Teenage Pregnancy In California Essay

This paper casts light upon the health issues related to teenage pregnancy in the city of Los Angeles. Teenage pregnancy is an important issue as it affects multiple aspects of population growth, women health and economic conditions.

There is presently much controversy regarding teen pregnancy, considering that many countries in the developed world experience a rise in adolescent pregnancies in spite of the fact that effective programs are installed in these areas. Teen pregnancy has been a major issue in Los Angeles in the recent years, but the fact that state authorities have been actively involved in combating the problem has generated positive results. It is probable that the struggle for abstinence and the practice of safe sex have become less important for high school students in Los Angeles in the last few years, taking into account that teen pregnancy rates have gone up significantly.

One community member, Jay Coffelt, is a long-term resident of Kansas City in Jackson County, Missouri. Jay is passionate about researching and awareness of issues like teen pregnancy at the county, state, and national levels. Although not directly involved as a parent of a pregnant teen and not being a teen himself, Mr. Coffelt’s community passion is beneficial in providing insight to the level of community empowerment present in Jackson County, Missouri with regards to a major health issue like teen pregnancy. From a community members’ perspective, it was noted that there seems to be a lack of resources available to pregnant teens and their families as well as a lack of ways community members can be involved in the issue. When asked about his ability to participate in decision making regarding teen pregnancy or to attend forums discussing teen pregnancy, Mr. Coffelt was unsure if those resources were available to him. Another important finding from Mr. Coffelt’s interview was the frequent comparisons he made to an adjacent county in Kansas. Having lived in both counties, Mr. Coffelt was able to recall more available resources, awareness, and guidance for teen health and community members in the adjacent Kansas county compared to Jackson County in Missouri. Through the interview, it was determined that Mr. Coffelt felt an increased level of empowerment. According to Clark, “...empowered individuals gain new skills and power to influence others and to affect the outcomes of

The main ethnic/racial groups affected by the health issue are non-Hispanic African American females, Hispanic females, and Native Americans/Native Alaskans. There were key study findings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that found that U.S. birth rates for adolescents vary considerably by race and Hispanic origin (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011). Thus, this provides even more clear evidence on the difference of ethnic/racial groups. Additionally, in 2008, the birth rate for Hispanic adolescents was approximately five times the rate for Asian/Pacific Islander adolescents, three times the rate for non-Hispanic white adolescents, and somewhat higher than the rates for non-Hispanic African American and Native American/Native Alaskan adolescents (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011).

Despite teenage pregnancy rates dropping more than fifty percent in recent years, it is within the Hispanic community that teen pregnancy continues to remain a serious public and social issue. When compared to other ethnic sectors in the United States, Hispanic females continue to hold a higher birth rate than others, being twice more than that of non-Hispanics. In general, there are the many apparent obstacles and consequences when dealing with this situation. Young adult parents must overcome educational, financial, and emotional problems months before their child is born.

“The national Hispanic teenage pregnancy rate is twice that of non-Hispanic whites, and in California, Hispanic adolescents are four times more likely than whites to become parents”. (guttmacher.org, 2004) . This rapid growth in Hispanic population and high rate of teen pregnancies is putting pressure on the educational and health care systems to address the needs of Hispanics. Many young Latina/Hispanic girls face discrimination, poverty, and limited access to healthcare and most importantly cultural challenges, which can place them at a high risk for unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. Thus there is a clear need for teenage pregnancy

According to U.S Department of Health and Human Services, Teen pregnancy rates by age, racial, ethnic group, and region of the country. Most teenagers who have gave birth are between 18 or younger; in 2014, 73 percent were 18 and 19 years old teens. Birth rates are increasing in the Hispanic community. Latino are experiencing these issues due to the lack of communication

Since the 1920’s, teen pregnancy among the Latino community has been one of the biggest social problems. Factors like poor or no sex education, negative media portrayal, poor or lower than average educational levels, social inequality and family pressure, such as encouraging womanhood in teen years, contribute to the high percentage of teen pregnancy among Latinas. However, teen pregnancy among Latinas has been decreasing in recent years. Recent programs such as public service announcement and sex education continue to help educate young Latinas and lower the risk of teen pregnancy. Nevertheless, Latinas still represent the group of people with the highest teen pregnancy. One in six Latinas between the ages of 14-20 will have a child at some point, and 30% of all Latino teenage parents have children out of wedlock.

government-funded contraceptive services, almost 9 million women have used the affordable services to prevent what could have been 2.2 million unintentional pregnancies; of the unplanned pregnancies, there would have been 50 percent unprepared births and 35 percent abortions (Sonfield). Planned Parenthood extends itself as a safe and accepting place for women, providing some of the 8.9 million women with the right type of contraceptive services at an affordable cost or for free. It alleviates the worry of unintentional or unsafe pregnancy, acting as a supportive group for whatever issue a woman is facing. Its services help to prevent the last resort of abortions while educating patients on proper sexual health. Obtaining birth control services no longer deserves to be thought of as a shameful act but rather an equipping method for women to decide their future based on their own bodies and current situations. As mentioned by Guttmacher Institute professors, research has shown that women who receive birth control pills at an age of 18 over 21 are benefited in their scholastic achievements, job placements, incomes, and lasting marriages

Birth rates in African American and Hispanic teens are substantially higher than whites, a trend that has persisted for decades. Even though pregnancy rates among teens are at an all time low. It is still a major issue but mostly affecting the urban communities. In this research paper I will be comparing and demonstrating the relationships between teenage pregnancy, social issues, and education.

This behavior increase for unplanned pregnancy for contracting sexually transmitted disease such as STD'S, HIV, the virus that cause AID53. According to the National Campaign To Prevent Teen And Unwanted Preganany, more than a third of sexually active adults, age 15 to 20 have use alchol and had influnced them to do something sexual. Throughtout the years teens pregnancy rates have steadliy been declining since 2008, unwanted teen pregnancy rates are still upward of 7,500 each year in the United States. About 25% of the teen girls gaves there child for adoption and 27% gets abortion in the U.S. this is most likely to occur to teens of lower class that does not have the money to support a child at such a young age or it prevent there education by dropping out of

"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.

For about the last 20 years Mexican American females have had the highest rates of adolescent teenage childbearing. Although the teenage birthrates have decreased as a whole, Mexican American women are still at the top, having the highest teen birth rates (46.3 births per 1,000 teen females). The Mexican American adolescent mothers have a lot in common when it comes to their reasons, knowledge, risks and prevention of pregnancy. However, there are some misconceptions when dealing with Chicana sexuality and reproduction.

Although the data proves what has caused the rate increase, there are other factors that can affect the outcome of the data. The data in Fig. 1 and Fig 2 shows the Pregnancy Risk among Hispanic women will increase and make up the largest portion of this age group. While most sex education programs were not geared toward the Hispanic community in the 1990’s, it has seen in improvement in the classroom settings. The postponement of parenthood until in the wake of moving on from secondary school improves the probability of getting a well-paying employment and reducing the rate of poverty among the future Hispanic community. It is vital that we attempt to impart these truths to the general population around us; furthermore, bolster persons that may need assistance. For all ethnic groups, in particular Hispanics, there are factors that contribute to this such as peer pressure, images of sex in the media and magazines, and the embarrassment that goes along with getting contraception which could contribute to the high teen pregnancy. While I have no experienced being a teenage father, I have witnessed several tragedies in my career as a Peace Officer. I was dispatched to a residence in reference to a verbal dispute between a mother and her

"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."