High teenage pregnancy rates in the Pacific region, due to high sexual activity amongst teens and low contraception usage, are a major social problem facing the governments of Pacific island nations. Teenage pregnancy is defined as number of births to girls from the ages of 15 to 19. The three major factors that contribute to high teenage pregnancy rates in the Pacific are socio-cultural factors, lack of education on sexual health and inadequate sexual health and reproductive services (SHRS) with poorly trained staff. The Fiji government has been proactive in attempting to reduce the teenage pregnancy rates through collaboration with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other national governments to educate teenagers about sexual health and increase the coverage and quality of SHRS.
The teenage fertility rate in the Pacific is about 50 pregnancies per 1,000 teenage women but that figure varies amongst the regions with Micronesia having the highest rate of 63, Melansia about 50 and Polynesia 39 pregnancies per 1,000 teenage women (UNPFA new site). For individual countries it varies from a very high 127 per 1,000 in the Marshall Island to 20 per 1,000 in New Caledonia (UNFPA). Teenage pregnancies account for 10% of all pregnancies in the Pacific (print article). In the Pacific, adolescent sexual activity is common with up to 65% of girls and 72% of boys aged 15 to 19 have ever had sex (BMC). Contraceptive prevalence rates are low with a rate of 29% in reporting countries and due to social stigmas that will be discussed later in the paper, it can be assumed that the contraceptive prevalence rate is even lower for unmarried adolescents. High rates of adolescent sexual activity, coupled with low rates of birth control use have ...
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...o incorporate the adolescent’s immediate environment such as parents, teachers, community leaders and health providers, as well as their broader environment of policies, legislation, mass media and social media in the sexual and reproductive health process. “The importance of these enabling environments was set out at the recent Pacific Conference of Parliamentarians on Population Development…which culminated in the Moana Declaration”(UNFPA big article, 19). The Moana Declaration reinforces many of the strategies that the Fiji government is implementing to reduce teenage pregnancy such as ensuring access to SHRS for all people in all geographic regions, the incorporating sexual and reproductive health issues in development strategies, increasing the involvement of women and young people in decision-making processes and the elimination of violence against women.
Teen pregnancy is one of the many recurring themes that continue to be a problem in the African American community. This project will document the reasons why African Americans become teen parents, I will get to the root of why African Americans are teen parents. This is a problem in the African American community because we are perceived to be a race that has a variety of negative stereotypes behind it. These stereotypes sometimes stem from things that actually happen in the community such as teen pregnancy, as well as people’s perception of African Americans. Society is affected by teen pregnancy in the black community by there not being more African Americans furthering their education through college and in some cases through high school due to responsibilities that comes with raising a child, as well as the children of teen parents having behavioral issues and social disabilities. Children of teen parents are likely to have children as teens (Healthy Teen Network, 2006). According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (2014) only 40 percent of teen mothers finish high school, and fewer than 2 percent actually finish college by age 30.
The history in a family can influence many generations. Certain families have stereotypes about them based on family history. This is a real world situation; the movie The Pregnancy Project, stereotypes about teen pregnancy where shown, and how they affect people. In the Pregnancy Project, the use of Gabi’s background influenced people’s reactions because her family has a history of teen pregnancy.
The birth rate among teens in the United States has declined 9% from 2009 to 2010, a historic low among all racial and ethnic groups, with the least being born in 2010; and in 2011 the number of babies born to adolescents aged 15-19 years of age was 329,797 (“Birth Rates for U.S.”, 2012). Although the decline in unwanted and unplanned teen births is on the rise the United States continues to be among the highest of industrialized countries facing this problem. This is a prevailing social concern because of the health risks to these young mothers as well as their babies. Teens at higher risk of becoming pregnant are raised at or below the poverty level by single parents; live in environments that cause high levels of stress (i.e., divorce, sexual psychological and physical abuse); are influenced by peers or family members that are sexually active; and lack parental guidance that would direct them to be responsible and self-controlled.
Studies show that between 2006 and 2011 there was an average drop of about 30% of teen pregnancies and 50% of teens involved in any kind of sexual activity (not just intercourse) in America. According to a recent study as of 2008, teen birth rates in the U.S., (which have been declining for tw...
America has one of the largest pregnancy rates in teens in the whole world (“Sexuality, Contraception, and the Media”). Pregnant teens have to make many hard choices. They must decided to keep the baby or not., and to continue on with school. or not. Teens moms can lose everything they’ve worked for after one bad decision. Sex is in teens lives because of media influence.
The focal point of this report is the Victorian Health and Wellbeing plan 2015 – 2019, created by the Victorian State Government after the imminent success of the original Victorian Health and Wellbeing plan allying the years of 2011 – 2015. The plan shares the ambitions of the World Health Organisation’s Global action plan on prevention and control of non-communicable disease. These ambitions of the distinct plan are “to reduce modifiable risk-factors and underlying social determinants by creating equitable health-promoting environments while aiming to strengthen and orient health systems for disease prevention and control through people-centred healthcare” (Department of Health, 2015). The report will tackle the priority area of Improving Sexual Health and Reproductive Health along with major components of the priority area such as the determinants of health and the at-risk groups affected by such an alteration. The determinants discussed are both biological and social, the biological; sex, the social; the social gradient, education and social support. The at-risk groups influenced by the priority area are; adolescents, pregnant women and new born children.
