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Community Education And Adolency And Teen Pregnancy

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Community education and advocacy are both important components of the work that human service professionals do with children and their families. Both types of interventions play an important role in work with this population. There are many social issues which has an impact on children and families today. Teen pregnancy is a social issue which has an impact on the teen parents as well as the family as a whole unit. As a human service professional we can assist through advocacy and community education. Each year, more than 600,000 teens become pregnant, and 3 in 10 will become pregnant before they reach age 20 (Secure et al., 2015). Rates are higher among black and Hispanic teens, with 4 in 10 becoming pregnant by 20 years of age, compared with 2 in 10 white teens (Secure et al., 2015). Even though over time the overall rate of teen pregnancy has decreased, it’s still very high and has a large impact on the teen parents as well as the families. There are long term negative effects on the teen parent which carries over long after the baby is born. Teen mothers are less likely to finish high school than their peers who are not mothers (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010). Adolescent parents are often poor relying on social services and many times as adults they are unemployed or underemployed (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010). The families who are affected by this social issue take on the responsibilities to try to overcome the negatives. However the families are now dealing

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