Should Society Support Pregnant Teens Essay

Children born from teen mothers suffer from higher rates of low birth weight and related health problems.Teenage mothers have a higher rate of poor eating habits than older women and are less likely to take recommended daily prenatal multivitamins to maintain adequate nutrition during pregnancy. Teens also are more likely to smoke cigarettes, drink

Many studies show that MTV’s “16 and Pregnant” led to fewer teen births. It is thought to be that when teens tune into the show, they learn to practice safer sex. “16 and Pregnant” was named one of the best ways to campaign about the issue of teen pregnancy. The show was a way to attack the issue of teen pregnancy head on. Comparing to all fully developed countries, the U.S, has the highest rates of teen pregnancy. This was seen as a major problem to many that was aware of the problem. Even though the number of teen pregnancies was high, there was nothing really being done to expose the harsh reality of being a teen mom. Lauren Dolgen, President of MTV’s series development, felt as if the situation needed to be addressed. Her goal was to give teen moms out there a chance to have a voice and to tell their stories.

My mom learned the hard way with having a baby while still in school, she told me how stressful it was to do her school work, raise a child and work full time without even having the baby’s dad to help or her parents. The show “Teen Mom” shows the struggle of having to grow and give up on opportunities because of one mistake. Not only does this affect the mother but it also affects the child that will have to grow up with one parent or hardly getting by or watching the stress eat way at their parents.

When considering the financial aspect of teen pregnancy, education regarding the issue should be provided with an increased attention because taxpayers end up billions of dollars on a yearly basis with the purpose of assisting teenage parents. In addition to this, society suffers because most teenagers who become pregnant are unlikely to finish high school. Children of teen parents are probable to suffer more health problems and to perform poorly during school, given that they are typically provided with underprivileged environments.

Teenage pregnancy may not be one of the bigger issues of the world, like war or drug abuse, but it still holds credibility. It also does not have a high declining rate. All of the world teenagers still get pregnant, whether it be by a small or high percentage, and the government has no way to stop it. However, the government can control what happens afterwards, when the baby is born. Obviously, teens would have trouble in raising a baby on their own because they are not yet adults so they need both financial and supportive help. So the government created Acts to help and states carried out assistance programs as well. However, there has been controversy in whether or not teenage mothers deserve all of this help. Teenage mothers should be

Girls who gave birth while still in high school only 38% of them graduate. The reason the rest of them drop out is since they are forced to work in order to support their child. Nearly all cannot manage parenthood, school, work without family or friends help. With teenage mothers “Their children showed reduced educational attainment, had more emotional and behavioral problems, were at increased risk of maltreatment or harm, and showed higher rates of illness, accidents and injuries.” (Dennison P. 6) Just in the state of Texas, in 2012, there were 44 births per 1,000 girls’ state wide. Nationwide 50% of pregnancies are accidental in 2006. Teen parents also are a financial load to society, According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, in 2004, all together taxpayers paid more than eight billion dollars to help support health cares designed to help the 420,000 teenage mothers who gave birth in that year. “results from economic analyses suggest that implementing evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention programs, expanding access to Medicaid family planning services, and utilizing mass media campaigns to promote safe sex may reduce teen pregnancy and save taxpayer dollars.” (Without the help of drugs like Plan B or any type of birth control, a large amount of teenage girls will become unplanned mothers, making more of a financial burden to society.

There are long term negative effects on the teen parent which carries over long after the baby is born. Teen mothers are less likely to finish high school than their peers who are not mothers (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010). Adolescent parents are often poor relying on social services and many times as adults they are unemployed or underemployed (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010). The families who are affected by this social issue take on the responsibilities to try to overcome the negatives. However the families are now dealing