It has been said that teens across the world have not been receiving enough sex education. This has led to many issues with teens becoming pregnant, which most of the time is unanticipated. Teenage pregnancy has been a social problem throughout the world for a number of decades now. Many studies have been completed in several countries that pertain to the amount of teens and the types of teens who are becoming pregnant. Rates among teens had been declining for some time, but are starting to take a turn and increase. This is still a significant social problem, though some people do not perceive it like it is.
Although the rate of teenage pregnancy in the United States has declined greatly within the past few years, it is still an enormous problem that needs to be addressed. These rates are still higher in the 1990's than they were only a decade ago. The United State's teenage birthrate exceeds that of most other industrialized nations, even though American teenagers are no more sexually active than teenagers are in Canada or Europe.
The rise of the teen pregnancy rate has caused us to question the effectiveness of the prevention programs that are offered to adolescents. There have been several programs focused on preventing teen pregnancy from abstinence-only to more comprehensive sexual education programs. Abstinent-only advocates believe that abstaining from having intercourse is the only way to prevent unwanted teen pregnancy. While practicing abstinence is the only 100% secure method of reducing this rate, it is not a logical view. Adolescents will continue to have sexual behavior, and it is important in teaching them more precise education when it comes to sex education. With-holding important information and facts about sexual behavior can change an adolescents’ life forever. Whether it be from teen pregnancy or from a life threatening STD.
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by the removal or expulsion of a fetus or embryo from the uterus before viability (dictionary.com). Those who disagree with abortion think that this is not right, mid evil and a form of murder. All of those thoughts are correct; abortion is the act of removing a fetus from the protection of the mother’s uterus. However, is it not the duty of the mother to protect her unborn child? In this day in age, we are still allowing this barbaric method of ending a pregnancy to happen despite the many alternatives. If an unexpected pregnancy should occur, abortion should not the only option. There are many reasons why abortion should not be illegal in all parts of the world, and people need to know the options available. Adoption is certainly a strong option in a world wanting for children. Abortion is not a method of birth control and people need to be educated on pregnancy prevention and take on some responsibilities.
How much sexual knowledge adults should give to adolescents has been discussed for decades to decrease teenage pregnancy and sex related diseases. According to The National Campaign to prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy (2013), the U.S. has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy among developed countries, and about sixty eight girls per thousand became pregnant in 2008. To change this situation, the U.S. provides two kinds of sex education: abstinence-only sex education and comprehensive sex education. In contrast, Japan has one of the lowest rates among developed countries. Summing up the birth and abortion dates, at least 34,220 girls became pregnant in 2011 (Japanese Ministry of Health, 2011). Even though Japan has less teen pregnancy, lack of practical sexual knowledge has caused several tragic incidents in recent years. To give sexual knowledge to children, Japan provides fact-based sex education. Moreover, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are becoming serious problem recently. According to World Health Organization, 490 million people get STIs yearly (2013). To avoid teen pregnancy and STIs, sex education plays an important role for adolescents. However, because there are several programs, what adolescents learn is different depending on the kinds of sex education. Among the three kinds of programs provided in the U.S and Japan, comprehensive sex education is the most effective one. This paper focuses on the sex educations in the U.S and Japan and describes their features and effectiveness.
High school years are supposed to be a time for fun and exciting events in every adolescent's life. There are parties, ball games, and local after school hangout joints where we can meet. All combined to making high school the most memorable years of any teenage girl?s life. However, my experience in high school took an uneventful turn in tenth grade. My carefree ways had to end and a new wave of responsibility was presented to me. I found out that I was two months pregnant. My thoughts tugged at my conscience, how was I to tell the father of my unborn child? Would my mother support my decision? I had to forget about my partying ways and hanging with my friends. My freedom days of coming and going were about to be over and I quickly became the girl about whom everyone was talking.
To start this off, conception is the action of conceiving a child, and pregnancy is the period from conception to birth. They both share the same meaning: the process of getting pregnant. Conception happens when a sperm penetrates on one of the female’s eggs. Then, at around day 14 of a 28 day cycle, the egg leaves the ovary, and it is surrounded by a protective layer of cells. The fallopian tube is lined with cilia, which helps move the egg towards the womb. This is called ovulation. In the next 12-24 hours, the egg waits to be fertilized by a single sperm. The sperm then swims through the womb to meet the egg in the fallopian tube. And the sperm secretes enzymes to help penetrate the outer layer of the egg. Once the
In society today, teens are taught by the television and the media that pre-marital sex is not a bad thing. This problem is leading to many teenage pregnancies, that then lead to abortion. All over the world teens are faced with many challenges in their everyday lives. Sex is being portrayed as extremely appealing in the media, but what they don't show is the pregnancies and the unborn child that never asked to be created in the first place that is being discarded. Abortion is in no way acceptable, it is murder of an unborn child.
Since the 1970s, many countries in the world the problem of adolescent sexuality and first sexual experience at young age appeared. To make matters worse, the trend of adolescent pregnancy became increasingly serious. From the fact sheet of World Health Organization, there are about 16 million adolescent girls giving birth every year – most in low- and middle-income countries. Among them, an estimated three million girls aged 15-19 undergo unsafe abortions every year. In low- and middle-income countries, over 30% of girls marry before they are 18 years of age; around 14% before the age of 15 and complications from pregnancy and childbirth are a leading cause of death among girls aged 15-19 years.