Taking a Look at Teen Pregnancy

As us females were young we all seem to become mothers, by playing with dolls, and playing house with others our age. It may be easy for us to say that as children we thought they needed some assistance, but in reality that was only our imagination. As little kids did we really think about what it would be like to really have a baby? We were children, but see the thing here is that teens are still children who are having other children. 16 year olds do not just wake up thinking they want to have a baby, most of the time it just happens without being planned. Teens often do not think about what life would be like as a parent which is easy to happen and we should be informed on the reasons why and what it really is like.

In twenty twelve, there were twenty nine point four births for every one thousand adolescent females ages fifteen through nineteen. That equals out to three hundred thousand three hundred eighty eight babies born to females in this age group. (Trends in Teen Pregnancy and Childbearing, 2014). The twenty nine point four birth rate was a decline of six percent from two thousand eleven. (Trends in Teen Pregnancy and Childbearing, 2014). Many different things affect teen birthrate, things like age, racial and ethnic group, and region of country. Teen birthrate is higher in African Americans and Hispanics than in Caucasians. According to (Trends in Teen Pregnancy and Childbearing, 2014), about eighty two percent of these teen pregnancies are unplanned, meaning that most teens are having intercourse just to have it, and are not planning on, or ready for a baby. In my opinion, you should only have intercourse if you fully understand the outcome, and are ready to have a child or are prepared for all outcomes. An estimated fifty nine percent ended in a live birth, fourteen percent of birth ended in miscarriage and twenty six percent ended in abortion. That

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

Teenage pregnancy is spiraling out of control, and needs to be taken more seriously. Though the birth rates of teenage pregnancy have dropped in the past years, there are still more than 750,000 girls between the ages of 15 and 19; that still get pregnant in the United States each year. Did you know that 3 in 10 teen girls will get pregnant at least once before the age of 20? Or, that more than 50% of teen mothers never graduate from high school. This is a problem today, and something needs to be done to reduce the amount of times this is likely to

According to the CDC (2017), the teen pregnancy rate in the United States is substantially higher than in other western industrialized nations. In addition, childbearing adolescents are less likely to finish high school, more likely to rely on public assistance, more likely to be poor as adults, and more likely to have children similarly affected, which consequentially affects the parents themselves, their children, and society (U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Adolescent Health [USHHS/OAH], 2014). Alarming statistics and factual information like this clearly indicate that there is a serious issue for the nation to address. Therefore, an excellent point that was mentioned, and one that I would like to expand upon is

Teenage pregnancy has become an identified social problem and the focus of much concern. The United States has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the fully industrialized world. While the rates have been declining in the last fifteen years, it remains a source of concern that, nearly thirty-four percent of teenage girls in the United States are becoming pregnant at least once before the age of twenty. The teenage pregnancy in the United States rate is ten times that of Japan, four times those of France and Germany, and nearly twice that of Great Britain. Eighty percent of these pregnancies are unintended and seventy-nine percent are to unmarried teens (Davies, McKinnon, & Rains, 2001). Only a third of teen mothers graduate from high school. Eight out of ten unmarried teen moms wind up on welfare. The children of teen moms do less well in school and are at a higher risk of neglect and abuse than children born to women age twenty and older (Bissell, 2000).

The first problem that has been caused from teenage pregnancy is a higher birthrate than death rate. This is a major problem, because if the death rate is lower than the number of babies being born per year, then we will eventually become overcrowded. If the United States becomes overcrowded, then we will need to expand schools, and houses. An article from the Teen Birth Rate Company reports, "Between 1991 and 2016, the teen birth rate increased by an impressive 67% nationwide." This quote shows that the United States will soon become overcrowded. The second problem that has been caused because of teenage pregnancy is that there have been many high school dropouts and having a baby makes it harder to attend college. If you are a teen and have a child, you are already in debt because of student

There is a prevalence of unwanted teen pregnancies associated with risky sexual behavior. Gelfond, Dierschke, Lowe, Plastino, 2016 claim, “…The United States has the highest rate of pregnancy among adolescents aged 15-19 years compared with other Western industrialized countries” (p. 97). The pregnancy rate and promiscuous sexual action remains problematic for a variety of reasons. In general; adolescents are undereducated about risky sexual behaviors, which can lead sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies. The adolescent who bears a child whether intended, or unintended has a higher chance of dropping out of high school as well as not completing college before the age of 30. If pregnancy occurs, a teen mother and father are still in the process of maturing as young adults, yet alone, they have to raise a child. Not being able to obtain an education can be a barrier for having the best health outcomes for the parents and the child. In order to reduce the risk, primary prevention is essential. More specifically, education and awareness of healthy relationships can help reduce the number of unsafe sexual practices. The underlying question to be discovered is, for adolescents, does the use of additional comprehensive sex education reduce the future risk of unwanted teen pregnancies and risky sexual behavior compared with one general sex education course being taught?

