Social Issue Of Teen Pregnancy

Teen pregnancy is an issue in United States, it is one issue that should wait until teens are married and know what they are doing with their lives. This issue came about in the early in the 1950’s – 1960’s. Teen pregnancy is a teenage girl between the ages 13-19 (girls who haven’t reached adulthood) having unwanted or wanted babies. Janet Bode once stated in her book, “Emotions run everywhere, scared, sad, disappointment and preparation for what is about to happen” (Bode 51). If we do not act now, teen pregnancy will be out the roof. Teen pregnancy needs a stop put to it no matter what, teens are still children themselves and they are still learning how to take care of themselves:

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).

assert that no social problem affecting youths has received as much attention in recent times as adolescent pregnancy. Literature shows that 13 million children are born to women under the age of 20 worldwide while 95% of the teenagers experience an unintended pregnancy. Increased Attention has finally been given to teenage pregnancy as a public health issue due to the realization of the abnormal prevalence, number of affected people, high levels of psychological distress, and high morbidity rates as well as the painfully apparent social and economic / public welfare cost of teenage childbearing and parenthood

There is presently much controversy regarding teen pregnancy, considering that many countries in the developed world experience a rise in adolescent pregnancies in spite of the fact that effective programs are installed in these areas. Teen pregnancy has been a major issue in Los Angeles in the recent years, but the fact that state authorities have been actively involved in combating the problem has generated positive results. It is probable that the struggle for abstinence and the practice of safe sex have become less important for high school students in Los Angeles in the last few years, taking into account that teen pregnancy rates have gone up significantly.

Based on the readily available images broadcast from films, MTV and other mass media, one might assume that the teen pregnancy epidemic is on the rise. In one respect, this health risk condition has rarely been more culturally visible than it is right now. However, it does bear noting that teen pregnancy has actually been on the decline in the United States over the last two decades. According to the source provided by Sheets (2012), "from 1990 to 2008, the teen pregnancy rate decreased 42 percent (from 117 to 68 pregnancies per 1,000 teen girls)."

Research has shown that since the 1990’s teen pregnancy has significantly fallen: “pregnancy rate peaked among teens ages 15-19 in 1990, at 116.8, and had fallen 44% by 2009.”4 What has contributed to this decline? The Pew Research Organization found that “While the overall share of teens using contraception at first sex has not changed significantly, the use of some forms of highly effective

An ongoing epidemic in the United Sates is teen pregnancy. In America, our society is run down by many problems. Most are caused by the older generation, but this problem has risen with the younger generation around the age of 15-19. The peak of the teen pregnancy trend started in 1990 when 60 teen girls out of 1,000 had a teen birth ("About Teen Pregnancy.”). For every 1,000 females in 2013, on average only 27 out of the 1,000 had gone through teen birth ("About Teen Pregnancy.”). Over the years, it seems that the trend is winding down and that less and less teens appear to becoming pregnant. In 2013, the teen pregnancy rate decreased by 10% since 2012 and 57% 1990 ("Teen Birth Rate | The National Campaign.”).

Teenage pregnancy is a major issue socially, economically, and emotionally. Especially in the United states where rates are astoundingly high. In "Politicians, Teen's and Birth control by Nicholas Kristof "and "Teens and Sex in Europe from the advocates for youth organization" the issues surrounding teenage pregnancy was addressed. Comparison's were shown between the US and other countries' approach toward such a delicate matter.

Teen birth rates are higher in the United States than any other country. In 2010, over 600,000 teens were impregnated; however, in following years, the number was reduced by half (Werner, 2014). These statistics show a decline in teen pregnancy; nonetheless, teen births continue to be an unsolved epidemic in the United States. There are no simple solutions to end this epidemic, as there are many contributing factors. For the United States to continue to see a reduction in teen births, Americans must remain vigilant in attacking some of the leading influences.

In the 1950s, the frequency of teenage births in the United States was already high, and since that, time has decreased, although the number of births outside marriage has increased. Thus, in 1990 the rate was 61.8 births, pregnancy rate - 116.9 per 1,000. The incidence of teenage pregnancy has decreased significantly in the 1990s. This decline is observed in all racial groups, but Teenagers, African Americans and Hispanic teens remain higher frequency compared with Americans of European and Asian origin. Guttmacher Institute, about 25% of this decline carried her share of sexual abstinence and 75% - on the effective use of contraceptives. However, in 2006 the first time in 14 years, the incidence of teenage births has increased. This would imply that the incidence rates of teenage pregnancy are also on the rise, but marked by the rise could be linked to other sources: for example, reducing the number of abortions or a decrease in the number of abortions.

Teen pregnancy rates have dropped on the United States in recent years due to decreases in sexual activity among teenagers. Even with the decreases in teen pregnancy, the United States

In the early 90’s, studies have shown that teen pregnancies occur on a regularly basis and has been severely increasing (Newsweek: Birth rates in U.S, 1991-96). As a result, this brings out a wrong impression of women to society.

"Teen pregnancy in the United States: In 2015, a total of 229,715 babies were born to women aged 15-19 years old, for a birth rate of 22.3 per 1,000 women in this age group. This is another record for U.S. teens and a drop of 8% from 2014. Although reasons for the declines are not totally clear, evidence suggests these declines are due to more teens abstaining from sexual activity, and more teens who are sexually active using birth control than in previous years. Still, the U.S. teen pregnancy rate is substantially higher than in other western industrialized nations, and racial/ethnic and geographic disparities in teen birth rates persist (cdc.gov)." As teenagers (in the United States), we are peer pressured or tempted to try new things. Some teens tend to try out drugs, and alcohol. However, some are having unprotected sex in which, is leads to having babies. This is called, teenage pregnancy. This has caused the United States to create records based off of the statistics and facts given from, researchers across the United States. In order to help prevent teenage pregnancy in the United States, teenagers must understand why, having a baby now isn’t such a smart move on their part.

The teen pregnancy rate had decreased by the maximum of about 55 percent. Most teen birth rates had also gone down about 64 percent, but yet teen pregnancies and birth rate for teenagers ages 15-19 in the U.S still remains one of the highest comparable countries. Due to parenthood, most of teen moms drop out of school. More than 50% of teen mothers never graduate to get their diploma. Sexually active teens that don’t use any type of protection has a 90 percent chance of becoming pregnant within a year, 84 percent of teen pregnancies are unplanned.