Stereotypes Of Teenage Moms

Teen pregnancy continues to be a problem in America even though the CDC documents a decrease from 2007-2009 in all racial groups. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d.). Reducing the number of pregnancies in teens 15-17 is a core indicator identified by Healthy People 2020 to assess the status of adolescent health. Children born to teens are at risk for health concerns from being of low birth weight and having poor prenatal care such as delayed development. (Magness, 2012). Repeat pregnancy, dependence on welfare, and poverty are some of the results of adolescent pregnancy. Teen mothers tend to have health problems such as hypertension, and anemia and are at high risk for early delivery. Magness looks at the issue from the teen’s viewpoint and discusses the idea that some teens become pregnant to provide stability in an otherwise chaotic life and can gain maturity from the experience. Emphasis on continuing their education after delivery can prevent repeat pregnancies. Lack of productive or positive social activities or guidance can leave room for a teen to indulge in risky behavior to occupy their time. Peer pressure and influence from present day norms can cause teenagers to give in to early onset of sexual activity (Kirven, 2014). Finding after school or extracurricular activities can promote a healthier self

All races are susceptible. The most common cases of teen pregnancy occur in teens of poverty. Studies show that if the mother was raised in low income, chances skyrocket for that teen to end up pregnant before she becomes an adult. Most teenage unplanned pregnancies relate to the teen being too uncomfortable to ask their parent for proper birth control. Teens fear getting in trouble or judged by their parents, so they take the risk of not using protection.

One of my friends in high school got pregnant in her sophomore year. She and the father decided to keep the baby, got married and just celebrated their 10th anniversary. They both finished college and have good jobs now. It just goes to show that people can overcome teen pregnancy and become successful parents.

There is a negative stigma invoked with the image of a young teenager who is pregnant.

Society in general is currently addressing the social problem of teen pregnancy in several ways. One of the most important is an increase in parent’s willingness to not only bring the issue up and discuss it with their children, but also allowing educators to address the issue in schools.

Many further studies into the phenomenon of teenage pregnancy and parenthood, such as Moffitt’s 2002 “Teen-aged mothers in contemporary Britain” conclude that “young mothers encountered more socio-economic deprivation, had significantly less human and social capital, and experienced more mental health difficulties. Their partners were less reliable and supportive, both economically and emotionally, and were more antisocial and abusive” (Moffitt, 2002). This perpetuates the idea that having children does not alleviate poverty or the conditions of it in any way, and in fact shifts the responsibility on to the individual by implying that these women don’t have the motivation to aspire towards more, and delay pregnancy for that reason. What studies such as this one does is that it ignores the idea that pregnancy can actually be used effectively

Stereotyping is not as prevalent as in previous decades, although parents do worry of this happening.

Being a young mother makes it more difficult to understand becoming an adult and raising a child all at the same time. However, it is possible to handle both aspects of life if you have the right attitude but it does require patience. The people that have known me knows very well that patience was something I had to learn. This is what it was like for me to cope with the difficulties of being a young mother. Many people judge others on becoming young mothers. Obviously, those who are not parents themselves are usually the ones who are criticizing teenage parents. In my opinion, I was well on my way at the age of seventeen, although I was fresh out of high school, I began working with American

The way a teens life changes by becoming a mom is how school becomes more difficult and stressful, anxiousness of how college will be finished and paid for on a budget of a single mother, and how who they thought were their friends are not even close to being there for them truly.

Stigmas ensue when undervalued characteristics are connected to an individual or to a membership in a group (Crocker, Major, & Steele, 1998). A stigma is profoundly harmful and consists of being the object of negatives stereotypes as well as rejection, and being discriminated against (Crocker, Major, & Steele, 1998). When discussing teen pregnancy and teen motherhood stereotypes can diverge into negative and positive, causing those who are stereotyped to be frequently influenced, particularly in adolescence when teenagers are more easily influenced (Simigu & Henter, 2013).

This week’s assignment had me take a closer look on how environment truly influences teen pregnancy rates in my community. Teens living in poverty have a greater likelihood of becoming pregnant than teens living in affluent communities. What causes this disparity? Social and environmental factors are in large part responsible for the disparity. The adults in lower- income families are often less educated, have a criminal history, hold low-income jobs, or are unemployed. Lower income communities are plagued by gun violence, gang inhabitance, and the availability of drugs. Teens that become pregnant at an early age, have parents that themselves were pregnant as teens ("Teen Pregnancy Facts, Teen Pregnancy Statistics Teen Pregnancy - Environmental

Pregnancy is a similar story. Nearly 615,000 teenage women become pregnant on a yearly basis (purple). That is 6% of the teenage population- a record low in 2010. This number was down 51% from 1990’s statistics (purple). This drastic decrease has been a result of more teenagers using contraceptives (purple). Still, this rate is double that of Canada’s and Sweden’s teen pregnancy rates (purple). The states with highest teen pregnancy rates were New Mexico, followed by Mississippi, Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. The states with the lowest teen pregnancy rates were New Hampshire, Vermont, Minnesota, Massachusetts, and Maine (purple). Most of these pregnancies were that of unwed mothers. Women living in poverty are nearly four times more likely to become pregnant than those in better socioeconomic situations (red). Teen fathers were two times as likely to be black than white.

Young girls at that age are considered vulnerable and many seek psychological help to overcome the traumatic event. Children born to teen mothers can develop blindness, deafness, mental, respiratory and cerebral problems. Also the low birth weight puts the child at greater risk of dying as infants. Other social problem that pregnant teenagers face is economy. Most teenage girls struggle to finish school and earn a degree. Pregnant teenage girls live in poverty due to the lack of financial and educational stability. For instance, a study found that “low-income teens received such instruction 44% of the time, compared with 62% of higher-income teens. That disparity is particularly troubling, supporters say, because low-income and black and Hispanic teens are more prone to teen pregnancy than teens in general”. In most cases low income families are always struggling to provide to the family and adding teenage girls just makes the situation even worst. The lack of experience, financial and educational stability can limit the options of the child to succeed in life. The author of Teen Pregnancy: Does learning about birth control in school help prevent teen pregnancy? suggest that “teen pregnancy is often cited as a factor that perpetuates the cycle of poverty, since teen mothers are likely to be poor in the first place, and their children are likely to grow up to be poor. As a

"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.

The teen pregnancy rate had decreased by the maximum of about 55 percent. Most teen birth rates had also gone down about 64 percent, but yet teen pregnancies and birth rate for teenagers ages 15-19 in the U.S still remains one of the highest comparable countries. Due to parenthood, most of teen moms drop out of school. More than 50% of teen mothers never graduate to get their diploma. Sexually active teens that don’t use any type of protection has a 90 percent chance of becoming pregnant within a year, 84 percent of teen pregnancies are unplanned.