the role models and the types of behaviors that are important for their children to emulate as they mature. People are molded by circumstances and experiences, all of which can positively or negatively influence our behavior.
My research topic is about, how does a teen or adolescent pregnancy affects the life of the mother? In our world today teen pregnancy is becoming more normal than it used to be. Teen pregnancy is looked down upon in our society and when teen mothers go out in public or even just to school, whether pregnant or with a baby they get stared at and talked about. A good deal of people think that if you have a baby as a teenager your life is over and that you cannot and will accomplish your aspirations like going to college and getting your degree and having a good paying job. I have known someone who was a teen mom and she did graduate from high school and did go to college and has accomplished most of what she has wanted to do, but
The problem with teenage pregnancy is it requires intervention from society. This debate is from the perspective of teens, and absent from the medical, ethical, and political views on teen pregnancy. According to Jewell, Tacchi, & Donovan, (2000), teen pregnancy is not a problem for teens themselves but more of a problem for society. The large numbers of unintended pregnancies are among unmarried teens.