Teenage Pregnancy Essay

Teenage pregnancy has long been acknowledged as an important health, social and economic problem in the United States, one that creates hardships for women and families and threatens the health and well-being of women and their infants. Unintended pregnancies span across age, race and religion, with a specific negative impact among the teenage population. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC, 2016) In 2015, a total of 229,715 babies were born to women aged 15–19 years, for a birth rate of 22.3 per 1,000 women in this age group. Birth rates are also higher among Hispanic and African American adolescents than any other race. In 2014, Hispanic adolescent females ages 15-19 had the highest birth rate of 38 births per 1,000

Nearly all teen pregnancies are unplanned, however teen pregnancy is becoming an epidemic. A lot of teens do not realize that having sex can bring on a lot of responsibilities. In most case scenarios, on average, adolescences say they did not want to get pregnant or cause a pregnancy. When you read about different statics about teen pregnancy, that alone is reason enough to create preventing programs about teen pregnancy. Knowing that teen pregnancy is closely linked to a host of other critical social issue, e.g. poverty, income, overall child well-being, health issue, education, just to name a few. There are also substantial public costs associated with adolescent childbearing. Consequently, teen pregnancy should be viewed not only as a reproductive health issue, but as one that works to improve these measures.

"Over one million teenage girls become pregnant each year. In the next 24 hours, about 3,312 girls will become pregnant. In addition, 43% of all adolescents become pregnant before the age of 20. These are incredible statistics when you consider that there are only 31 million females. The United States has the highest adolescent pregnancy rate in the developed world. As statistics show one in nine women between the ages of 15 through 19 become pregnant each year. Also, every 26 seconds a teenage girl becomes pregnant and every 56 seconds a child of a teenage mother is born."

that in the United States of America, we have the highest rate of teen births in the

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 is a pressing issue that needs to be dealt with. Although it has declined within the last decade it is still higher

Teenage pregnancy is a prominent dilemma in our nation because it continues to place adolescents into delinquency. According to the United States Health and Human Services, three out of ten American teen girls will become pregnant at least once before they reach the age of twenty. That is nearly 750,000 teen pregnancies in a year (1) (HHS Pg.2 2014). Also according to U.S. Department of State, teen pregnancy budgets the United States and tax payers approximately seven billion dollars annually (2) (USDS pg. 1 2013). Teen pregnancy is a phenomenon in which a female individual, usually between the ages of thirteen through nineteen become pregnant before they have reached the legal adulthood. Many times these adolescents are not prepared to become parents. They have not completed their education, are mentally young, have very few or no marketable skills and abilities to survive in the real world, and they are financially dependent upon their parent or caretaker.

Additionally, research has found that there are a variety of factors that are associated with a teenager becoming pregnant. Teenagers who are continuously enrolled in school, get good grades, and participate in after school activities are less likely to become pregnant. Adolescents whose parents were also pregnant during their teenage years and whose highest educational level is a high school degree are also more likely to become pregnant. (Office of Adolescent Health, 2016). The community also has an impact on teenage pregnancy rates, teenagers who live in affluent areas where there are plenty of employment opportunities available are less likely to become pregnant than teenagers who live in poorer neighborhoods where employment opportunities are more scarce or non-existent. (Office of Adolescent Health, 2016).

There are about 860,000 teens who become pregnant each year and about 425,000 give birth. (Lawton 22). Even though in recent years there has been an unexplained decline in unwanted pregnancies it continues to be a problem among teenagers. Even with a decline the CDC says that the teen birth rate in the United States is still nine times higher than other developed countries. Although many teens do not plan on becoming pregnant, it does happen, and there are consequences that come with teen pregnancy. Limited resources, some may have parent or guardian support and some may not, as well as a drastic lifestyle change compared to other teens.

The social problem with teenage pregnancy is one to be aware of. Throughout the years we have seen the numbers all across the spectrum. This being, the number of pregnant teenage girls has decreased in recent years, but on the other hand, has also been pretty high ten to twenty years ago. According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control), “In 2013, a total of 273,105 babies were born to women ages 15-19 years, for a live birth rate of 26.5 per 1,000 women in this age group. This is a record low for U.S. teens in this age group, and a drop of 10% from 2012” (CDC, 2015). When I saw this statistic I was shocked. It made me want to instantly know more about past years’ statistics as well as years to come and how these numbers will change in the coming future. If the rate of teen pregnancy dropped 10 percent in one year, will it continue to decrease? I am also curious to know why the numbers are dropping and if there is a specific reason for these numbers. So throughout this paper, I will explore the basics of teen pregnancy, including, why, and how it happens. Along side the basics, I will explore the specifics, including the rates for teen pregnancy, and if it is predicated these numbers will continue to decrease and the reason for the decrease in numbers. Then, the prevention and why it is important for teens to be informed of this social issue. As well as anything else I think I need to be fully informed on to help a client with a social issue like teen pregnancy.

According to the “Teen Pregnancy Prevention” (2016), statistics from the National Conference of State Legislatures found teen pregnancy and birth rates for teens age 15 to 19 in the United States remain among the highest with comparable countries. Roughly one in four girls will be pregnant at least once before age 20. The “Teen

Pregnancies are a wonderful thing. Just imagine being able to create another human being and bringing it into the world. Although this may be what the majority of mothers think, teen moms may have a different perspective. They might have been forced into pregnancy and the child may be a reoccurring thought of what happened to her. Chances are the teen will love her baby in the long run, but in the beginning the teen most likely had different views. Teen pregnancy is a worldwide problem that needs to be educated properly. The reason why most teen pregnancies occur because teens aren’t educated enough. Granted they might become curious or they don’t care, but they at least need to be properly educated on the matter and know exactly what they

“12.3 Live births per 1,000 women aged 15-17 in 2013.” ( Main, 2015, para.1) Going in public, many teens are pregnant or have already had a baby. Teen pregnancy is a very big concern in society. Everyone needs to come together as a whole to find ways to prevent this from happening so often. Teen pregnancy is a reoccurring problem, but there are ways to prevent them such as starting programs or classes in schools so teens understand why they should not have children, using a contraceptive, and watching TV shows so they can understand being a teen mom is not easy.

"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.