The topic I chose is teen pregnancies. It has affected many teens of this generation. Everyone knows someone that has been a teen mom if they haven’t been one themselves. This is a situation that is frowned upon. Mostly because it is looked at as how can a teenage provide for a child when they still live in their parents’ house, and still depends on their parents for everything. It is our job to educate our children on the ins and outs of making the decision to have intercourse, and the consequences for their actions. Parents seem to have forgotten the basis of what it means to raise children. Pg. 15 “provide food, shelter, and moral guidance.” The don’t take the time to teach their children morals. Yet the teens are looked at as the full issue. Even though the way they were raised plays a major part.

The teen birth rate in the U.S. is at a record low, dropping below 25 births per 1,000 teen females for the first time since the government began collecting consistent data on births to teens ages 15-19, according to a new report from the National Center for Health Statistics. Nonwhite and younger teens have led the way in declining birth rates in recent years. Since the most recent peak in 2007, the birth rate among all teens has dropped by 42%. The declines among Hispanic (50%), Asian or Pacific Islander (48%) and black (44%) teens have outpaced this national average, while the decline among white teens (36%) has been somewhat more modest. Birth rates among younger teens ages 15-17 have also fallen faster – dropping by 50%, compared with a 39% decline among older teens ages 18 and 19.

Of all the industrialized nations, the United States has the highest rate for teenage pregnancy. In the United States, 3 in 10 teenage girls will get pregnant before they turn 20 years old which means that at least 750,000 teenage pregnancies will occur every year. In 2011, teen pregnancy was at the lowest it had ever been in the past four decades which sparked a chain reaction. For girls ages 15-19, around 553,000 pregnancies occurred in 2011. This was the beginning of the decline for teenage pregnancy in the United States. By taking a look at the different effects that teen pregnancy has on the mothers, such as stereotypes, negative attitudes, and cultural influences, people can begin to understand the pressure that is placed upon these young mothers.

One may ask, is teenage pregnancy on the rise? Luckily, it isn’t. Just 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” (“Teen Births”). On top of that, nearly eighty-nine percent of those births were outside of marriage (“Teen Births”). The 2013 teen birth rate has actually dropped ten percent compared to 2012’s birth rate. Back in 1991, the teenage birth rate was as high as 61.8 births for every 1,000 adolescent females (“Teen Births”). These numbers may come to a surprise to some, but what does not come to a surprise, is that the United States is still the leading country in teen birth rates compared to other developed countries.

Billions of dollars are spent annually to address consequences facing teens that are sexually active (Carlson & Tanner 2006). Yet forty percent of all women will become pregnant before the age of twenty and only half of them will actually deliver the baby (Kirby 2007). Out of that 20%, 82% of those pregnancies were unintended (Kirby 2007). Teenaged parents are more likely to drop out of high school, will not go to college, and the mother more than likely becomes a single parent (Kirby 2007). Children who are born to teenage parents are more likely to have a less supportive and less stimulating home environment, lower cognitive development, behavioral problems, and will most likely have a child when they are a teenager (Kirby 2007). Though there are some exceptions, this becomes a never ending cycle for these teenagers from generation to generation.

Teen pregnancy in the United States is still an epidemic. The number of babies delivered by teen pregnancies in 2014 was 249,078. That is 24% per 1,000 women ages 15-19. This number has declined 57% since 1991 but is still an issue in United States today. Not only are these teenagers uneducated they are also not financially prepared to take on the task of raising a child. Teen pregnancy is usually unplanned and unexpected and cost approximately $28 billion a year in tax dollars, per The Office of Adolescent Health. Let us take a deeper look at some of the contributors to teen pregnancy and how it affects communities.

Teen pregnancy is a worldwide controversy that has become a major predicament in the society that we live in today. Each year, almost half of all pregnancies among American women are not intended. The lack of sex education in schools may be the cause of why teen pregnancy is at an uprise. Young women try to find solutions to stop pregnancy, birth control is one form of preventing pregnancy. Other people choose to get an abortion. Sex education classes in high school can also help and inform teens about STD’s and HIV/AIDS. The history of sex education and its controversy began in the U.S. It began as early as 1912. The National Education Association put teachers in training programs for sex education. Some people saw this as unnecessary and thought that this did not have to be taught in school’s. In 1960 to about 1980, sex education programs were described as the Christian Crusade. “Sex education programs in public schools proliferated, in large part due to newly emerging evidence that such programs didn’t promote sex but in fact helped delay sexual activity and reduce teen pregnancy rates” (Pardini,Priscilla). Many teen’s in America get the education they need about sex, but they are not aware of the consequences of having a child at an early age. Teen pregnancy can be prevented by using a condom or birth control. When these products fail, teens are not sure on what to do with the baby. Some solutions