The Risks Of Teenage Birth Rates In Teens

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

The end result of pregnant teen moms causes graduation rates to decrease. Only about two-thirds of children born to teen mothers earn a high school diploma, compared to

High School dropout rates have been a problem since the word high school became a term. To begin, a study researched by Education Week, Rumberger interprets “...The nation 's leading education periodical estimates that 1.3 million students from the high school class of 2010 failed to graduate” (Rumberger 61). Taking those findings you can go a step further and narrow the field to one of the causes of dropout rates, which is teen pregnancy. By focusing on teen pregnancy your able to narrow down the field of research and solve one problem at a time. According to Rumberger “...68 percent of young women who had a child by age eighteen had completed high school by age twenty – two compared to 94 percent of young women who did not experience a teen birth” (1294). These numbers can translate into discovering solutions to fix the dropout rates of pregnant teenagers. Discovering the needs of pregnant teenagers and teen mothers will lead to an understanding evolving into solutions to prevent pregnant teens from dropping out of high school. Allowing for the increase of female graduates. Fixing one problem of high school dropouts allows for other possibilities in other areas. Therefore, by developing after school programs with counseling, along with programs to prepare for the future and to provide child care services for single mothers the numbers will increase of students finishing high school.

One major problem in America’s society today is teen pregnancy rates. In fact, “teen sexual activity, pregnancy, and childbearing are associated with substantial social, economic, and health costs” (Sedgwick). However, this problem is not one without a solution. The rise of teen pregnancy rates can be prevented and reversed by providing better access to birth control for teens, eliminating the negative connotation that accompanies abstinence, and implementing more efficient sex education in public schools.

Based on the readily available images broadcast from films, MTV and other mass media, one might assume that the teen pregnancy epidemic is on the rise. In one respect, this health risk condition has rarely been more culturally visible than it is right now. However, it does bear noting that teen pregnancy has actually been on the decline in the United States over the last two decades. According to the source provided by Sheets (2012), "from 1990 to 2008, the teen pregnancy rate decreased 42 percent (from 117 to 68 pregnancies per 1,000 teen girls)."

Teenage birth rates, defined as live births per one thousand 15-19-year-old US females, declined by 10% from 2012 to 2013 from 29.4 to 26.5. In fact, the birth rate has been on a steady decline over the past 20 years, from 61.8 in 1991 to 26.5 in 2013. Teenage pregnancy represents both a health and social inequality in our society. Specifically, teenage childbearing is a public health issue because teenage mothers are more likely to experience negative social outcomes such as dropping out of school. This is a self-reinforcing cycle, as children of teenage mothers face higher chances of poor academic achievement as well as getting pregnant or getting someone else pregnant in their teenage years (CDC). Although the overall rates of teenage pregnancy have dropped, ultimately, the variations in the rates reflect the intersecting disparities regarding race and ethnicity, income inequality, geography, and environmental factors, which in turn affect access to medical care, education, and resources.

The teenage birth rate has always been at an all-time high in the United States. In 2009, alone statics from the Disease control prevention estimated “13.5 births for every 1,000 teens” (Blue). Bringing a child into this world is a blessing, unfortunately, sometimes the timing can be off. A child is a huge responsibility sad to say not every person can handle the full-time duty of being a parent. It can get complicated when you are a mother at such a young age. For this reason, teenage girls should acquire birth control methods to prevent getting pregnant, abstinence can help teenagers from catching an std, and allow them to stay focus stopping the drop out rate of teens moms in high schools.

Teen birth rates are higher in the United States than any other country. In 2010, over 600,000 teens were impregnated; however, in following years, the number was reduced by half (Werner, 2014). These statistics show a decline in teen pregnancy; nonetheless, teen births continue to be an unsolved epidemic in the United States. There are no simple solutions to end this epidemic, as there are many contributing factors. For the United States to continue to see a reduction in teen births, Americans must remain vigilant in attacking some of the leading influences.

According to National Women’s Law Center (2014) since 1982, about 1.7 billion has been spend abstinence by federal which proved to be ineffective to reduce teenage pregnancies. One of the reason of its failing was to strictly adhere to the “abstinence education” and prohibiting from teaching teenagers about condoms and contraceptives. This policy failed to address the needs of teenagers who were sexually active or who were engaged in same-sex relationships. To address this issue, and to support adolescent sexual health promotion programs such as Teen Pregnancy Prevention Intervention (TPPI) and (PREP were implemented. The main objectives of these programs were to reduce the teenage pregnancy and to address disparities in teen pregnancy and

In the 1950s, the frequency of teenage births in the United States was already high, and since that, time has decreased, although the number of births outside marriage has increased. Thus, in 1990 the rate was 61.8 births, pregnancy rate - 116.9 per 1,000. The incidence of teenage pregnancy has decreased significantly in the 1990s. This decline is observed in all racial groups, but Teenagers, African Americans and Hispanic teens remain higher frequency compared with Americans of European and Asian origin. Guttmacher Institute, about 25% of this decline carried her share of sexual abstinence and 75% - on the effective use of contraceptives. However, in 2006 the first time in 14 years, the incidence of teenage births has increased. This would imply that the incidence rates of teenage pregnancy are also on the rise, but marked by the rise could be linked to other sources: for example, reducing the number of abortions or a decrease in the number of abortions.

Teen pregnancy rates have dropped on the United States in recent years due to decreases in sexual activity among teenagers. Even with the decreases in teen pregnancy, the United States

In the same year, the percentage of births outside marriages among teenagers aged 15-19 were as high as 94%. This assessment indicate that teenage mothers or parents to be are less likely to engage in marital actions until during, or after the end of pregnancy (hhs.org). 64% of unmarried teen mothers also become high-school dropouts, exposing themselves to the lack of job skills which will thus, lead to financial deficits (marchofdimes.org).

Almost all teen pregnancies are unplanned. According to the National Center of Health Statistics, there was 4,081 births to females under age twenty in Minnesota in the year 2010(qtd, in"Minnesota Adolescent Reproductive Health Facts"). Teen pregnancy is a huge issue in the United States and around the world. Another big reason for educating children about sex at such a young age is because of the high cost of teen pregnancy. According to an analysis by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, teen childbearing in the United States cost taxpayers (federal, state, and local) at least $9.4 billion in 2010. Health care costs and the costs to raise a child are only rising. The better we educate the children, the less unplanned pregnancies there will

"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.