Teenage Pregnancy And Child Development Essay

For many years teen pregnancy has been a national social problem. Views have changed over the years as society has started to adapt to the thought of teen pregnancy. “Growing evidence suggests that pre-existing academic and economic hardships play a role in the continuing struggles of teen mothers. While 85% of young women who delay having their first child until at least twenty or twenty – one obtain a high school diploma or GED, only 63% of mothers who give birth by age seventeen do so” (Crosson- Tower p255)

A large majority of people believe that teen pregnancy happens mostly in larger communities and urban settings, but teen pregnancy happens all over the country in even the smallest of communities. Families living in poverty, single parent homes, and children with little discipline are often what come to mind when we hear

Teenage birth rates, defined as live births per one thousand 15-19-year-old US females, declined by 10% from 2012 to 2013 from 29.4 to 26.5. In fact, the birth rate has been on a steady decline over the past 20 years, from 61.8 in 1991 to 26.5 in 2013. Teenage pregnancy represents both a health and social inequality in our society. Specifically, teenage childbearing is a public health issue because teenage mothers are more likely to experience negative social outcomes such as dropping out of school. This is a self-reinforcing cycle, as children of teenage mothers face higher chances of poor academic achievement as well as getting pregnant or getting someone else pregnant in their teenage years (CDC). Although the overall rates of teenage pregnancy have dropped, ultimately, the variations in the rates reflect the intersecting disparities regarding race and ethnicity, income inequality, geography, and environmental factors, which in turn affect access to medical care, education, and resources.

Teenage pregnancy and parenthood are often seen as strictly negative and problematic, with the moral panic surrounding them only growing as media and government play a role in perpetuating these ideas of negativity surrounding them. Though it is a contentious issue, what are often ignored are the underlying causes of the social phenomena that are teenage pregnancy and parenthood. The experiences of poverty and social exclusion by many pregnant teens and teen parents have not been proven to be more severe than what these young people were experiencing before, so it brings into question the validity of the moral panic as well as the aims of programs meant to decrease teen pregnancy and parenthood. Looking at teen pregnancy and parenthood, first

“Teen Moms: Many Students Become Pregnant at One High School,” revealed one Memphis City School’s situation of about 90 students either pregnant or have already given birth in the 2010- 2011 school year alone, and while the exact number may be up for debate, clearly there is still a problem that should to be addressed. While there may be a few success stories, teenage parents are more likely than their peers to experience disruptions in their educational and occupational development (Steinberg, 2014 pg 380). While parents may be very influential to adolescent development, adolescent’s lives are also touched by family, friends, school, work, and the community (What do Adolescents Need).

Motherhood is cross-culturally regarded as vitally important. Historically, the concept of motherhood was defined as a woman 's primary “mission, profession, and an inseparable part of her nature,” (Leskosek 2011). In contemporary society, however, negative social and biological consequences are associated with young maternity in developed areas (Kramer et al. 2010). Teenage pregnancy is defined as encompassing all pregnancies between the ages of 10 and 19, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) (Males 1992). According to a 2010 study, teen motherhood is “discouraged, debated as a public health issue and considered a societal problem in developed populations,” (Kramer et al). Despite this, about 750,000 of the 20 million adolescent girls in the United States become pregnant every year (Macionis 2013). Rates of juvenile pregnancy and birth rates are significantly higher in the U.S. than in other Western countries (Basch 2011). Additionally, Dr. Naomi Farber, author of Adolescent Pregnancy: Policy and Prevention Services, asserts that, “Over one-third of all births in the U.S. are outside of marriage, and about 88% of all childbearing teens are unmarried,” (2014). Teen mothers are often subject to extended periods of loneliness, loss of educational and employment opportunities, and lower income than older mothers (Simigiu 2012). Clearly, adolescent pregnancy is a widespread problem in today’s society. Studies have shown that the transition into parental roles and

Imagine waking up every hour, feeding and changing a baby of your own. Getting about four hours of sleep each night. In 2015 a total of 229,715 teenage girls had to go through this, because they took the risk of being sexually active at a very young age. The birth rate is 22.3 births per 1,000 women between the ages 15-19 years old (17Ce). Birth rates in teens have dropped increasingly from the year 1991 to now, but that still hasn’t stop these young girls from becoming teen moms. Many teen births differ by age, racial and ethnic groups, and region of the country. In 2014 73 percent of all teen births occurred to 18-19 year olds. Birth rates are higher among Latina and African American adolescents. In 2014, Latina adolescent female’s ages 15-19 years old had the highest birth rates. There was 38 births per 1,000 adolescent females. African American adolescent females had the second highest birth rates in 2014, with 34.9 births per 1,000 adolescent females. White adolescent had 17.3 births per 1,000 adolescent females (HHS).

