The Impure Waterwheel
Have you ever seen a watermill? Turning continuously, they are bound in an eternal cycle. Continually spinning,, the lack of purity in the United States can be compared to that watermill, a never-ending cycle that threatens to spin out of control. We must intercede. Sex out of wedlock creates dysfunctional families, and teens searching for “more” in life, who often turn to the reason they're feeling so glum, sex.
Having sex out of wedlock is a big problem in the United States that needs to stop. Strained by relationships on the verge of collapse and peer pressure, many teens turn to sex as an escape. Hardly sixteen, Jamie Lynn Spears is an excellent example of how family problems can pressure someone to do things they know they shouldn’t. Jamie Lynn’s sister, Brittany Spears, is undergoing extensive criticism from the media about her recent mental breakdown, this pressure from the paparazzi has taken its toll on Jamie Lynn’s life and she made a bad choice, as so many young people today do. With the baby, that so often follows sex out of wedlock many times a “family” is quickly formed out of girlfriends and boyfriends who think they’re “in love”. In many cases, one of the parents will leave, forming yet another dysfunctional family.
Dysfunctional families are often unloving and make childhood difficult. Wrestling with their own problems many single parents will simply hang their children out to dry. Basically neglected, children deem themselves extremely reviled and not good enough. Off this assumption of worthlessness, many young people will label or allow themselves to be labeled as “unloved”. Hated by their parents, or at least feeling they’re hated, teens will go to extensive lengths to find self-worth. While they realize they will never be able to replace their parent’s love, adolescents will always try to find meaning.
Teens will search for something “more” in life, which they never got in their childhood always. If they feel they can’t earn their parent's love young people will turn to other things to satisfy their need to be accepted. Grossly, many teens turn to drugs or alcohol to try to forget their life. Tortured by life, some people turn to popularity to appease their soul, but none of these alternatives can. Craving love, many teens turn to sex as an alternative to facing reality, or simply as a place to find the love they’ve never felt.
Auteri, Steph. “How the Push for Abstinence Until Marriage Has Affected Teen Pregnancy Rates” Sexually Smarter. Planned Parenthood of Central and Greate...
"Teen Sexuality and Pregnancy." Growing Up: Issues Affecting America's Youth. Melissa J. Doak. 2007 ed. Detroit: Gale, 2007. Information Plus Reference Series. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 24 Jan. 2011.
It has been almost thirty three years since the first federal funding was put to use in “. . . sex education programs that promote abstinence-only-until-marriage to the exclusion of all other approaches . . .” according to the article “Sex education” (2010) published by “Opposing Viewpoints in Context;” a website that specializes in covering social issues. Since then a muddy controversy has arisen over whether that is the best approach. On one hand is the traditional approach of abstinence (not having sex before marriage), and on the other is the idea that what is being done is not enough, and that there needs to be a more comprehensive approach. This entails not only warning against sex, but also teaching teens about how to have “Safe Sex” (“Sex Education,” 2010).
According to www.cdc.gov, in 2013, a total of two hundred and seventy-three thousand, one hundred and five babies were born to women fifteen to nineteen years of age. Though this is low for the typical rate of teen- child births, the U.S. teen pregnancy rate is substantially higher than in other western industrialized nations. There are many stories of teen mothers who feel like they have their lives together, and consider their stories “success stories”. What most teens don’t understand, is the difficulties of being a mother, especially at such a young age. Teen pregnancy has more negative outcomes than positive outcomes, as shown by a girl named Haley in her teen pregnancy story. The best way to prevent teen pregnancy is through information
Americans take great pride in their leadership among nations. Such a distinction becomes embarrassing however when the title is claimed for the highest teenage pregnancy rate of any developed nation with nearly one million pregnancies each year. There has been extensive research on the phenomenon of teenage pregnancy which has yielded important information about pregnancy rates and risk factors. Researchers concur that pregnancy is a time of dramatic transition. A first time pregnancy propels the mother from the status of woman to mother. While these changes are noteworthy for the adult woman confronting pregnancy, their effect is frequently magnified when the expecting mother is an adolescent. Adolescent childbearing has become a prominent social issue because of the broad social and economic consequences (Harvy, 1995).
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.
In America, a significant problem we should look at is regarding sexually active young teens. It seems that almost every teen is sexually active. They are having sex at such a early age. A question that rings in our minds, is do they truly even know what sex is? Growing up, Catholic teachings instructed myself to wait until marriage. They say premarital sex is a sin. Now, not only are churches teaching abstinence, but, schools as well. Premarital sex is a important growing problem: that usually results in a unwanted pregnancy, in some cases; forced abortion, sexually transmitted diseases, ultimate emotions of remorse. Sexual relations among teens is a problem not only for them, but possibly their children and America as a whole.
