Teen Cirnancy : The Consequences Of 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.

Due to the lack comprehensive sex education, they are left in the dark about how to be properly prepared for a situation that may arise regarding sexual activity and how to protect them against sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancy. It is a great down fall the lack of education on contraceptives, which only leaves American teens at a greater risk for long-term consequences.

When considering the financial aspect of teen pregnancy, education regarding the issue should be provided with an increased attention because taxpayers end up billions of dollars on a yearly basis with the purpose of assisting teenage parents. In addition to this, society suffers because most teenagers who become pregnant are unlikely to finish high school. Children of teen parents are probable to suffer more health problems and to perform poorly during school, given that they are typically provided with underprivileged environments.

Across America, many teen pregnancy are becoming popular. Many students have been educated on this topic, while other have not. When teens make the faulty decision, they do not know about the consequences that come with it. Consequences end up in having a child, and having a child is a lot of responsibility. Teens tend not to have much responsibility as important as taking care of a child.

The controversial topic of whether or not sex education curriculum should teach contraceptive use or abstinence-only is heavily debated. In 2013, the U.S. totaled 273,105 babies born by teenagers, ages from 15 to 19 (“About Teen Pregnancy”). This raises the question: why is the number of pregnancies so high? Is the reason for that unsettling high, number because abstinence-only is being taught or contraceptive use is being taught? Students who are taught abstinence-only are more likely to wait to have sex, which results in the lowering of teen pregnancy. The abstinence-only curriculum also reduces students sexual activity.The sex education curriculum in the U.S. should consist of abstinence-only education.

In the article “Abstinence Is the Best Policy in Preventing Teen Pregnancy” posted on the Opposing Viewpoints database, it is argued that teenagers are incapable of assessing and considering the risk of premarital sex and comprehension of the challenges in facing an unwanted pregnancy. The article goes on to say that while they are maturing, teens are drawn more to risky behavior including sexual behavior, and “as those choices get more risky […] guidance and limits from parents that are reinforced by peers, teachers, and other authority figures are critically important”. This article also challenges the results of sex education by stating that it is merely educational and shown to inform rather than change teens

Teenage pregnancy is a growing problem in the United States today. As of 2010, 57.84% of 15-19 year old girls will become pregnant, which is especially high as compared to the rates of other developed countries. (Kost, 3) Why are unplanned pregnancy rates in teenagers so high? There are various factors that contribute to these high teen pregnancy rates, but one major factor is the type of sexual education that teenagers receives. While attention to abstinence in sexual education can be beneficial, it is when sexual education focuses solely on abstinence that teen pregnancy rates increase. Comprehensive sex education in schools has been shown to lower the rates of teen pregnancy more than abstinence only sex education has, and therefore should

Parents should consider speaking with teenage daughters about the necessity of birth control to bring awareness of sexually transmitted disease, pregnancy, and teen drop outs. It’s stated that 10,000 teens and young adults are contracting HIV between the age of (13-24), and many of them have multiply partner which puts them at a high risk of contracting a STD or HIV. So many teens are sexually active, but are not using protection which causes them to become pregnant. Statistic states that children who are born to teenage mothers has a high chance of having health problems, dropping out of school, incarcerated, and giving birth at a young age. Teenagers who get pregnant in high school tends to drop out. If they drop out that will not have the skills and credentials to function in today’s society and work place.

Sex education in the United States is not very comprehensive and none regulated, which means that many American teenagers are without the proper information to make informed decisions about sex and sexual health. Many schools offer just abstinence only education and are unable to explain safe sex procedures, putting children at risk for unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. With the average age of intercourse at fifteen years old (Buehler 2014) and many parents uncomfortable with discussing the topic with their children, it is up to sex education classes in school to properly inform teenagers about their bodies and sex. Then when these teenagers are parents themselves, they will be better prepared to talk to their own children and this will hopefully help the American general public before more informed and more likely to have safe sex.

