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The effects of child abuse and neglect
The effects of child abuse and neglect
The effects of child abuse and neglect
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“Young women from low income families are getting pregnant at a higher rate than those from middle and upper income families,” (Development, 2008). Children who have disadvantaged childhoods tend to deal with lack of resources and horrible educational resources result in teen pregnancy. It is more common for children who live in poverty. According to Sarah K. Garwood, Division of Adolescent Medicine at Washington University et al., argues that teenagers who live in poverty with Child Protective Services (CPS) history has a higher risk of getting pregnant than children with no CPS history. In the article, they are arguing that the risk of teenage pregnancy is that the teens live in poverty, the teens have CPS history and they have been mistreated …show more content…
The authors made some great points about how poverty leads to teen pregnancy or at least it is a risk. Their points were clear and precise. Each argument that was presented had facts, data, and statistics that made them valid. The most interesting argument that the authors presented was the fact that not only was pregnancy an initial risk, repeat pregnancy was also a high risk. According to Michelle Castillo, an associate editor for CBSNews.com, this argument is a huge problem for teen girls in the United States. About one in five teenage women in the United States will get pregnant again (Castillo). When Dr. Garwood brought this argument up, I was surprised. I was surprised because these young women live in poverty, how could they afford to support another child? After reading the article, I became more intrigued by the fact that poverty, CPS history and maltreatment is a significant reason why these teenage girls are getting pregnant early. The More than Poverty: The Effect of Child Abuse & Neglect on Teen Pregnancy Risk 5 author pointed out that poverty was a big risk but not really a substantial risk. It states that, “Even children with a low income sample, females who live with a more functional caregiver (higher educational level and absolutely no record of maltreatment) during their childhood performed better in the study). This made me understand that teen pregnancy was a multifactorial problem but overall, I was impressed with the journal
To begin with, there are many common reasons why teenage pregnancy takes place. In fact, 60% of teenage mothers come from economically disadvantaged households and perform poorly in school. Alex McKay, research coordinator for the Sex Information and Education Council of Canada, explains, "Young women who feel optimistic about their future tend not to get pregnant. Young women who are starting to feel discouraged about their employment are more likely to get pregnant." Moreover, 79% of teen pregnancies happen to unmarried teen couples. The male is usually older than the female in the relationship, and pressures the girl into having unprotected sex. Girls born to teenage mothers also have a 22% higher chance of becoming teen moms themselves, for they often live in a poor environment, like their mothers once did. Significantly, those affected by teenage pregnancy have many similarities.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2014 African Americans held the highest poverty rate of 26%, with Hispanics holding the second highest rate at 24% (DeNavas-Walt & Proctor, 2015). When comparing this to the poverty rates of Whites at 10% and Asians at 12% in 2014, we see that in America, racial and ethnic minorities are more vulnerable to experiencing poverty (DeNavas-Walt & Proctor, 2015). In addition, discrimination is seen between genders among those living in poverty. Family households of a single adult are more likely to be headed by women and are also at a greater risk for poverty (DeNavas-Walt & Proctor, 2015). In 2014, 30.6% of households headed by a single woman were living below the poverty line compared to 15.7% for households headed by a single male (DeNavas-Walt & Proctor, 2015). Many factors such as poor wages for women, pregnancy associations, and the increase of single-woman parented families have impacted the increase of women in poverty. Children are most harshly affected by poverty because for them the risks are compounded, as they lack the defenses and supports needed to combat the toxicity surrounding them. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 21% of all U.S. children (73.6 million children) under 18 years old lived in poverty in 2014 (DeNavas-Walt & Proctor,
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.
Teen pregnancy is a big deal. We have seen our numbers of teen’s pregnant drop since 1991 but it is still a high number. Our numbers of teen pregnancy at times have been greater in number than other countries. We see teen pregnancy amongst people in all races, black, white, and Hispanic. Our babies are having babies. Teens are often not careful and have unprotected sex. They think they are mature enough to have sexual relations but in the end our mature enough to care for the consequences of having sex. “Low levels of parental education and income sharply increase the likelihood that a young women will become sexually active and have an unplanned child” (Macionis, 2015). That statement of research is very powerful, but not as powerful as this one, “Compared to young women who lives with both biological parents, those who live with a mother and a stepfather or in some other family arrangements have triple the odds of having a child by age nineteen” (Macionis, 2015). There are ways to prevent teen pregnancy from educating our children about ways of prevention, statistics/research, and simply just being involved with our children.
Furthermore, the Gale Student Resource Teen Pregnancy article notes that “teen pregnancy results in billions of dollars of lost tax revenue, increased healthcare and foster care costs, increased incarceration rates and more.” Point often overlooked, the financial loss teen pregnancies cause to our nation is very drastic, it’s quite astonishing many belittle its potential upshot. With this is mind, people must begin to ask themselves; why are many involved in vices, why do incarceration rates keep on rising? The answer to this cannot be summed up only in one word or activity, many factors- of which teen pregnancies are included- are involved. The rate of the neglect of children born to teen mothers is very prominent. Children who are neglected
In today 's society, there is 1 in 7 people living in poverty which is costing Canadian citizens’ money as they are paying for taxes. There are many standpoints in which people examine the ways poverty affect society such as Marx’s conflict theory. Marx’s conflict theory goes over how social stratification being inevitable and how there is a class consciousness within people in the working class. Another way that poverty is scrutinized is by feminization. Feminization is the theory that will be explored throughout this essay. Poverty will be analyzed in this essay to determine the significance of poverty on the society and the implications that are produced.
