Taking a Look at Teen 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.

Some teens that become pregnant are still in high school or just beginning a college education. Pregnancy is a large responsibility that can intermittently be disregarded. Thus, you don’t have a choice but to be prepared for a child and the responsibility that comes with pregnancy. Not only do you have to help nurture a child and support them, it costs you a vast amount of money as well. As a teenager and still in school, having enough money to sustain you and a child on your own is very intricate. As a result, trying to finish school and accomplish future career goals is difficult with less money and a child to care for.

In recent years, teenage pregnancy has been labeled a major issue amongst teens that it can be known as an “Epidemic.” Is teenage pregnancy directly responsible for a host of society’s ills? Increasing teenage pregnancy rate translates directly into increasing rates of “school failure,” early behavioral problems, drug abuse, child abuse, depression, and crimes. Many social problems can be directly attributed to the poor choices of teenage girls.

For many years teen pregnancy has been a national social problem. Views have changed over the years as society has started to adapt to the thought of teen pregnancy. “Growing evidence suggests that pre-existing academic and economic hardships play a role in the continuing struggles of teen mothers. While 85% of young women who delay having their first child until at least twenty or twenty – one obtain a high school diploma or GED, only 63% of mothers who give birth by age seventeen do so” (Crosson- Tower p255)

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.”).

Summary: The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy wrote the article called, “Teen Pregnancy Is a Serious Problem,” stating that teen pregnancy is an issue in todays’ world. There are many negative effects of being a teen mom. In the United States, teen pregnancy is seen as being “ok” because it is normal in today’s world. Adolescents don't know how quickly a pregnancy can happen. When they asked the girls why they became pregnant they said, “It just kinda happened.” Also, many teen moms have more than one child before the age 24. A recent study

In the article “Teenage Births: Outcomes for Young Parents and their Children “the Schuyler Center touches on many important topics concerning teenage pregnancy and parenting. The foundation speaks on how teenage pregnancy is a global issue and explains why teens often get pregnant along with the hardships that come with it. Although, according to them “teen pregnancy rates are at the lowest level in 20 years. . . ” (page 3) it is very apparent that being a young mother will defiantly effect your education and your child future.

Teen pregnancy has decreased a total of 8 percent. “ in 2015 a total of 229,715 babies were born to women 15-19”(Reproductive Health:Teen Pregnancy). According to Reproductive Health:Teen Pregnancy the birth of babies dropped from 41 babies to 21 babies, births dropped per 1,000 females aged 15-19 years. Hispanic teens have more than twice the percent of teen pregnancy than white teens, black teens have a twice the percent than all the other races besides hispanic teens

Finding out you are pregnant as a teenager can be shocking and you may not know where to begin to look for help. First, realize that you are not alone. In fact, according to The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), "In 2011, a total of 329,797 babies were born to women aged 15-19 years, this is a record low for U.S. teens in this age group." Though the 2011 statistics may be a record low, it is still a high number. This is often a stressful situation for the teenagers and it can be hard not knowing what to do or where to search for resources. There are many resources that will give pregnant teenagers and their parents guidance through the difficult journey of teenage pregnancy and parenthood.

Raising a child as an adult can be very demanding at times, but can you imagine how difficult it would be to raise a baby as a teen, when you are still a child yourself? Although the teen birth rate in the United States has been on a decline for the past decade, teen pregnancy is still a significant issue affecting many people (Teen Pregnancy and Childbearing). Teen pregnancy has been considered morally and ethically wrong in the United States for centuries (Sprague). Taxpayers all across the country, the parents and the child are all stakeholders of this social epidemic and are affected in many ways such as economically, educationally, and martially.

Among many of the preventable diseases and health problems there is one in particular that is rooted deep within my hometown. I am a part of the graduating class of 2013 from Seaside high school, located in a tourist town on the northern Oregon coast, where according to the United States Census Bureau the median income as of 2012 was $24,201 (table 1).I remember in high school there was always a girl I knew who was pregnant, but it was not until recently when I noticed so many of my classmates and friends announcing due dates. According to Medline Plus, adolescent or teen pregnancy can be defined as “pregnancy in girls age 19 or younger” (para. 1). According to the CDC’s “Births: Final Data for 2012” report, for girls between the ages of 15-19 there were 305,388 live births, or 29.4 live births per 1,000 population (para. 1,2). Between the years of 2010 and 2012 there were 39 pregnancies recorded for girls between the ages of 10 and 19 in Seaside, Oregon and for the same time period and age group there were 110 pregnancies in Clatsop County (the county that Seaside resides within) according to the “Oregon Teen Pregnancy Count” (table 1). Teen pregnancy is preventable and yet it is still a major problem, especially in rural counties.

Teen pregnancy is an epidemic that has swept our nation for many years. It can alter the lives of teenagers in extreme measures. It is almost normal to see a teenager with a baby in today’s society. Getting pregnant while you’re a teen will definitely cause you to have to change your life style to accompany a child. This could mean not going to school or potentially dropping out of school permanently. Teen pregnancy will have a negative effect on the education of the teenager because it will force them to be committed full time to the concerns and needs of the child.

The United States remains the highest unintended teen pregnancy rate among all developed countries. Teenagers are at the vulnerable age where their hormone peaks causing secondary sex characteristic changes, yet there is a lack of support and access for teens get help (Patel et al., 2016). The consequence of teen pregnancy can lead to physical, psychosocial, socioeconomic, and societal detriments, which can cause a ripple effect onto the next generation. Child bearing during adolescence is associated with adverse outcomes such as: maternal and fetal health risk, infected with sexual transmitted diseases, more often face poverty, and the loss of social and economic opportunities as a result of less formal education (Krugu, Mevissen, Prinsen, Ruiter, 2016). This paper will elaborate teens’ experience on sex health, nurses’ role in this phenomenon, and key findings in literatures. Ultimately, finding the meaning of how does families of adolescents with a close relationship and open communication perceives sex education and pregnancy.

Like Amy and Loeber (2009), when it comes to the ecological paradigm of teenage pregnancy, Corcoran, Franklin, and Bennett (2000) also believe one’s socioeconomic status is a huge factor that contributes to this problem. A person’s socioeconomic status a lot of times determines “education, expanded family size, single-parent household structure, and lessened resources in terms of employment and income.” These three authors claim that educational performance and goals “dictate the potential costs of child bearing at a young age.” Their studies have also shown that teenage girls’ relationships with the school setting and poorer performance in school serve a greater risk for adolescent pregnancy.

Teen pregnancy is a very controversial social issue and the vast majority of Americans consider the outrageous rate of teen pregnancies a severe issue, certainly a problematic occurrence that is believed to be a moral decline in our country. Teenagers are physiologically capable of reproducing but not emotionally or financially prepared to be parents at such a tender age. Through various research studies a plethora of determinants has pin pointed teens unprecedented pregnancies. One cause of this problem is the apparent indication of social separation or disadvantage. Within this issue you would find poverty, single parent households, educational disadvantages on the parents behalf, a lack family/parental support, and unemployment. A child’s educational performance, inappropriate sexual acts, and inferior apprehensions about their futures play a vital role in teen pregnancies as well. Amongst the listed disadvantages the three that take precedent are lacks of family communication, sexual abuse, and poverty. Furthermore, teen mothers do not fit the ideal ideology of the normative scheduling of motherhood, therefore, ultimately resulting in negative consequences for them and society. What needs to be understood is, as to why the numbers of teens are becoming parents at such a vernal age.