Endersbe, “Almost 500,000 babies are born to teen mothers each year.”(Endersbe,1) but many teen parents do not plan for a child or even consider wanting one. There are more girls getting pregnant now than there was 20 years ago and most schools in the US have a course that can inform them on the precautions in having sex at a young age and that teen pregnancy is something that they can prevent. These courses or programs teach young adults to be safe and hold off on sex. However, schools are enforcing the use of contraceptives if teens do choose to engage in sex. Because Americans encourage safe sex they want to teach young minds to be safe and use protection. With the knowledge that teens developed about safe sex, there are now “78% of teens using contraceptives during sexuual intercourse.” (Endersbe, 6) which is a good

Even though many are getting pregnant there are also many who don’t get pregnant. They aren’t getting pregnant because they are getting protection. Joyce Tsai states, “…teen pregnancy rates have declined 51 percent and teen births are down 61 percent…” (1) which is a big improvement for teens. Some teenagers are irresponsible and don’t use protection when they are having sex so the girl gets pregnant and they don’t know what to do. Schools are also helping teens be a little more prepared and responsible about their sex lives. A woman from Planned Parenthood in Mar Monte says “…the move to offer condoms to middle school students at school-based health centers, where nurses, counselors and trained professionals can help students make more responsible decisions, is more important than ever.”(Tsai 2). She explains that students will be more responsible if they get everything they need at school by professionals. There are parents who are outraged by this because they think giving students condoms is a bad influence for them to have sex. As a result of that research has proven giving condoms to these students does not encourage them to become sexually active in any way. One parent says it is their responsibility to teach their kids about sex, “I’m one of those parents that believes in being open with my kids… it comes down to parents to teach their kids values and morals…” (Tsai 2). Even though many teens are

First of all, if teenagers were educated about and had access to contraceptive methods, they would be more willing to put the methods into use. Few sexually active teenagers are responsible with birth control and the majority of teen pregnancies are due to a lack of contraception used before or during intercourse. Though United States does not face the same population pressures as developing regions, accidental pregnancies are common as “[they] account for roughly half of all annual births in the United States. (Navarro).” There is a myriad of contraceptives available that would benefit teenagers, most commonly external protection devices and oral medications. StayTeen.org states that “nearly 3 in 10 teen girls in the US will get pregnant at least once before age 20, more than 700,000 teen pregnancies each year” (The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy). These pregnancies are due to lack of education about contraceptive methods and the

Too many teenagers are ruining their lives by having babies. This is happening because they are having sex and do have sufficient nad accurate knowledge about sex. For instance, in a study conducted by Carrera, Kaye, Philliber,a nd West only 39% of teenagers questioned knew that urinating after sex does not ever prevent pregnancy. The percentage of teenagers alone who answered correctly should be enough proof that teenagers need to be educated by an adult who has the correct knowledge when it comes to sex and contraceptives. If high schools were to provide this type of course it would help lower the growing number of pregnancies among teens each year.

Many teenagers are now becoming parents these days. In fact, from the ages of 15-19, there were 249,078 babies born in the United States. (1) Many of these unwanted pregnancies can be prevented with the help sexual education. Yes, in some schools there is sexual education. But, if it was in every school many of these could have possibly been prevented. At the school I attend, sexual education is not offered. We are faced with several unwanted pregnancies, and with sexual education, I think these could be prevented.

One of the world's biggest problems in today's society is teenage sex. United States has the highest pregnancy, abortion and child birth among teenagers. The biggest reason for this is because children grow up with the media promoting sex. Movies, music and magazines send the message that sex is okay and often expected. Teenagers don't fully understand the consequences that can arise from there decisions. The national campaign to prevent teen pregnancy has done a lot of studies and found about twenty percent of adolescents will have sexual intercourse before there fifteenth birthday and one in seven sexually active fourteen year olds will become pregnant. It has also been a concern that sexually active teenagers are far more likely to