Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Effects on teen pregnancy
The negative effects of teen pregnancy
Effects on teen pregnancy
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Effects on teen pregnancy
Are you a teenager and pregnant? If you’re not, then you’re saved, right? Wrong! Teen pregnancy affects society as a whole; this social issue has a domino effect on everyone. Teenage pregnancy greatly effects teens emotionally, socially and financially. However, many people think the effects of teen pregnancy are only experienced directly by the teens having a child at a young age. What society might not be aware of is that teen pregnancy is a bigger issue than just kids having kids of their own. This issue occurring in our society affects taxpayer’s tremendously. Not only does teen pregnancy affect society financially, but also it creates Intergenerational issues. The solution to this social issue is parents teaching their children at a young …show more content…
Many teens don’t realize how much money it actually cost to raise a baby. And in many cases, teen parents don’t finish school or are still in school, which ultimately realistically can’t get a well-paid job. Studies have shown that just the first year raising a baby cost between $10,000-12,500, and as the child grows the expenses only increase each year. The amount of money a child requires does not equate to the minimum wage jobs teens are able to acquire. The financial strain can affect both the child and the teen parent. The child can be deprived and the mother may not be able to provide the resources to raise a healthy child and also feed herself. Along with the emotional stress, troubling finances are another of the top factors why teen parents drop out of high school. The financial aspect to the issue many times forces teens to leave school to seek jobs and find a source of income. For teens that are fortunate enough to have their parent 's support it can also put a strain on their parents finances. The overall issue of teen pregnancy can cause financial hard ache for everyone including, parents of teens, the teen parents themselves, and even
Teenagers who become mothers have harsh prospects for the future. Teenagers obtaining abortions are 20% and girls under 15 accounts for 1.2%. They are much more likely to leave of school; receive insufficient prenatal care; rely on public assistance to raise a child; develop health problems; or en...
With this issue the teens tend to earn less money than those who have graduated and have went to college. This causes the children of the teen parent’s to struggle to keep up with their school peers. Teen mothers face the struggle of earning less money than those who waited to have their babies at a later time. It is found that teen mom’s, who have had babies at the age of seventeen or younger, make twenty-eight thousand dollars less after fifteen years of giving birth. In the next generation, the daughters of the teen mothers are three times more likely to become teen mothers themselves. Also in this generation, only forty percent of teen mothers who give birth at the age of seventeen or earlier actually finish high school; and twenty three percent of the younger moms go on to retain a GED ( A Baby Changes Everything: The True Cost of Teen Pregnancy’s
The amount of babies born from unplanned teenage pregnancies or out of wedlock is astounding. “If you are a boy,” you are “twice as likely to end up in prison as the sons of mothers aged 20 and 21. If you are a girl, you are three times as likely to become a teen mother yourself compared to mothers who had a child at age 20 or 21.” (Marcus, Ruth). “Statistics for teenage mothers themselves are similarly daunting. Only half obtain a high school diploma by age 22 compared to 89 percent of women who did not give birth as teenagers. Less than 2 percent of mothers who give birth before age 18 obtain college degrees by age 30. Half live below the poverty line -- and as their children grow older, the family 's chances of living in poverty increase” (Marcus,
Being a parent at an early age makes lives of those teens and also their parents a struggle. Dreams of a great future goes down the drain and saving money for clothes and those one shoes you wanted, does also. Most parents already realize what all comes with taking care of a baby by experience however, when their child becomes pregnant as a teen, life is filled with so much disappointment. Expenses of a baby are extremely high and many of the parents of the pregnant teens have to help financially. The average cost of caring for a child in its first year of life is $10,158 (Rivera). When taking care of a baby you have to deal with the cost of formula, baby wipes, diapers, clothing and housing plus the things you need to take care of yourself comfortably adds up, which pregnant teens than rely on their parents for their assistance to take care of the baby. Than the parents who can’t afford another responsibility began to stress witch than stresses out the teens. Two out of three teen mothers never graduate from high school. Education is extremely important and without one, many teens will not get far. Without and education, it’s harder to get a job that will pay what is needed to support a family. According to many a baby born now will cost a middle-class family $170,460 to raise through age 17. Many teens are not in the right place in their career, if they
Teen pregnancy is affecting the graduation rate in high schools. “Approximately 1,000 high school students will drop out with each hour that passes in a school day in America” (National Women’s Law Center, 2007). Teen pregnancy first came into view in the 1950’s. In different states teens that were pregnant were not allowed to attend school, most of them had to switch schools out of state in order to attend. Teenage pregnancy was normal in previous centuries and common in developed countries in the twentieth century. As higher education became available to women, they began to start their families later in life. By the 1950’s, parents were encouraging their kids to stay in school and to not marry until they graduate high school so they can focus on school better. Today, any teen pregnancy is frowned upon and they are getting judged. Parents want their kids to enjoy all the benefits of higher education before they begin their families. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “in 2011, a total of 329,797 babies were born in the United States to girls between the ages of fifteen and nineteen.” Teenage pregnancy is the number on...
