Persuasive Essay On Teenage Pregnancy

Most developed countries have implemented programs meant to educate teenagers concerning the dangers associated with becoming pregnant at an early age. Even with this, some programs have had limited results and the number of teens who are becoming pregnant was not significantly reduced.

Each year around 90,000 adolescents become pregnant in the United States. Around 51% of adolescents pregnancies end in live births, 35% end up in induced abortions, and 14% result in miscarriage or stillbirth (Frick, 2007). Historically, the highest teen pregnancy rates in the United States were during the 1950’s and 1960’s before the legalization of abortion and the development of many the current forms of contraception(Frick, 2007). Rates enlarged steadily until 1991; since then, the birth rate among teenagers has decreased 35% for 15-17 year olds(Frick, 2007). Three in 10 teen American girls will get pregnant at least once before age 20. That is nearly 750,000 teen pregnancies every year. In 2013, there were 26.6 births for every 1,000 adolescent females ages 15-19, or 274,641 babies born to females in this age group. To prevent teen pregnancy, we should teach them abstinence, safe sex by using protection, and communication skills to discuss prevention from peer pressure.

(Introduction) Since the late 1990s teenage pregnancy in the United States has declined. In the United States teenagers become sexually active earlier than those in other countries. The vast majority of teenagers who are sexually active do not use any type of protection. Since this is not being done it allows the rate of unexpected pregnancies to be higher than if protection was being used. Teenagers start early having sexual intercourse for various reasons such as sexual pleasure, intimacy with someone special, or to increase his/her social status. According to Manlove, Steward-Steng, Perterson, Scott & Wildsmith (2013), in the United States five hundred thousand teenage girls between the ages of thirteen to eighteen years of age give birth

Teen pregnancy is a huge problem in the United States and it mostly as to due with the lack of sex education. In other countries sex education is not shyed away from and children have open discussions with their parents about the ins and out of sex, pregnancy, transmitted diseases and infections and even love. The country proclaims to be free and self-righteous yet many people hold on to conservative outlooks when it comes to having these important conversations with their children. Teen pregnancy is inevitable, especially with hormones kicking in and children having little to no knowledge of how to navigate them will always result in teen pregnancy. However there could be a dramatic fall in the rates if as a nation we decide to educate the children about the topic. Because whether America likes it or not the children of today will be the future doctors and caretakers, so caring for them now will be much more beneficial in the long

During the teenage years, there are raging hormones, social acceptance conflicts, developing feelings for the opposite sex, the list can go on for days! The older population tends to have opinions about MTV’s hit show, 16 and pregnant. Some critics say it promotes unprotected sex and has girls thinking it is acceptable to be pregnant young. 16 and pregnant has its flaws, but overall it shows the important message that pregnancy is hard, no matter the age but especially so young. These mothers suffer from depression, social unacceptance, and often times bullying. The t.v show proves how difficult it is to have a child so young, and overall tends to discourage it.

In the past three decades, the number of infants born to teen mothers has decreased from “84.1 births per 1,000 teens aged 15–19 years in 1991 to an all-time low of 29.4 in 2012” (Cox et al.). This trend is promising for even further decline in the decades to come. However, there are things that could be done, like increasing teenagers’ awareness on safe sex, to help lower current teen pregnancy rates because even though the number of teen pregnancies has lowered overall, the United States “teen pregnancy rate remains up to seven times higher than in some developed countries” (Romero et al.). Steps need to be taken to change these statistics. While teen pregnancy is an issue in other countries besides the United States, it is not nearly as prominent. A study was completed using data from 2011, or the most recent year prior, to compare the rate of teen pregnancy among a variety of developed countries (Sedgh et al.). This study compared the number of teen pregnancies ages fifteen to nineteen among a variety of developed countries, and the United States had substantially higher rates. For every 1000 teens ages fifteen to nineteen, 57 gave birth in the United States, compared to eight in Switzerland (Sedgh et al.). Though these numbers have declined in recent years, there is more that could be done to prevent teen pregnancies, including increased

Teen pregnancy is more prevalent in the United States, than one would think. Even though the number of pregnancies has lowered, there are still an estimated 31pregnancies per 1000 teens. Unfortunately, there are immense consequences from teen pregnancy. These occurrences are due to many circumstances that can be changed, such as, more education, peer pressure, and today’s culture. However, there are ways to prevent all this from happening; using contraception, being aware, or even abstaining from it. Teen pregnancy is an ongoing issue in our country with many causes that can be changed by taking preventative measures to keep teens from suffering consequences that will change their lives forever.

