Exploratory Essay On Teenage Pregnancy

Teen pregnancy falls into the category of pregnancies in girls age 19 or younger (NIH). Although statistics have shown a decrease, the number of teen pregnancy in the U.S. is still relatively high compared to the rest of the world. Sexual health is one of the top priorities in early adolescence health in the United States. Consequences of having sex at a young age generally results in unsafe sex practices. The consequences can be due to the lack of knowledge about sex education, and access to birth control/contraception (NIH, 2005). Due to the lack of knowledge and access to birth control, adolescents involve in risk taking when they start to explore sexual intimate relationships.

In the 1960s and early 1970s, more unmarried women who became pregnant decided not to get married. As more teenage mothers remained single, public concern increased. Teen pregnancies were, often presented as a medical problem to be, treated with more access to clinics, birth control and abortion. There was a shift from viewing teen pregnancy as a moral problem to that of seeing it as a psychological or health problem (Adams, 1997).

Teenage pregnancy has long been acknowledged as an important health, social and economic problem in the United States, one that creates hardships for women and families and threatens the health and well-being of women and their infants. Unintended pregnancies span across age, race and religion, with a specific negative impact among the teenage population. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC, 2016) In 2015, a total of 229,715 babies were born to women aged 15–19 years, for a birth rate of 22.3 per 1,000 women in this age group. Birth rates are also higher among Hispanic and African American adolescents than any other race. In 2014, Hispanic adolescent females ages 15-19 had the highest birth rate of 38 births per 1,000

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.

Teen pregnancy is a major problem in the United States. There are significantly more teenage pregnancies in the United States than all other developing countries (Cleo & Moore, 1995). According to The Complete and Authoritative Guide: Caring for Your Teenager, out of every five women under twenty, two will become pregnant. Teen pregnancy rates have increased 23% from 1972 to 1990 (Napier, 1997) In order to come to a solution it is important to examine why teenage pregnancy is so high in the United States. When analyzing teen pregnancy, an effective way to get to the root of the problem is using the critical component of the sociological imagination. Critically, the two most prevalent ways to look at teen pregnancy are through a

Societal norms discourage sexual behavior in teenagers, however, it is found that many high school students have had sex; and many times, there are no types of contraception used. According to Mollborn (2017), it is found that 1 in 7 of these teenage girls become mothers. Teenage pregnancy has many negative lifelong implications. When a teenager becomes pregnant they are forced to make some very tough choices, and no matter which decision they make about the outcome of their pregnancy, their life will be changed forever. There is a domino effect that takes place when a teen becomes pregnant. The father of the baby, the parents and families of the two who created the situation, as well as their friends will feel the repercussions. Even

"One might say that reality television began in 1948 with Allen Funt's Candid Camera, which featured the filming of real people as they reacted to annoying situations concocted by the show's creators." (Maasik and Solomon) Next PBS launched reality television shows, followed by MTV. Today a popular reality television show is 16 and Pregnant. It is an American reality television show that aired since 2009. This reality television show portrays the stories of high school teenage pregnant girls and the challenges that they go through. Each episode in the series shows a different teenage girl when she about halfway through her pregnancy. When the baby is about three to four months old the episode ends. According to critics, some say that it

Although there is the reported statistical decline, adolescent pregnancy still remains an issue in both developed and developing regions of the world in the twenty-first century. However, what seems to be lacking is the overview of adolescent pregnancy issue rather than looking for solutions to prevent such a concept. Therefore, the objective of this assignment will look at the key behavioral, cultural, and environmental risk factors. Certain risk factors include:

Teenage pregnancy is a hot-button issue in the United States that has lured the attention of citizens for many years. Since its peak in 1990, teen pregnancy has declined significantly, but is still held as the center for much controversy, especially with recent reality television shows that many claim are “glorifying” teenage pregnancy (The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, 2014; Henson, 2011). Although numbers of pregnant teens are down, certain areas continue to struggle with this issue, and are seeking new ways to get the message across. This case study focuses on a series of print and transportation advertisements that were distributed in Milwaukee and Chicago from approximately 2009 through 2013 (Murray, 2013). The following study also showcases the stigmas surrounding the ads and links relevant coursework from chapters two, three, and four via the campaign’s choice of tactics.

Most people say that your teenage years are supposed to be the best years of your life; Finding your place in this world, mostly carefree (with the exceptions of homework and parents), and most of all, having the least amount of responsibilities you will have before you reach adulthood. Sadly, some teens do not get to live this luxury. Many girls in this generation become mothers while they are still considered children. There are approximately 1.3 million homeless teens living in the United States right now. Out of the 1.3 million, 6-22% are pregnant girls (Finzel, 2016). If you do the math, that is nearly 78,000-286,000 pregnant girls who are homeless right now. I chose to write about this topic because I have witnessed many friends, and community members become pregnant at a young age. With government funded programs that help teen mothers learn safe sex methods, and family counseling for distressed mothers and teens, the rate of teen pregnancy would be reduced.

Each year approximately 750,000 adolescents (ages 15-19) in the United States will become pregnant and about 400,000 of those adolescents will give birth. Out of all the developed nations in the world, the United States has the highest incidence of teen pregnancy. Although there has been a decline in the number of pregnancies among adolescents, teen pregnancy is still a serious health concern that needs continued intervention. It is widely agreed upon that becoming pregnant at a young age has negative effects on both mother and baby in many different aspects. What are the reasons for the increased rate of teen pregnancies in the United States despite the health risks, and how can we lower it?

Most women become pregnant at some time during their life, but what if that time comes during the adolescent period in a woman’s life? Teenagers tend to take more risks than adults, whether it be with drugs, alcohol, or sex. In recent years teen pregnancy has decreased due to the fact women used to get married a lot younger, but in recent years it seemed to have become an epidemic in the U.S. However, thanks to shows such as Teen Mom and due to sex education in schools the teen pregnancy rate has decreased even more. Teens are still having sex, but they seem to be better educated in contraceptive forms as well. However, contraceptives don’t always work which can lead to teen pregnancy.

When it comes to the topic of TV shows like “16 and Pregnant” promote or discourage teenage pregnancy, most of us will readily agree that it prevents teen pregnancy, Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of has teen pregnancy decrease over the years while airing pregnancy shows. Whereas some are convinced that teen pregnancy has declined nationale because of the program, others maintain that teen pregnancy has increased since the reality show started to air. I disagree with others views that it does promote teen pregnancy because, as recent research has shown, since teen pregnancy has aired nationwide the percentage of teen pregnancy has surprisingly gone down due to the view of the show and seeing what the young mothers have to go through and the responsibilities they have now that they are mothers.

Teenage pregnancy is a huge problem that the United States faces today. Amongst other countries the United States has the highest rates of teen pregnancy (Ayadi, Kuo, Adams &

Teenage pregnancy is one of the issues in our country today. It is a major problem because many teenagers are not aware that having a child when you’re a child yourself comes with big responsibilities. Sometimes many teenagers feel like they must be sexual active to prove a point and sometimes teenagers are even pressured by their friends or even their soul mate. Teenage pregnancy is a very big problem and more needs to be done to prevent teen pregnancy and to educate teens about its consequences.