Negative incrimination regarding teen pregnancies are a modern perception. Before the 20th century, it was considered a norm for many women to conceive children slightly after onset of menses. As well as the obvious: they did not possess the contraceptives like there is in today’s time. It was just the ‘normal’ thing to do. Generally, the role of the young women (once they were able to produce offspring) was to find their husband and begin a family. The ages of these girls ranged from 13 to 18. The women would marry a slightly older man; usually, the men’s ages ranged from later teens (17, 18, 19) to the 20’s. “Life spans were significantly smaller in the 1800s and the sole reason for women was to procreate and support the men in their lives”
Imagine juggling the stress of graduating high school and the stress of embracing parenthood at the same time. “In 2009, six pregnant teens allowed MTV to film their pregnancies in the hopes that youngsters watching the resultant show--16 and Pregnant-- would learn from their mistakes and wait to start families” (Dockterman 1). This is the reality for many teens today. According to the March of Dimes, about three in ten teenage girls become pregnant before the age of twenty. (Slocum 1). MTV hosts many different tv shows like Teen Mom and 16 and Pregnant. In broadcasting the lifestyles of young teenage mothers, these shows also allow others to see the struggles that the young teen mothers face preparing for and caring for a baby. While many
In America, one million teenagers get pregnant every year (National Abortion Federation, 2003). Of these pregnancies, 78% are unplanned because these teenagers start having sex at a very young age and are unaware of ways to prevent pregnancies. Thirty-five percent of the pregnant teenagers chose to abort, as they fear that the consequences of the pregnancy might have significant effects on their lives. The problems that come with teenage pregnancies include dropping out of school, receiving inadequate prenatal care, developing health problems, relying on public assistance to raise a child, and probably divorcing their partners. In most states, the law allows pregnant teenagers to take their babies for adoption without consulting their parents.
Finally, some teenagers just need to work. Each year around 750,000 high school female students become pregnant, and as we all know babies add enormous stress to your pocket book.
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.
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
“In 2012, there were 29.4 births for every 1,000 adolescent females ages 15-19, or 305,420 babies born to females in this age group” (Hamilton). Teenage pregnancies were once regarded as normal. Women were once expected to be married and have a family at a young age to ensure lifelong stability. In modern times, teenage pregnancy is considered a taboo subject. MTV began a reality television show in 2009 that popularized pregnancy amongst adolescent females. There are many factors that add to the risk of becoming pregnant during adolescent years, but glamorizing the subject has shown to be the top reason.
The problem with teenage pregnancy is it requires intervention from society. This debate is from the perspective of teens, and absent from the medical, ethical, and political views on teen pregnancy. According to Jewell, Tacchi, & Donovan, (2000), teen pregnancy is not a problem for teens themselves but more of a problem for society. The large numbers of unintended pregnancies are among unmarried teens.
The concept of comprehensive social intervention has been defined as the process of identifying social problems in an attempt to eradicate them. In looking at the broad range of social characteristics and the behavior associated with teen pregnancy, it is obvious that the emphases placed on the effort to recognize and alleviate teen pregnancy can be celebrated through the effectiveness of education, family planning, and abstinence. However, the attempt to analyze and deal with the cause-and-effect relationship with teen pregnancy is an attempt in understanding the social world itself. In 2006, statistics show that there was a significant increase in teen pregnancy after a decade long decrease. The potential for understanding this increase motivates us to look beyond simple explanations for cause-and-effect behavior and to look at what interactions may be occurring between variables that result in specific behaviors or social conditions. What is it that influences behavior? In looking at teen pregnancy in the realm of the family, it is evident that a large number of family structures have evolved, or perhaps devolved, into a variety of combinations which challenge responsible parents to consistently expose their children to the role models and the types of behaviors that are important for their children to emulate as they mature. People are molded by circumstances and experiences, all of which can positively or negatively influence our behavior.
When you think of teen pregnancy, you probably think that there isn’t a positive thing you could say about it. Actually, there is one big thing people can get out of teen pregnancy, better education about sex and pregnancy. There are many things that contribute to this issue, shows like sixteen and Pregnant and Teen Mom are glamorizing teen pregnancy, which is actually a big issue and the blame should be placed on the parents and media.