The United States holds the title of one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the western industrialized world. It causes many setbacks for the young girls and boys that have to take the role of being a teen parent. Becoming a parent is the lead reason that teenage females

Teenage pregnancy is a new form of epidemic that is sweeping across the nation worldwide. No one can actually point fingers on who is to blame or why this situation has increased in numbers over the past years. As years progress and society changes, people have been adjusting to the fact that teenagers are getting pregnant, and that there is nothing we can do to change it. Although many think that teenagers make mistakes and that pregnancy is an automatic consequence, there is a way to prevent this outcome from happening. By introducing different kinds of sex education programs at an earlier age, the teenage pregnancy rate will decrease. Even though we cannot eliminate the problem, we can educate our teenagers so that this issue can be

“Among American adolescent girls who have ever had intercourse, approximately one in six becomes pregnant” (Ventura et al., 2008). Teen pregnancy is an ongoing dilemma that concerns the baby, parents, and other family members. Anyone under the age of eighteen years old is considered to be a child and every year approximately 750,000 women aged fifteen to eighteen become pregnant (Guttmacher Institute, 2006). Also, teen pregnancy represents eleven percent of all births in the United States (Guttmacher Institute, 2006). The underlying cause of teen pregnancy is mainly the lack of education on sexual and reproductive health and not enough being taught about how to use contraceptives. To help educate this knowledge it is dependent on not only

Effectively preventing teenage pregnancies would not only spare the health and well being of many infants and young girls, but public costs related to this issue would decline significantly (since costs are "currently estimated at $10.9 billion" worldwide) (Hamilton, 2012). Even though global teen birth rates have been steadily decreasing over the years (as seen in figure 1), the birth rate United States still prevails as one of the highest out of all industrialized countries, as one can see in table 1 above (Hamilton, 2012). Figure 2 shows the results of a survey conducted on teens in Austin, Texas, which provides a clear indication of what specific risk factors today 's youth face when it comes to preventing pregnancies. These include, but are not limited to: a lack of access to contraception, a lack of supportive partners, and a lack of education about contraceptive use (Brazeal, 2015). All sexually active teenage girls, regardless of race, wealth, or location, are at risk for an unintended pregnancy. This intervention will hopefully aid in reducing the number of women affected by this issue.

Teen pregnancy is a major problem in the United States. There are significantly more teenage pregnancies in the United States than all other developing countries (Cleo & Moore, 1995). According to The Complete and Authoritative Guide: Caring for Your Teenager, out of every five women under twenty, two will become pregnant. Teen pregnancy rates have increased 23% from 1972 to 1990 (Napier, 1997) In order to come to a solution it is important to examine why teenage pregnancy is so high in the United States. When analyzing teen pregnancy, an effective way to get to the root of the problem is using the critical component of the sociological imagination. Critically, the two most prevalent ways to look at teen pregnancy are through a

Teen pregnancy and how it has become so common in our society is a difficult topic to dissect. It is a concerning issue which is faced with plenty of controversy and criticism from various groups that make up our society. To understand the ever evolving complexity in this matter, one must educate themselves on how the roles of women and men have changed in our society over many decades, if not centuries. There are many areas to investigate about adolescent pregnancy and how it has developed into a global issue. Adolescent pregnancy has challenged this nation for many years. This study will examine how this issue creates complications that severely impacts various aspects of our society and to also understand that our society has

Secondly, the media highlights the contributing factors of teenage pregnancy. Based on a study done in South Africa, the inadequate knowledge of contraception is a major factor contributing to teenage pregnancy. Parents are very hesitant when it comes to educating their children about sex and the use of contraception. The majority believe that their children will eventually learn on their own as time pass by or they don’t believe children should even know about adult activities since sex and contraceptive usage is considered an “adult thing.” Lacking the knowledge of sex and contraceptive usage can definitely lead to teenage pregnancy because both parties are unaware of the consequence that follows their actions.

"Teen pregnancy in the United States: In 2015, a total of 229,715 babies were born to women aged 15-19 years old, for a birth rate of 22.3 per 1,000 women in this age group. This is another record for U.S. teens and a drop of 8% from 2014. Although reasons for the declines are not totally clear, evidence suggests these declines are due to more teens abstaining from sexual activity, and more teens who are sexually active using birth control than in previous years. Still, the U.S. teen pregnancy rate is substantially higher than in other western industrialized nations, and racial/ethnic and geographic disparities in teen birth rates persist (cdc.gov)." As teenagers (in the United States), we are peer pressured or tempted to try new things. Some teens tend to try out drugs, and alcohol. However, some are having unprotected sex in which, is leads to having babies. This is called, teenage pregnancy. This has caused the United States to create records based off of the statistics and facts given from, researchers across the United States. In order to help prevent teenage pregnancy in the United States, teenagers must understand why, having a baby now isn’t such a smart move on their part.