The female teen stares into the eyes of her newborn son, not realizing the type of life her and her son will have in the near future. Katrina L. Burchett excellently explicates teenage pregnancy among female adolescents living with domestic problems in her book titled Choices. The various elements that aid to the wide range of teenage pregnancies in the world should all be taken in to consideration. Getting pregnant at an adult is no longer substantial or conventional in our society. Everyday, female young adults are getting pregnant, which is why it is a social issue for the youth today.
Children having children, this is an all too familiar phrase that has become a popular adage among people in today’s society. But as popular as this phrase maybe, it does not even begin to scratch the surface that lies beneath the complex issues of teenage pregnancy. There are many adverse concerns that encompass teen pregnancy, to which society has even developed its own views upon. Concerns that develop from adolescent pregnancy can have negative impacts for teenage parents, children, and even society. According to Furstenberg, “In 1995, in his State of the Union address, President Bill Clinton singled out teenage childbearing as “our most serious social problem”. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services (n.d.), “In 2012, there were 29.4 births for every 1,000 adolescent females ages 15-19, or to simply put it an estimated 305,420 babies were born to females within this age group, which ninety eight percent of these births had taken place outside of wedlock” (See Table 1). Even though there has been a decrease in the number of teen pregnancies over the years, the number in the U.S. still ranks the highest when compared to other developed countries in the world (Deborah, n.d.). Communities everywhere need to come together to develop strategies that focuses on reducing teen pregnancies in the United States.
Although the rate of teenage pregnancy in the U.S. has declined 22 percent since 1991, it is still happening at an alarming rate. Close to one million girls between the ages of 13-19 get pregnant each year. Some may use the argument that the female reproductive system is at its prime health at around 16 years of age. That fact cannot be refuted, but is that really a good enough reason to encourage adolescents to become parents before they are emotionally and financially ready? Each year the federal government spends close to $40 billion in order to help families that result from teenage pregnancies. (The British Medical Journal) These young mothers are usually living at or below the federal poverty level, and are offered government assistance
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.
Babies are born more likely to be born premature and/or suffer low birth weight. There are a lot of problems involved with children having children. There is a higher risk of low birth rate, premature labor, and stillbirth. The problem is teenage girls are not done growing and fully maturing, there for, when they become pregnant it induces problems not only on the baby but the mother as well. *A general rule: The younger the mother, the greater risk of complications for both the mother and child. Often pregnant teenage mothers deny the fact that they are indeed pregnant, therefor ignoring the proper care that she needs for the growing baby inside of her. There are no easy answers; that’s one thing that everyone agrees on when it comes to the problem of teen pregnancy. The Center of Disease Control and prevention affirmed on June 26 what other agencies, such as the National Center for Health Statistics, have been saying over the course of this year: “The teen pregnancy rate is dropping. The number of teenage girls across the country who became pregnant fell 12 percent between 1991 and 1996. This drops affects girls, of different races and socioeconomic backgrounds, in all states. But the problem remains; The U.S. teen pregnancy rate is the highest of any industrialized countries. Babies born in the U.S. to teenager mothers are at risk for long-term problems in many major areas of life, including school failure, poverty, and physical or mental illness. The teenage mothers themselves are also at risk for these problems.
Poverty and lack of academic success contribute, there is mounting evidence that poor academic success and bad parenting lead to teen pregnancy. Babies from teen mothers usually have poor health, lower grades, and have lower cognitive tests scores (Witte 137-54). The majority of children from an unplanned pregnancy are born to unmarried women. Children raised in single parent families face more challenges; they are more likely to be poor, dropout, lower grade point average, and poor school attendance records (Brown 11-4).
Has anyone ever considered thinking about what the world is really going through? How many people don’t have the necessities in order to survive? If so, what are these people going through? Poverty is the state of one who lacks a standard or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions. Sometimes events occur that changes a person’s perspective on life. Poverty is one that can have a huge effect on not only one person, but also the people around him/her. Over half of the world is going through this tragedy and we, being the ones who created it, have the responsibility to end it.
Before successfully preventing teen pregnancies among teenage girls, there are many underlying causes and facts about the dilemma that must be first exposed. Children from homes run by teenage mothers have to face almost insurmountable obstacles in life. The incidents of depression and mental health problems, the lack of father figures, and the high rate of poverty often connected to children in homes run by teenage mothers put them at serious disadvantages when compared to children raised in nuclear families. Many people believe that the implementation of sex education in schools and the addition of more federal aid for single parents are major causes for the country's high rate of teen pregnancies. The true purpose of sex education and federal aid is to help strengthen the mother and her child so that they can eventually lead productive lives.
One of the United States’ current social problems and most discussed “hot topics” is adolescent pregnancy, otherwise known as teenage pregnancy. The majorities of teenage pregnancies are unplanned and lead to serious consequences for the parents and even possibly the child. It is important that today’s teens are well aware of the repercussions of teenage pregnancy because it is a very serious matter that can eventually lead to lifelong consequences. Even though teenage pregnancies have decreased in the past years, it is still a very prevalent issue in the United States and contributes to other current social problems such as poverty and poor education. The current cycle starts with teenage pregnancy and then leads to poor education, which leads to not many job opportunities, which leads to poverty, which can then lead to many other issues of the family like abuse and mental issues. Teenage pregnancy is so important that it is even considered one of the top six priorities of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2012). Through the studies of risk factors and data regarding teenage pregnancy, trends arise that exemplify social issues and problems that can subsequently be dealt with by various methods presented by health professionals.