Teens And Hispanic Teenage Pregnancy

Each year, more than 600,000 teens become pregnant, and 3 in 10 will become pregnant before they reach age 20 (Secure et al., 2015). Rates are higher among black and Hispanic teens, with 4 in 10 becoming pregnant by 20 years of age, compared with 2 in 10 white teens (Secure et al., 2015). Even though over time the overall rate of teen pregnancy has decreased, it’s still very high and has a large impact on the teen parents as well as the families.

“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

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.

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.

This brings caution, as according to The Pew Charitable Trusts, although teen pregnancy and birth rates have declined over the past two decades, states still face the reality that African American and Latina teens are more than twice as likely as white teens to become pregnant (Wiltz, T. 2015).

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.

In 2015, the national teen birth rate for non-Hispanic white females was 90,833. The teen birth rate for non-Hispanic black females was 50,039. Along with the teen birth rates for Hispanic 80,364, American Indian/Alaska Native 4,738, and Asian/Pacific Islander 4,297. The national percentage of teen pregnancies to girls under the age of 15 was 1 percent. Girls age 15-17 was 26 percent and girls age 18-19 was 73percent.

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.

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.

Among the Latino culture there has been reports of high levels of depression compared to youths from other ethnic backgrounds. However, little is known about why Latino youths are particularly susceptible to depression. Researchers Yolanda Cespedes and Stanley Huey created a study on where they argued that cultural discrepancy may indirectly contribute to depressive symptoms among children of Latino immigrants. Researchers of this study recruited one hundred and thirty Latino students from a high school in Los Angeles. To evaluate their argument researchers used measures such as the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans, the Attitudes Toward Women Scale, a standardized difference approach, the Conflict subscale of the Family Environment

In my high school, I can count how many girls I know who either are pregnant or already have a baby. Out of the 10 I can count, eight of those teen mothers are African-American. It's more likely that an African American teen becomes pregnant because in my experience black teenagers don't take precautions when having sex. Although teen pregnancies can affect any girl of any race, African-Americans and Hispanic girls are more likely to become pregnant as teenagers, and their insufficient financial stability only serves to make the situation more difficult.

This article tells us how many school districts know about the problem, which is teen pregnancy. It tells how even when these girls ask their school for help and guidance, the school simply turns their back and walks away. The fact that more and more teens are becoming parents is a growing issue and this article is important because it truly shows how schools just stopped paying attention to the problem. This article helps my study because I also believe that our own school [Lanier] has simply given up on us. The research shows that a lot of white dominant schools aren’t facing these issues though. That these white schools offer there kids only the best support they can offer their kids, while majoring minority schools have been turned away

1. In the study conducted by Sedgh and co-researchers (2015) of the Guttmacher Institute in New York, among 21 countries with teen pregnancy estimates for 2008–2011, the pregnancy rate was the highest in the United States with 57 pregnancies per 1,000 adolescents in 2010.

"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."

Teen pregnancy is a very controversial social issue and the vast majority of Americans consider the outrageous rate of teen pregnancies a severe issue, certainly a problematic occurrence that is believed to be a moral decline in our country. Teenagers are physiologically capable of reproducing but not emotionally or financially prepared to be parents at such a tender age. Through various research studies a plethora of determinants has pin pointed teens unprecedented pregnancies. One cause of this problem is the apparent indication of social separation or disadvantage. Within this issue you would find poverty, single parent households, educational disadvantages on the parents behalf, a lack family/parental support, and unemployment. A child’s educational performance, inappropriate sexual acts, and inferior apprehensions about their futures play a vital role in teen pregnancies as well. Amongst the listed disadvantages the three that take precedent are lacks of family communication, sexual abuse, and poverty. Furthermore, teen mothers do not fit the ideal ideology of the normative scheduling of motherhood, therefore, ultimately resulting in negative consequences for them and society. What needs to be understood is, as to why the numbers of teens are becoming parents at such a vernal age.