Teen Pregnancy Issues And How It Affects Our Teens And Their Children

Teen pregnancy is surprisingly decreasing over the years. According to Farber, “the most recent studies have shown that there has been a decrease in the rate of pregnancies among all teenagers and among sexually active teenagers (16). Although this issue seems is decreasing this is still a problem faced by many teenage girls today. Each year, 7.5 percent of all 15-19 year old women become pregnant (Maynard 1). Not only does this issue affects the pregnant teen but it also affects the economy. Teen pregnancy affects graduation rates. Many teen mothers cite pregnancy as the key reason of them not finishing school. Only 40 percent of teen mothers finish high school (Teen Pregnancy Affects Graduation Rates). The 60 percent of teen mothers

In 2015 there was about 3,978,497 births registered of teen moms in the United states. Teen pregnancy has been a big issue for many years. A large number of teenagers are having unprotected sex that lead to unwanted pregnancy. This issue cause young girls to make a decision on the future of the baby, weather it is to be aborted, given up for adoption or keeping the baby and raising it. This unwanted pregnancy also takes effect on these teenager's social life, school and work.

Teenage birth rates, defined as live births per one thousand 15-19-year-old US females, declined by 10% from 2012 to 2013 from 29.4 to 26.5. In fact, the birth rate has been on a steady decline over the past 20 years, from 61.8 in 1991 to 26.5 in 2013. Teenage pregnancy represents both a health and social inequality in our society. Specifically, teenage childbearing is a public health issue because teenage mothers are more likely to experience negative social outcomes such as dropping out of school. This is a self-reinforcing cycle, as children of teenage mothers face higher chances of poor academic achievement as well as getting pregnant or getting someone else pregnant in their teenage years (CDC). Although the overall rates of teenage pregnancy have dropped, ultimately, the variations in the rates reflect the intersecting disparities regarding race and ethnicity, income inequality, geography, and environmental factors, which in turn affect access to medical care, education, and resources.

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.”).

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 more risk than an adult having a baby. “They have a higher risk for pregnancy-related high blood pressure and its complications. Risks for the baby include premature birth and a low birth weight”(Teen Pregnancy). According to the article Teen Pregnancy teens

Teen pregnancy is more prevalent in the United States, than one would think. Even though the number of pregnancies has lowered, there are still an estimated 31pregnancies per 1000 teens. Unfortunately, there are immense consequences from teen pregnancy. These occurrences are due to many circumstances that can be changed, such as, more education, peer pressure, and today’s culture. However, there are ways to prevent all this from happening; using contraception, being aware, or even abstaining from it. Teen pregnancy is an ongoing issue in our country with many causes that can be changed by taking preventative measures to keep teens from suffering consequences that will change their lives forever.

The United States holds the title of one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the western industrialized world. It causes many setbacks for the young girls and boys that have to take the role of being a teen parent. Becoming a parent is the lead reason that teenage females

Young girls at that age are considered vulnerable and many seek psychological help to overcome the traumatic event. Children born to teen mothers can develop blindness, deafness, mental, respiratory and cerebral problems. Also the low birth weight puts the child at greater risk of dying as infants. Other social problem that pregnant teenagers face is economy. Most teenage girls struggle to finish school and earn a degree. Pregnant teenage girls live in poverty due to the lack of financial and educational stability. For instance, a study found that “low-income teens received such instruction 44% of the time, compared with 62% of higher-income teens. That disparity is particularly troubling, supporters say, because low-income and black and Hispanic teens are more prone to teen pregnancy than teens in general”. In most cases low income families are always struggling to provide to the family and adding teenage girls just makes the situation even worst. The lack of experience, financial and educational stability can limit the options of the child to succeed in life. The author of Teen Pregnancy: Does learning about birth control in school help prevent teen pregnancy? suggest that “teen pregnancy is often cited as a factor that perpetuates the cycle of poverty, since teen mothers are likely to be poor in the first place, and their children are likely to grow up to be poor. As a

That’s 26 babies per 1000 teens including all ethnic backgrounds. Hispanic and Black teen pregnancy rates are the highest with 40 per every 1000, and Asian are the lowest with 8 for every 1000 (CDC). In more recent years teen pregnancy rates have dropped even further, and “although reasons behind the declines are not clear, more teens may delaying or reducing sexual activity, and more of the teens who are sexually active may be using birth control than in previous years (CDC)”. More and more teens are no longer fully realizing the negatives of engaging in sexual activity. On the other hand, a teen that becomes pregnant may become an outcast and lose their friends, Becoming a social outcast can lead to depression and other mental illnesses. Our generation is more exposed to teen pregnancy as there are TV shows and magazines all about teen pregnancy. Becoming pregnant as a teen is no longer as demonizing as it was for the generation before us, and more and more teens are becoming pregnant at a young age. "Family planning is at an all-time low and teens are engaging in casual sexual activity (Bright)". Parents call for more sexual education, and increased options for teens, to stop teen

Thesis Statement: Teen pregnancy is an important topic in the United States. When teen girls become a mom at such an early age, it comes with a huge responsibility and can become a burden on teens. Teens are not prepared for these responsibilities.

According to Henshaw (2004, as cited in Medoof, 2009), almost nine hundred thousand teens gets pregnant every year in America; which is over twenty-seven percent of teens. While ninety percent of pregnancies are undesirable; the cost of a teen mother and a child affects the society. Hoffmann (2006, as cited in Medoof, 2009) states that children that were born from teens had birth weight issues, severe illnesses, and lived in poor circumstances. As for the teen mother, he states that teen mothers would mostly not continue their education, and mostly live in

Teenage pregnancy is not good for girls since their bodies and minds are not mature enough to handle the stress of pregnancy, delivery and raising the baby. Still teenage girls get pregnant.

Today woman has made great strides toward establishing her equality and worth in the eyes of her male counterpart. But although she may have broken many barriers and achieved great accomplishments, there are still some deep rooted issues which continue to affect her in a most insidious manner. One of the issues that women face in the United States is teen pregnancy which is still an enormous problem that needs to be addressed. The rates are still higher than they were only a decade ago. Becoming a parent permanently and profoundly alters a teenager 's life. Most of the girls forget about their dreams of happy marriage, and become mothers at very early age. College is almost always out of the question, graduating High School becomes a goal most teenage moms don 't achieve. Young girls having babies isn 't new, as a matter of fact, teenage parenthood was higher in the 1950 then it is today, but things were different. Most of the girls were eighteen or nineteen and many of them already married. Only a few of single mothers actually kept their babies. Today many mothers are fifteen or sixteen years old. Some are even as young as twelve. Fathers contribute little or nothing to the care of the baby; therefore it 's even harder for the mother. All of a sudden the girl is thrown into the world of responsibilities and duties, where the baby 's needs come before her own. She is expected to balance her school or a job with the full time task of raising a baby. Her world

Teen pregnancy causes problems for the teen, the baby, and everybody around them. “Teen pregnancy costs society billions of dollars a year. There are nearly half a