The Impact of Teenage Pregnancy

As us females were young we all seem to become mothers, by playing with dolls, and playing house with others our age. It may be easy for us to say that as children we thought they needed some assistance, but in reality that was only our imagination. As little kids did we really think about what it would be like to really have a baby? We were children, but see the thing here is that teens are still children who are having other children. 16 year olds do not just wake up thinking they want to have a baby, most of the time it just happens without being planned. Teens often do not think about what life would be like as a parent which is easy to happen and we should be informed on the reasons why and what it really is like.

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.

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)

Teen Pregnancy and the Link to Poverty in the U.S. with A Focus on Western Ma Especially Holyoke and Springfield Mass

Problem: Teen pregnancy results in serious and detrimental consequences for the child, teen mother, and society as a whole. Having a child during adolescence makes it harder for teens to achieve their educational, career, and life aspirations and also affects the future potential of their children at a high cost for taxpayers. Teen mothers are less likely to complete school and have a greater risk to be single parents. Only 30% of teens who get pregnant before the age of eighteen ever graduate high school. Only 1.5% of teen mothers earn a college degree by the time they are thirty ("Adolescent Pregnancy Rates."). Low levels of educational achievement by teen parents result in less employment opportunities and earnings later in life. The repercussions of dropping out of school contribute to an ongoing cycle of economic hardship that goes on for generations. More than one third of Mississippi teens under the age of eighteen lived in poverty. Because there are so many teen parents below the poverty level, the need for public assistance comes into play. In Mississippi, forty nine percent of females under the age of 18, reported receiving public benefits and food stamps. For single mothers, it is more difficult to control and direct household activities without the help of a second adult ("Impact on Education and the Economy)". According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, eighty percent of teen fathers do not marry the mother of their first

My mother always said “You are a princess and your body is a temple, so treat it like one”. As I grew up, that was the phrase that made a profound impact on my childhood. My parents felt that for me to be confident and successful, I would have to be at peace emotionally and physically during the most crucial years of my growth. They always said “Do not become another one of the statistics!”. In my early teenage years I believed that they kept me sheltered, but now in my freshmen year of college, I could not be more thankful for their guidance and protection. At the time I did not understand what she meant, but after my years in high school it all made sense. I, like many other teens, would gain knowledge on relationships and sexuality. In this country teen pregnancy has high increase in minorities, one of the main reasons why the population is expanding. It is through proper knowledge of sexuality and protection that female teens are able to prevent pregnancy.

This study examined the effect of teenage pregnancy on children by exploring the results of an ADHD survey, ASRS-v1.1. The study sampled 100 kindergarten students, 50 had teenage mothers and 50 had mothers who gave birth during adulthood. A quantitative research method was utilized along with the difference-oriented research strategy approach. The independent variable is identified as the age of pregnancy and the two variant levels are: pregnant teens, ages 13-19, and pregnant women in adulthood, ages 25-35. The dependent variable is the extent of symptoms as indicated by the ASRS-V1.1 scale among the children. The results were used as an indicator of which set of kindergarteners is more likely to be at risk for ADHD; children with

Teenage pregnancy is a huge problem in the United States, but the rates are not at an all-time high. The pregnancy rates of teens have actually gone down in the past few years, but it still is a big problem here in the United States. The United States has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy, Russia has the second highest. Teenage pregnancy is a social and economic problem; it is not good for our country. This essay, will discuss who is at a high risk, the effects, and the prevention of teen pregnancy.

The publication of teen pregnancy over the past decade has changed stats, and many opinions on how people feel for the issue. As many people call becoming pregnant at a young age a mistake, a large percentage of people find making the action a public matter promotes young adults to strive to do the same. Do the reality shows such as 16 and Pregnant, and Teen Mom help prevent teen pregnancy, or promote it?

There is a big problem that is going on in the United States and it is teen pregnancy. The United States have the highest teen birth rates than any other western industrialized nations. Teen pregnancy doesn’t only affect the teen and the baby, it affects everyone around them including their family and the society around them. There are solutions to teen pregnancy that doesn't only include the teen and their family, it includes the community. Teens need to know the risks and consequences of teen pregnancy.

Teenage pregnancy rates have been declining in the United States, but when compared to pregnancy rates in other industrial countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom they are still relatively high. (Office of Adolescent Health, 2016). Teenage pregnancy is defined by UNICEF, as an adolescent between the ages of thirteen to nineteen becoming pregnant. (UNICEF Malaysia Communications). Teenage pregnancy is viewed as a social issue because of the way it affects a country’s economy, the mother and father’s future, the baby’s quality of life, and the parent’s extended family and community

When it comes to the topic of do TV shows like “16 and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom” promote or discourage teenage pregnancy, most of us will readily agree that it in fact does promote teenage pregnancy. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of how does this promote teenage pregnancy. Whereas some are convinced that it promotes teenage pregnancy through the fame some of the young couples have achieved, others maintain that it in fact discourages teenage pregnancy by showing the struggles and realities of having a child at such a young age. I agree that the show “16 and Pregnant” promotes teenage pregnancy because a new Indiana University research study confirms it.

Red and blue lights are flashing and the noise of the ambulance impels everyone to a point where they have to look outside and observe the situation, as if a mystical force was compelling them. From what they can see, the paramedic is holding a tiny hand telling her to hold on. As the stretcher rolls by, the onlookers notice a huge lump, or ball as a few may say, under the pallid cotton covers. What they also take note of is that the pregnant woman is not a woman at all, but in fact a teenager. As some are astounded that a child is being born from a child, others possibly will look at it as a “blessing in disguise.” The issue of teenage pregnancy is affecting our society in innumerable ways and has become one of our top social issues of all time. “The latest estimates show that approximately 1 million teens become pregnant every year” (East, Felice, and Associates 1). With this high number of teenage pregnancy, it is no wonder that many authors try to exemplify this common subject matter. Katrina L. Burchett, author of Choices, accurately and effectively depicts teenage pregnancy among female adolescents living with domestic issues.

The amount of teenage pregnancies in America has skyrocketed in the last few decades. Young, uneducated children are having sexual intercourse without a clear understanding of the serious consequents behind their actions, but it is not entirely their fault because their parents and school’s curriculum have failed to bestow a clear and concise grasp of sex. Sexual education is typically incorporated into an academic setting either in middle school or high school when an adolescent is hitting puberty. But, teaching sexual education to teenagers when their hormones are off the roof is like telling a child not to eat a cake after they had just consumed it—not very helpful. If a child is taught at an early age about sexual education, staring in elementary school, rather than in high school or middle school, it will reduce the risk of teenage pregnancies, help kids is less self-conscience of his or her body, and gain a clear understanding of sexual transmitted diseases.

Like Amy and Loeber (2009), when it comes to the ecological paradigm of teenage pregnancy, Corcoran, Franklin, and Bennett (2000) also believe one’s socioeconomic status is a huge factor that contributes to this problem. A person’s socioeconomic status a lot of times determines “education, expanded family size, single-parent household structure, and lessened resources in terms of employment and income.” These three authors claim that educational performance and goals “dictate the potential costs of child bearing at a young age.” Their studies have also shown that teenage girls’ relationships with the school setting and poorer performance in school serve a greater risk for adolescent pregnancy.