Teenage pregnancy is one of many issues that the United States has. It is one issue that can be fixed easily and should be waited upon until teens are married and know what they are doing with their lives. This issue came about in the early in the 1950’s – 1960’s. Teen pregnancy is a teenage girl between the ages 13-19 (girls who haven’t reached adulthood) having unwanted or wanted babies. Janet Bode once stated in her book, “Emotions run everywhere, scared, sad, disappointment and preparation for what is about to happen” (Bode 51). If we do not act now, teen pregnancy will be out the roof. Teen pregnancy needs a stop put to it no matter what, teens are still children themselves and they are still learning how to take care of themselves:

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)

In the United States teenage pregnancy outside of marriage is labeled as a social problem. Society views young, poor, single teenage mothers as an liability and not an asset. Teenage mothers are stereotyped as (a) welfare dependent (b) irresponsible (c) lazy (d) ignorant and (e) promiscuous. However, the majority of society believes that their taxes were higher because of government benefits that teenage mothers and their babies receive.

In fact, a article called Teen Pregnancy In The U.S stated that in 2004, a total of 249,078 babies were born to women between the aged of 14-19 years. The rate of unwanted child birth is very high. Unplanned pregnancy can lead to poverty and joblessness. The majority of teen girls rather get an abortion then to tell their parents they are pregnant. Birth control should be available

They did not provide more concrete evidence which would support their claims that Teen Parenting Can Be Beneficial. First, when the authors talked about the research that was done in U.S. showed how many teen mothers had a little effect on their social lives did not provide a range of people that were actually affected and which were not affected. Another problem with the algebra used in the authors’ use of logo is misused. It does not mean social disadvantage was the reason why a teen had gotten pregnant. In my experience, there are many people I knew who were at social disadvantage who did not even become teen parents. For example, there are tons of villages in India who have a rule that if a girl gets pregnant before she got married is consider to be a crime and is usually disowned and some cases was hanged with whom she performed the act

Beginning with their education it is said that mothers who have their children when they are younger than 17 are putting their kids at risk for having lower test grades in math and reading; along with communication and social skills. (page10)Schuyler points out that “Children of teen mothers are [also] more likely to repeat a grade [and] are less likely to complete high school . . .” (page10). The lists of reputations the children will face are long but their education and health are the two main ones discussed. While reading this article I learned that sons of teen mothers are about three times more likely to become incarcerated and their daughter are at a higher risk of being teen mothers them. As for the health, children of teen mothers are more likely to have a lower birth weight; having lower a low birth weight under 5 pounds and 8 ounces put a child at risk for respiratory problems, development delays and long life

Teen pregnancies can change their lives for the worse because teen parents are “less likely to complete high school, less likely to attend college, more likely to have large families, and more likely to be a single parent” (Kirby 144). When a teen becomes pregnant, it not only changes their life, but also the life of their unborn baby. Babies who are born with adolescents as parents have a higher probability to “have less supportive and stimulating home environments, lower cognitive development, worse educational outcomes, higher rates of behavior problems, higher rates of incarceration, and higher rate of adolescent childbearing themselves” (Kirby 144). Majority of adolescent are still growing and developing themselves, therefore it is more of a challenge to provide a baby with the not only an environment that sets them up for success, but also having the finical resource to support a child. This leaves tax payer to pick up the billion, costing them 9 billion dollars annually (Kirby). Having a baby as a teenage leaves themselves and their child susceptible to many harmful effects that can be prevented if they chose to abstain from sex and wait to have a child when there are finical and physically

By having all these new problems to deal with without a fully developed maturity the mother can also suffer from emotional and mental stagnation. Her peers may reject her as society deems teenage pregnancy unacceptable. She may feel humiliated and ashamed after her pregnancy begins to show, so then she refuses to finish school and as a result she lessens her ability to effectively raise her child. When teenage mother are pregnant, they are the least likely of all maternal age groups to get early and regular prenatal care. There are many teen mothers who receive late or no prenatal care at all. After giving birth, the majority of girls drop out of school in order to care of the baby. If there is no one else to share the endless amount of work, she must assume full responsibility. She may be forced to pursue employment with a minimal of earning potential due to her lack of education. This scenario tends to breed an unstable and financially insecure parent, and the child may also suffer from neglect by the constantly working mother.