Controlling the Issue of Teen Pregnancy

“The national Hispanic teenage pregnancy rate is twice that of non-Hispanic whites, and in California, Hispanic adolescents are four times more likely than whites to become parents”. (guttmacher.org, 2004) . This rapid growth in Hispanic population and high rate of teen pregnancies is putting pressure on the educational and health care systems to address the needs of Hispanics. Many young Latina/Hispanic girls face discrimination, poverty, and limited access to healthcare and most importantly cultural challenges, which can place them at a high risk for unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. Thus there is a clear need for teenage pregnancy

Teenage pregnancy has been viewed as an issue for many years, not only for teenage mothers but for babies as well. Much importance has been placed on this subject for the reason that although these rates are declining, they remain elevated. The United States represents over 600,000 American teen pregnancies every year, making this the highest rate in the industrialized world (Steinberg, 2017). Unfortunately, ethnic minorities in the United States have a predisposition to the many social, educational and economic disadvantages that in fact shape adolescent sexual behavior and lead to the decision of adolescent motherhood. This paper will illustrate teenage pregnancy rates over the last few years, the factors that impact teen pregnancy, contraception and the likelihood of teen pregnancies across different ethnic groups.

Each year around 90,000 adolescents become pregnant in the United States. Around 51% of adolescents pregnancies end in live births, 35% end up in induced abortions, and 14% result in miscarriage or stillbirth (Frick, 2007). Historically, the highest teen pregnancy rates in the United States were during the 1950’s and 1960’s before the legalization of abortion and the development of many the current forms of contraception(Frick, 2007). Rates enlarged steadily until 1991; since then, the birth rate among teenagers has decreased 35% for 15-17 year olds(Frick, 2007). Three in 10 teen American girls will get pregnant at least once before age 20. That is nearly 750,000 teen pregnancies every year. In 2013, there were 26.6 births for every 1,000 adolescent females ages 15-19, or 274,641 babies born to females in this age group. To prevent teen pregnancy, we should teach them abstinence, safe sex by using protection, and communication skills to discuss prevention from peer pressure.

The scourge of teen pregnancy in the United States is an ongoing social disorder that is inflicting painful costs on the polity. According to (Card, J.J., 1999), unbridled teen pregnancy results in a vicious cycle of frustrations, abuse, neglect and dependency. Compared to the average in the population, teen mothers are more probable to drop out of high school, be caught in a web of repeat pregnancies, and more probable to end up at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder. Danawi, H. et al, (2016) identified teen pregnancy in the United States as alarmingly greater than rates seen in other developed economies such as Europe and in Canada. According to Kearney & Levine (2012), U.S. female teens are twice as likely as Canadian teens to end up with unplanned and unwanted pregnancy, and about ten times as probable as Swiss teenagers. Their work also identified that disparity in teenage pregnancy rate exist across states in the United States, based on location, economic, racial and ethnic group. It noted that female teens in Mississippi are in greater danger of teen pregnancy than those living in New Hampshire, and according to Lewis T. (2014); District of Columbia has one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy in the United States.

        In recent years, teen pregnancy have declined. However, the United States is still the country that has the highest teen pregnancy rates. Although the rates have declined significantly, teen pregnancy is still a major social problem because girls are getting pregnant every day. In 2011, statistics concluded that more than  400,000 girls ages 15-19 were giving birth each year in the United States. Teen prgenancy effects the mother, father, child, and community due to emotional, phyiscal, and financial costs (Vitalsigns, 2011). Society works together to

In the past three decades, the number of infants born to teen mothers has decreased from “84.1 births per 1,000 teens aged 15–19 years in 1991 to an all-time low of 29.4 in 2012” (Cox et al.). This trend is promising for even further decline in the decades to come. However, there are things that could be done, like increasing teenagers’ awareness on safe sex, to help lower current teen pregnancy rates because even though the number of teen pregnancies has lowered overall, the United States “teen pregnancy rate remains up to seven times higher than in some developed countries” (Romero et al.). Steps need to be taken to change these statistics. While teen pregnancy is an issue in other countries besides the United States, it is not nearly as prominent. A study was completed using data from 2011, or the most recent year prior, to compare the rate of teen pregnancy among a variety of developed countries (Sedgh et al.). This study compared the number of teen pregnancies ages fifteen to nineteen among a variety of developed countries, and the United States had substantially higher rates. For every 1000 teens ages fifteen to nineteen, 57 gave birth in the United States, compared to eight in Switzerland (Sedgh et al.). Though these numbers have declined in recent years, there is more that could be done to prevent teen pregnancies, including increased

Teen pregnancy prevention is one of the most controversial subjects in today’s society. Many will argue that peer pressure and the area you live in are contributing factors to most adolescent pregnancies. No matter what geographic location you reside in, the problem is usually in the home, in the school system, and the cost of contraception and the barriers in obtaining it. The biggest predicament regarding the issue of adolescent pregnancy is the question of prevention. Preventing teen pregnancy includes problems such as the availability of birth control, sexual education among children and adolescents, and parental involvement.