Many teens often feel as if they cannot deal with the everyday pain they may be going through. According to one source, “Some teens use alcohol or drugs to dull the pain in their lives” . . . (Look for). Another article disagrees when it writes “People take drugs just for the pleasure they believe they can bring” (Drugs). This means teens not only turn to drugs to deal with the pain in there lives, but also just for the pleasure and excitement it brings.
Three million teenagers will contract a sexually transmitted disease and one in three women will become pregnant before they are twenty years old. Teens are contracting sexually transmitted diseases and getting pregnant at an alarming rate causing the government, schools, and parents to scratch their heads. America is the country with the highest teen pregnancy rate in the world. Many are wondering what can be done to stop this. A debate has been going on about whether abstinence only education is doing any good for high school students in America. Abstinence only education teaches teenagers to abstain from all sexual acts until they are married. It does not teach about pregnancy or the different types of contraceptives that are available to prevent pregnancy. On the other hand, there is safe sex education. Safe sex education teaches teenagers facts about intercourse they need to know, acknowledges the potential consequences or risks of sexual behavior, and helps them make better decisions to protect themselves and their bodies.
The glamorous side of sex is everywhere; music, tv shows, movies and social media. To a mature adult, it is easy to ignore the sexual messages in those outlets. However, to a teenager, going through mental and physical changes and peer pressure, it is extremely easy to fall for what is shown to “cool.” Everyone has fallen for half truths to be cool in their teenage life. It just so happens that teen pregnancies and STDs are not one of those things that one can simply walk away from. Babies and STDs leave a lasting effect on everyone involved. The National Conference of State Legislatures states:
Teenage pregnancy has always been present in society. There is research stating that about half the women, born between 1900- 1910, who were interviewed were non-virginal at marriage (17 Ravoira). This contradicts some thoughts that premarital sexual behavior is something new. There was another study done in 1953, it found that one fifth of all first births to women were conceived before marriage (17 Ravoira). Even before our modern openness in discussing sexual behavior and acceptance that it does occur, it was quite routine. In earlier society, the incidence of teenage pregnancy was a moral problem. This was because people looked at the child as filius nullius (nobody's child), or illegitimate and the mother as bad, immoral, over- sexed, etc. (18 Ravoira). The child was being blamed for mearly being born, this is unfair to the child who had no fault in the matter (18 Ravoira). The real problem that was seen was the fact that the children were born out-of-wedlock. People seemed to have real difficulty accepting that the baby is still a baby no matter what conditions it was born under.
Adolescence is a time of challenge and change for both teens and parents. Teens are at a stage in life where they face a multitude of pressing decisions -- including those about friends, careers, sex, smoking, drinking, drugs and parental values. At the same time, they are confronted with profound physical, social and emotional changes.
Rates of sexually transmitted disease and teen pregnancy are higher in the United States than in any other domesticated country. Not surprising since American culture has brought sex to the forefront over the last few decades. The need for comprehensive sex education in schools can teach children that the romanticized relationships and sexual interactions in the media aren’t showing the whole story. For children with ...
Preventing teenage pregnancy has been a goal for many years now. Statistics have tried to keep up with the change in the teenage generation. Many people have different opinions on the subject of teen pregnancy, because to some people teens seem to be getting pregnant expeditiously in these times. People fail to realize that having a baby is a privilege to many people and not a problem. Many people take having a baby as a lightly. Getting pregnant and having a kid has many pros/cons. Having a child can be very hard on some people and cause them to break. When babies are brought into this world there are a lot of things to worry about. The greatest problem associated with teen pregnancy is financial instability. Most teens do not have the salary to support a child. In the prevention of teen pregnancy there are many things that are helpful. Abstinence is a for sure way of not getting pregnant. There are also other helpful ways to help prevent teen pregnancy, such as sex education and birth control. All of these things are essential in the helping to prevent teenage pregnancy.
Today in this society many teenagers are having sex and not realizing what could happened after they have done it. Parents and teachers aren’t teaching their children proper information about sex. Teenagers believe nothing can happen and that sex isn’t a probable cause. Unfortunately, there are many risks that come along with teen pregnancy many of those include a life surrounded by poverty, medical and health issues, less schooling along with more dropout rates, and lower career ambitions. Teen pregnancy has many causes such as no access to protection, wanting to tie down a guy, Missing love or attention from parents, peer pressure mixed with "trends”, and sadly teenagers most common, lack of knowledge.