The Importance Of Teen Pregnancy

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

Teen pregnancy falls into the category of pregnancies in girls age 19 or younger (NIH). Although statistics have shown a decrease, the number of teen pregnancy in the U.S. is still relatively high compared to the rest of the world. Sexual health is one of the top priorities in early adolescence health in the United States. Consequences of having sex at a young age generally results in unsafe sex practices. The consequences can be due to the lack of knowledge about sex education, and access to birth control/contraception (NIH, 2005). Due to the lack of knowledge and access to birth control, adolescents involve in risk taking when they start to explore sexual intimate relationships.

Multiple factors influence the rate of teen pregnancy. Some of the most important factors influencing pregnancy rates are socioeconomic status, education, and family income. With low socioeconomic status and income, parents may not always be present in their children’s lives in order to educate them on sex. School districts, then, take on the responsibility to educate teenagers on sexual intercourse and safe practices, but some fail. Stanger-Hall, K. F., & Hall, D. W. provided statistics showing that while many schools push abstinence-only programs, they show little to no positive impact on preventing teen pregnancies (Stanger-Hall, K. F., & Hall, D. W. (n.d.)). While abstinence may work for some, it is not realistic to believe that all teens will abide by it. Teens need a comprehensive sexual education with emphasis on safe sex practices, which is where Be Safe, Not Sorry comes into play. The comprehensive program will cover all

Risky sexual and reproductive behavior associated with teen pregnancy often leads to disadvantage personal and social conditions. Research suggests that health education, contraceptive use, access to health care and outreach programs are effective in improving health conditions and reducing risky behavior. Omissions in the research on sexual behavior other than intercourse are highlighted. Possible biological, social, and social cognitive processes underlying teenage sexual behavior are then considered. Next, demographic trends in the use of contraceptives and antecedents of regular birth control use are reviewed. Finally, some of the successful program initiatives directed toward altering sexual and contraceptive practices are discussed, keeping

While parents would like their children to wait as long as possible to begin having sex, the reality is that teens are having sex much younger than many parents think. Some teens, or preteens, begin having sex or engaging in sexual behavior in junior high. By the time they are seniors in high school, an estimated 65 percent of teens have had sex, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 2007. (Dawn, 2009). Unfortunately, a percentage of those teens will become pregnant. After more than a decade and a half of decline (a 27 percent drop from 1991 to 2000), teen birth rates rose again in 2006, which was the last year for which data are available. It is still unclear on what caused teen birth rates to rise again, with supporters of abstinence-only sex education programs and contraception-based programs each blaming the other side for the increase. However, a 2007 study in the Journal of American Public Health attributed the trend in decreasing pregnancy rates to improved contraception use among teens during that time. (Anderson Orr, 2009).

Teen pregnancy in the United States is a continuing outbreak. We all may not realize that we are all affected by teenage pregnancy it is not just the girl giving birth. Teen pregnancy is not something that is just shunned upon in the US but something that affects our taxes too. We all sit back and let early pregnancy continue and do nothing to put a stop to it because we are all unsure of why it is happening. Some may argue that Title X is something that should be demolished. Is it because we as society are unsure of what Title X does? It is now that we learn what our government tries to provide us to keep the rate of teen pregnancy down. The United States is one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy worldwide. Today is where our opinions

Imagine coming to school one day and seeing 39 students pregnant. That’s the statistical reality of teen pregnancy as an estimated 34 in every 1000 students becomes pregnant between the age of 14-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This statistic does not take into account different educational, social, and racial factors. With widely popular television shows such as, "16 and Pregnant" or "Teen Mom", many teens do not fully comprehend the negatives of engaging in sexual activity, and do not realize the possible outcome. Becoming pregnant as a teen is very detrimental to one's education, in the fact that they may have to leave school, lose friends, and become an outcast

Teen pregnancy prevention is one of the most controversial subjects in today’s society. Many will argue that peer pressure and the area you live in are contributing factors to most adolescent pregnancies. No matter what geographic location you reside in, the problem is usually in the home, in the school system, and the cost of contraception and the barriers in obtaining it. The biggest predicament regarding the issue of adolescent pregnancy is the question of prevention. Preventing teen pregnancy includes problems such as the availability of birth control, sexual education among children and adolescents, and parental involvement.

According to the CDC (2017), the teen pregnancy rate in the United States is substantially higher than in other western industrialized nations. In addition, childbearing adolescents are less likely to finish high school, more likely to rely on public assistance, more likely to be poor as adults, and more likely to have children similarly affected, which consequentially affects the parents themselves, their children, and society (U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Adolescent Health [USHHS/OAH], 2014). Alarming statistics and factual information like this clearly indicate that there is a serious issue for the nation to address. Therefore, an excellent point that was mentioned, and one that I would like to expand upon is

About 727,000 U.S. teenage girls (12,000 of them younger than 15)-an estimated 20 percent of those who had sexual intercourse-became pregnan in the most recently reported year. Three factors heighten the incidence of adolescent pregnancy: effective sex education reaches too few teenagers, convient, low-cost contraceptive services for adolescents are scarce, and many families live in poverty, which encourages young people to take risks without considering the future implications of their behavior. Teenage parents are much more likely to be poor than those that choose to postpone parenthood. The lives of expectant teens, already troubled in many ways, tend to worsen in several aspects after the baby is born. Education is harder to attain, only about 70

Every young girl who is sexually active is at risk for teen pregnancy. Children of teen parents are very likely to become teen parents themselves, this shows higher correlation in places of poverty and low income families. Unplanned teen pregnancy is more than just an unexpected expense than to just the parents, it is an expense to society. In America according to the National campaign, each year 9.4 billion dollars in taxpayer money is spent on teenage childbearing assistance. (2016). These costs include many things for both the child and the parents needs as well. The norms, values and beliefs of families also play a large role in the current social issue. Some families who were teen mothers themselves might be more or less educating to their child based on their experience. Also a large factor is that some religions do not believe in birth control or sex before marriage, therefor the parents of the children do not allow them to take contraceptives and then they accidentally get pregnant.

In 2012, there were 29.4 births for every 1,000 females ranging from the age 15-19. This is 305,420 babies total born to females in this age group. Eighty-nine percent of these births occurred outside of marriage. The 2012 teen birth rate shows a decline of six percent from 2011 when the birth rate was 31.3 per 1,000 girls. The teen birth rate has declined pretty steadily over the past 20 years. In 1991, the teen birth rate in the U.S. was 61.8 births for every 1,000 teenage girls, compared with 29.4 births for every 1,000 females in 2012 that’s pretty good. The U.S. teen birth rate is still higher than that of many other developed countries, including Canada and the United Kingdom. Although the teenage pregnancy numbers are decreasing,

For example, a guy and girl are in a bedroom, and the guy does not follow the instructions on the back of the condom package, or a girl forgets to require her boyfriend to wear a condom. Perhaps a way to approach the problem is to ask, Why do teen girls get pregnant and what are the effects? Although the reasons for teenage pregnancy are not easy to identify, the effects of teen pregnancy are clear.

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.

"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.