An estimated 400,000 teen girls, ages 15-19 years, give birth each year in the US. In today’s media sexual activity and teen parenting is often glamorize, but the truth of the matter is the reality is harshly different. Having a child during the teen’s formative years carries the high price of emotional, physical, and financial, not only to the mother, but father, child, and community. Parents, educators, and community organizations all have a major role to play in reducing teen pregnancy.

This Literature Review gives a deep insight of some of the available literature related to teen pregnancy, neighborhood effects on poverty, and socio-economic effects of teen pregnancies. Teen pregnancy has become a significant issue in society. A large number of teen pregnancy and school dropouts have been recorded in the past and get associated with poverty. To understand teen pregnancy and its association with poverty; this literature review is going to examine some of the academic journals that have covered this topic and try how teen pregnancy is affected by poverty and vice versa. The statistics from the journals shows that pregnancy rates are maximum among teens who come from low-income families and poverty-stricken

After reading Martha Balash’s article, Schools Can Help to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. Balash has put time and effort into this proposal on stopping Teen Pregnancy. I think Balash’s introduction is very effective because she goes straight to the facts. She doesn’t try to mislead you with any false facts. She goes straight to the point and the point is to prevent teen pregnancy. Balash tells that schools has more influence over teen pregnancy than what the public thinks. She thinks that if schools and parents put enough effort into their teen pregnancy programs that the teen pregnancy numbers will drop. And I agree with Balash on this subject fully.

Teen pregnancy affects the entire family, not only does it cause emotional distress to the teen, but also the teens parents. Along with this, many teens rely on the state through food stamps, medical care, and financial aid to help raise their child. Family members watch the young mother struggle to make ends meet and often have to step in and help raise the child. Teen moms often have no support from the father or the fathers family and must raise the child entirely on their own.

Why is it important to understand how adverse childhood experiences create risk factors that can impact teenage pregnancy? The answer is multifaceted and complex, but an important consequence of teenage pregnancy is to the baby itself. Children of teenage mothers have more health issues, are more likely to be abused, be less educated, and more likely to become criminals (Hillis, et al., 2004, p. 2). Moreover, because teenage mothers are poorer and have less emotional support, children of teenage mothers are more likely to be abused both physically and emotionally (Rosenberg, 2001, p. 185). Consequently, by understanding how adverse childhood events can increase teenage pregnancies and its risk factors, education could be implemented to

Although the pregnancy rate in adolescents has declined steadily in the past 10 years, it remains a major public health problem with lasting repercussions for the teenage mothers, their infants and families, and society as a whole. Successful strategies to prevent adolescent pregnancy include community programs to improve social development, responsible sexual behavior education, and improved contraceptive counseling and delivery. Many of these strategies are implemented at the family and community level. The family physician plays a key role by engaging adolescent patients in confidential, open, and nonthreatening discussions of reproductive health, responsible sexual behavior (including condom use to prevent sexually transmitted

Many people believe that anyone that becomes a teen parent is someone who is coming from a poor or broken home, but this is definitely not the case. A survey that was completed in the United States found that “41% of U.S. teen parents come from homes at or above 200% of the federal poverty line, and 70% were raised in two-parent homes” (Docksai, 2010). This shows that there are teens that are seen as “normal” to society becoming pregnant. The results of the numerous people who completed the survey proved what a lot of other people thought about the home life of a teen parent. “Two-thirds of U.S. adults assume that most teen parents were raised in homes

The fearless of all parents who have teenagers is pregnancy. Nowadays, teen pregnancy is a serious problem. Teenage have a lack of skills to handle a pregnancy. So that impact strongly on the future of a young woman. Teen pregnancy is associated with negative consequences for adolescents for three reasons: lack of education, medical complication, uncertainty about the future, and financial difficulties.