Effectively preventing teenage pregnancies would not only spare the health and well being of many infants and young girls, but public costs related to this issue would decline significantly (since costs are "currently estimated at $10.9 billion" worldwide) (Hamilton, 2012). Even though global teen birth rates have been steadily decreasing over the years (as seen in figure 1), the birth rate United States still prevails as one of the highest out of all industrialized countries, as one can see in table 1 above (Hamilton, 2012). Figure 2 shows the results of a survey conducted on teens in Austin, Texas, which provides a clear indication of what specific risk factors today 's youth face when it comes to preventing pregnancies. These include, but are not limited to: a lack of access to contraception, a lack of supportive partners, and a lack of education about contraceptive use (Brazeal, 2015). All sexually active teenage girls, regardless of race, wealth, or location, are at risk for an unintended pregnancy. This intervention will hopefully aid in reducing the number of women affected by this issue.

According to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), teen birth rate in the United States (U.S.) has been continuously declined for the past 20 years, yet the U.S. is still ranked the highest in teen pregnancy when compared to other developed nations (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2016). The term teen pregnancy is denoting young females being pregnant or giving birth under the age of 20. According to the CDC, in 2015, there were 229,715 babies born to adolescent females ages between 15-19, or a total of 22.3 live births per 1,000 in this age group in the United States; almost 89% of these births were from unmarried mothers (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017). There are disparities in teen birth rates

Teenage pregnancy is a reoccurring problem within the United States. On average, nearly 750,000 American teenagers become pregnant each year. This issue needs to be solved, and there are many ways to accomplish this problem. One way is to provide birth control, without a prescription, to teenagers who are sexually active. Another way is to discontinue shows such as “16 and Pregnant,” which encourage teens to be sexually active and makes teens think pregnancy is not a major issue. More teenagers are sexually active than expected. Six out of ten women have sex as teens. Of these teens, 85% that have sex without birth control will become pregnant within one year. 82% of these pregnancies are unintended. Teenagers giving birth are more likely than adult women to experience maternal illnesses such as miscarriage, stillbirth, and death. https://www.plannedparenthood.org/files/6813/9611/7632/Reducing_Teen_Pregnancy.pdf

Teen Pregnancy is a very serious issue in America. There are many statistics and facts about teen pregnancy and how it is such a big problem in America. So, in my paper I want to talk about teen pregnancies and ways to prevent it. I want to explain that teen pregnancy is not the end of the world and that pregnant teens have a future. I want to also talk about my experience and how having a child at a young age changed my life in many different ways.

In reviewing the literature of multiple studies and reports, I found that there is significantly more data and research in regards to the problem of teen pregnancy and the associated problems that are attributed to adolescent childbearing than there are specific to the effectiveness and efficacy of second chance homes. Second chance homes help teen mothers and their children comply with welfare reform requirements under the 1996 law (Housing and Urban Development, 2016). Second chance homes can also support teen families who are homeless or currently residing in foster care (Housing and Urban Development, 2016). In addition, research has shown that over 60% of teen parents have experienced sexual and physical abuse by household member requiring the need for alternative housing options (Housing and Urban Development, 2016).

Although national teen birth rates have declined, the disparities in teen pregnancy rates still remain high, especially for Hispanic teens. With 53% of Latinas in the United States become pregnant at least once before age 20—nearly twice the national average, these girls have the highest risk of being teen moms compared to other races and ethnicities (Rocca et al., 2010). Not only that teenage childbirth can cause many harms in health and social relationships for both mom and baby, teen moms have a higher risk of discontinuing their education, being single mothers, and becoming welfare dependents. Nearly $11 billion per year was spent on teen pregnancy and childbirth due to the increased expenses in health care for teen moms and babies, the loss of incomes and tax revenues from teen moms since they are unable to work or work at low paying jobs. (National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, 2011).

Recently, there has been a great deal of controversy about abstinence education in schools. Proponents of this type of sex education insist that it is the only way to reduce the teen pregnancy rate and that including information about birth control will 'confuse' the pro-abstinence message. As a teen, I beg to differ with this simplistic characterization of how teens make decisions.

Teenage Pregnancy is society 's biggest problem, there are so many ways to prevent it, also many advices from people and many decisions a teen parent must make in life. It is today 's biggest issue because it affects teen parent 's future in many results. The three most important things that it affects is education, financial problems, and being a teenage parent. Those three important things are key to each other in order to succeed in life. Teenage Parents are most likely to struggle with these issues and the child will grow up with many different kinds of problems in their life. Most of that will cause poverty and types of drugs too in their future.