Persuasive Speech Outline On Teenage Pregnancy

Speech Outline
Topic: Teen Pregnancy
Specific Purpose: To inform Benedict College students about Teen Pregnancy
Thesis Statement: Within America, there is a teen pregnancy epidemic across all socioeconomic backgrounds, presenting commonalities as to the causes and ramifications of adolescents emerging as a growing parental population.
Introduction
Attention Getter: Nowadays, no one is astonished by the presence of pregnant or parenting teenagers. In fact we have a fascination with pregnant adolescents which is evident in the creation of “16 and Pregnant,” a MTV series that follows the real-life stories of American youth who have engaged in sexual activity and who have realized that reproduction system works because they are or will be parents to a cute baby boy or girl. We watch this series in anticipation of the child’s birth and to witness how the teen parents cope.
Credibility Material: According

to The Kaiser Foundation, more than four in 10 young women become pregnant at least once before they reach the age of 20 – nearly one million a year.
Thesis: Today I will inform everyone present about the reality of teen pregnancy.
Preview Statement: First, I will discuss the causes of teen pregnancies, the effects of initiating sexual intercourse in adolescence, and the need for greater awareness about birth control options to decrease teen pregnancies in America.
Transition: Let’s begin with reflection of the causes of their pregnancies.
Body
Main Point I: Teen pregnancy is based upon many adaptations such as; lack of birth control, absent parents, a desire to feel love, and peer pressure. Most young mothers who did not have any intentions to get pregnant ended up with a child because they did not use birth control because they had no clue they could get pregnant the first time they had sex, during the time of the month or when they thought they were sterile. The lack of education about birth control is why 46% of male and 33% of female are sexually experienced because they do not receive formal instruction about contraception before they first have sex. Normally about, one in four adolescents aged 15-19 (23% of females and 28% of males) received abstinence education without receiving any instruction about birth control between 2006 and 2008. Teens who are aged 18–19, 41% report that they know little or nothing about condoms and 75% say they know little or nothing about the contraceptive pill. Between 2006 and 2008, about one-third of teens whose aged 15–19 had not received any formal instruction about contraception; fewer males received this instruction than females (62% vs. 70%). In the absence of this education, misinformation runs rampant- teens who think you can't get pregnant your first time, or when you're on your period, or if you do it in water, etc., and even when they do use contraception, without proper instruction, they are more likely to use it wrong. Teen girls are more likely to get pregnant if they have limited or no guidance from their parents. Many parents have busy lives that prevent them from providing the guidance and support that their young teenagers need to make good decisions on things like sex. When a teen does not feel that she can talk to her parents about sex, it’s either because they forbid the sex talk or because they are not around, she will then more likely turn to friends for direction on whether or not to have sex, resulting in misinformation and possible teen pregnancy. The desire to feel love by another person other than family can be a cause for an unexpected pregnancy, because many teens begin having low self-esteem and can be looking for compassion inside of the bedroom. They let the pleasure take over their mind, body, and soul and then forget about protection. During adolescence, most teenagers feel pressured to make friends and fit in with their peers or other surroundings. Many times teens let their friends influence their decision to have sex even when they do not fully understand the consequences associated with the act. Teenagers have sex as a way to appear cool or sophisticated, but in some cases the end result is an unplanned teen pregnancy. The Kaiser Family Foundation states that more than 29 percent of pregnant teens reported that they felt pressured to have sex, and 33 percent of pregnant teens stated that they felt that they were not ready for a sexual relationship, but proceeded anyway because they feared ridicule or rejection.
Transition: Not only does it produce causes but it also has effects.
Main Point II: The effects of teenage pregnancy can be life changing due to the two major effects; abortion and adoption.

Teenage girls are ten times more likely to attempt suicide if they have had an abortion in the last six months. Most young mothers who abort are more likely to develop psychological problems and a clinical depression problem. In a study of teenage abortion patients, half of them suffered a horrifying psychosocial functioning within 7 months after the abortion. The immediate impact appeared to be greater on the patients who were under 17 years of age than for those with previous psychosocial problems. Symptoms included: self-reproach, depression, social regression, withdrawal, obsession with need to become pregnant again, and hasty marriages. Usually most teen mothers place their child up for adoption. Some place their child up for adoption because they know that they do not quite have what it takes to shape a child in a stable environment so they give others the opportunity to give the child a better living because they also maybe lacking

support.
Depression can be a main issue throughout the pregnancy of a teenager because she has to mature and worry about whether or not the father will take care of his responsibilities. As the teen mother begin developing into a more matured level she realizes she has no time for friends, shopping, gossiping and etc. Now that she has come about the little kid things she used to do she starts making changes and notices that her life begins to shift, because she has responsibilities now that she has to take care of and provide for. When it comes to teenage pregnancy guys just look for the pleasure and not on the outcome of becoming a teenage father. After realizing that high school days and kicking it with your friends will not quite be the same because of the baby that’s coming your way, the teen father disappears. Raising a child as a teen is known to be difficult but raising a child on your own as a teen is impossible.
Transition: Another perplexing problem for the teen mother is depression.
Main Point III: When it comes to preventing teen pregnancy I would highly recommend sex education not only at home but at school as well. Abstinence would be another suggestion because if you just wait until marriage you would not have to spend you teenage years regretting everything. Comprehensive sex education may help reduce teen pregnancies without increasing levels of sexual intercourse or sexually transmitted diseases. But, researchers found that teens who received comprehensive sex education were 60 percent less likely to get pregnant or to get someone pregnant than those who received no sex education. Abstinence is known to prevent pregnancy because it keeps sperm out the vagina and gives you the opportunity to explore options with your mind and not your body. Sex education programs focus on two main points: abstinence only in education and abstinence plus education. Abstinence only teaches that abstaining from sexual activity is the only truly effective way to prevent unintended pregnancy. Abstinence plus education focuses on delaying the initiation of sexual activity and recommends the use of contraception if a teen is sexually active.
Transition: Probably, the teen mother agonizes over how her pregnancy could have been prevented.
Conclusion: Teen pregnancy can be stressful and exhausting. The teen mother must struggle to overcome guilt for the causes of her pregnancy, she must endure the effects of the pregnancy, she must overcome depression, and she must cope with her lack of knowledge of prevention of her pregnancy. However, with the help and support of friends and family the teen mother and baby will survive and will overcome all of the difficult adjustments.