Teen Pregnancy
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.
Recent statistics concerning the teen birthrates are alarming. About 560,000 teenage girls give birth each year. Almost one-sixth of all births in the United States are to teenage women. Eight in ten of these births resulted from unintended pregnancies. By the age of eighteen, one out of four teenage girls will have become pregnant.
Although the onset of pregnancy may occur in any teenager, some teens are at higher risk for unplanned pregnancy than others. Teenagers who become sexually active at an earlier age are at a greater risk primarily because young teenagers are less likely to use birth control.
African-American and Hispanic teenagers are twice as likely to give birth as are white teenagers. Whites are more likely to have abortions. Teenagers who come from poor neighborhoods and attend segregated schools are at a high risk for pregnancy. Also, teenagers who are doing poorly in school and have few plans for the future are more likely to become parents than those who are doing well and have high educational and occupational expectations. Although the rate of teenage pregnancy is higher among low- income African-Americans and Hispanics, especially those in inner city ghettoes, the number of births to teenagers is highest among white, non-poor young women who live in small cities and towns.
In addition to the question of which teenagers become pregnant, interest is shown in the social consequences of early parenthood. Adolescent parents (mostly mothers) may find that they have a "lost or limited opportunity for education." The higher a woman's level of education, the more likely she is to postpone marriage and childbearing. Adolescents with little schooling are often twice as likely as those with more education to have a baby before their twentieth birthday. Some 58% of young women in the United States who receive less than a high school education give birth by the time they are twenty years old, com...
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...on, parents and communities are continuing to discourage sexual activity, marriage, and motherhood at a young age.These recent trends, if continued, will more than likely educate the adolescent population about the risks and consequences of teenage pregnancy and reduce the incicence of teen pregnancy and childbirth altogether.
Works Cited
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Donovan, Patricia. "Falling Teen Pregnancy, Birthrates: What's Behind the Declines?" The Guttmacher Report. 1.5 (Oct. 1998); 31-34.
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Planned Parenthood Federation of America. "Pregnancy and Childbearing Among U.S. Teens." Online. Internet. 29 Mar. 1999. Available
Tunick, Barbara. "Issues in Brief: Risks and Realities of Early Childbearing Worldwide." The Guttmacher Report. (Feb. 1997); 10-14.
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...
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.
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.
The overall teen birth rate has declined by 16 percent from 1991 to 1997. “All states are recording a decline and it is the sixth year in a row that the teen birth rate has declined,” stated Donna Shalala, HHS secretary of U. S. Newswire. Although the birthrate among teens is decreasing and the percentage of teenagers who have had sexual intercourse is declining, it is a multi-fauceted problem affecting today’s youth. The government is taking in to consideration all possibilities and conditions with teen births to make an affective way to prevent it.
As times continually change, it is inevitable that statistics will change as well. For each student that fails to graduate from high school, another statistic comes about. An American epidemic that forever seems to be looming on the horizon is the issue of teenage parenting and pregnancies. According to an article pertaining to teen pregnancies compiled from teenhelp.com, the United States has been deemed the leading nation for teenage pregnancies in the Western industrialized world. Due to this statistic, it is important to evaluate what can be done to set up teenage parents for success, as well as what can be done for children born in to young families. In an article on teenage parenting compiled by Linda Mangel, it is said that nearly seventy percent of teenage mothers do not complete their secondary education, and because of this, it becomes evident that a solution is crucial. Secondary schools would benefit from considering the implementation of daycare systems in order to increase the graduation rate for teen parents.
... is the direct effect of teens and young adults not being educated on the things that come with sex and the consequences of their actions. Teens need sex education because the knowledge will give them an insight on the subject and help them think about the proper precautions to take in order to be a responsible person insuring that they use the right contraception and/or abstinence in order for them not to have children as a teen. Other factors play into why teens become pregnant as well. In the results for my interviews, parent/child relationships should be established and upheld as a relationship that is strictly parent and child. Teens who do not have a true parent/parents in their lives to care about the important thing that contribute to the child’s well being such a becoming pregnant at a young age, tend to make decisions that are not healthy in their lives.
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...
Cherry, Andrew L., Mary E. Dillon, and Douglas Rugh. Teenage pregnancy: A Global View. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2001. Print.
The high social and economic costs of teen pregnancy and child¬bearing can have short- and long-term negative consequences for teen parents, their children, and their community. Through recent research, it has been recognized that pregnancy and childbirth have a significant impact on educational outcomes of teen parents. These immediate and long-lasting effects continue for teen parents and their children even after adjusting for the factors that increased the teen’s risk for pregnancy—e.g., growing up in poverty, having parents with low levels of education, growing up in a single-parent family, and having low attachment to and performance in school.
"Facts on American Teens' Sexual and Reproductive Health." Guttmacher Institute: Home Page. 2009. Web. 31 Mar. 2015.
Teen pregnancy, it’s one of the growing problems in today’s society. Teens today have more problems than ever, and in many cases the parents mistake signs of the problems for mere puberty phase. Beginning problem, which often trigger the others, seem to be families. Deeply religious families are most often heavily strict, and that prevents the teenagers to be informed about real life and what are they getting into. When that kind of person gets in a situation where his or her peers are more experienced then them, the outcome is a pressure. During the puberty the teenagers, especially males, are having problems with controlling their needs. It is easy to get pregnant for today’s teenagers, because they face many unbearable problems.
...rograms would prefer the youth to be mature enough to understand why their bodies are important and the consequences of sexual relations. Both can prevent teen pregnancies and diseases, but it depends on the individual and their values. However, the National Library of Medicine found, through observation and research, that “there was a positive correlation between abstinence program and teen pregnancy. In fact, teens that were taught abstinence only were more likely to become pregnant than those who were taught sex education.”
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.
Hamilton, B. E., J. A. Martin, and S. J. Ventura. "Trends in Teen Pregnancy and Childbearing." The Office of Adolescent Health/OAH, 2013. Web. 17 Dec. 17.
In conclusion teen pregnancy has hard an effect on society, in many ways. Most teen pregnancies were not planned. CFOS says that about 65% of teen pregnancy's were not even discussed with their sexual partners. All of the other percentage of teen pregnancy's were not planned either, but it had been discussed with the teen's sexual partner at some point in time. Most teens began having sex without knowing the consequences. Teenagers need to take responsibility and remember to keep safe, because there are various ways to prevent teen pregnancy, for example abstinence, sex education, and various types of birth control; because these methods are available children should not be brought into this world mistakenly.