The Cause And Leading Causes Of Teen Pregnancy

When we look at influences, it is hard to say what precisely is the main pressure of teen pregnancies in the United States is. Each year, almost 750,000 teenage women, in the United States of America, ages 15 to 19 become pregnant (U.S. Teenage Pregnancy Statistics, 2006). Worldwide, rates of

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.

Teen pregnancy is a growing epidemic in the United States. Teen girls are becoming pregnant at an alarming rate, with a lot of the pregnancies planned. With television shows broadcasting shows such as “16 and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom”, it is giving teenage girls the idea that it is alright to have premarital sex and become pregnant. It is in a way condoning teen pregnancy.

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)."

In recent years, the rate of teen pregnancies in America has increased dramatically. Approximately 750,000 teenage girls between the ages of 15 and 19 become pregnant every year, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Within this number, 82% of the pregnancies are unplanned. The psychological effects of these pregnancies can be severe.

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.”).

According to What To Expect blog, “many adolescents report feeling pressured by their peers to have sex before they are ready.” (Cummins) If a teen feels pressured to have sex before they are ready it means they also do not know the consequences of the act which include unplanned pregnancies and maybe bad health effects of the baby. Teenagers need to start worrying about their future and not what every single person thinks about them. “The Kaiser Family Foundation states that more than 29 percent of pregnant teens reported that they felt pressured to have sex.” (Langham) Teens may proceed with having sex because of their peers and feeling pressured or fearing rejection. In some cases teens have sex to fit in with their group or to appear cool. Sex at a young age is not in any way, shape or form cool. According to livestrong.com, “33 percent of pregnant teens stated that they felt that they were not ready for a sexual relationship, but proceeded anyway because they feared ridicule or rejection.” (Langham) For a teen to feel that if they do not have sex at that certain age they will be rejected from a certain group of people is quite sad. Teens should be able to make their own decision and not choices that others necessarily

Allowing teenagers to get contraceptives without parents’ permission encourages them to become sexually active. Teenagers do not become sexually active because they can get contraceptives. Young woman in the U.S. Have been sexually active for at least 22 months before they visit a family planning provider. 47 percent sexually active teenage girls said they would not get health services from clinics if they could not get contraceptives without parent’s permission. Teenage girls have the highest reported rates of chlamydia and other diseases. Close to 900,000 teenagers get pregnant each year. Four out of ten girls get pregnant at least once before they turn twenty. Teenage girls that do not use contraception has a 90 percent chance of getting pregnant within a year.

Some teenagers get pregnant due to not knowing about the consequences of unprotected sex. Most don’t know about any of the consequences because they don’t have anyone to talk to them about it and others just doesn’t want to listen. Parents don’t think their kids will ever think about having sex so they don’t feel the need to talk to them about it but that only leads to teenagers getting pregnant without being prepared with a stable job.

The past history of teen pregnancies is pretty interesting. For instance, in 2014 the rate steadily dropped, but in 2015 the rate began to climb again. In today’s society it's not surprising that the rate has climbed because the peer pressure these days has definitely affected the rate of pregnancies. Back in the 90s, due to the pressure of fitting in, the teens then thought pregnancy would

Adolescents who have parents that are uninvolved in their lives have a greater chance of becoming pregnant than those with parents who are very concerned with their children’s lives (Singh, et al.). Adolescents who feel they do not get enough attention at home from their parents or siblings will sometimes intentionally get pregnant to draw attention to themselves and to feel important (Miller 16). For example, when kids have parents that are constantly working, they sometimes feel lonely and will try to get pregnant so they can feel less alone (Miller 16). Teens that have divorced or separated parents may think that becoming pregnant will give their parents a reason to be together, so they intentionally get pregnant to try and bring their family closer (Miller 16). Teens that live with both of their parents are a lot less likely to become pregnant (“Trends in Teen Pregnancy and Childbearing”). Another time that adolescents will intentionally get pregnant is when they have a lot of brothers and sisters. These teens may feel that they are unimportant because their parents have to divide their time and money between however many children they have (Miller 16). Getting pregnant makes them think that they will get more attention from their parents, so they think it’s a great idea, when they really have no clue what they are

Although the teenage pregnancy rates in the United States (US) are currently at its lowest in a period of 40 years, it still tops the list amongst developed countries. According to Kost and Henshaw (2012), approximately 6.78% of young women aged between15–19(nearly 750,000 teenagers) become pregnant every year. Finer and Zolna (2011) stated that 82% of these pregnancies are unintended. Moreover, because the average menarche age has reached about 12 or 13 years old (Potts, 1990), which is an all-time low. BThis is ecause for every ten young women, six engage in sex as teenagers (Martinez et al., 2011), most of these girls are at high risk of conceiving.

Before examining solutions to the dilemma, the root must be studied. What causes teenagers to engage in sexual activity? Their environment, backgrounds, beliefs, or is another alternate element causing teens to make rash decisions? All these questions must be considered and answered. Luckily, many sources and studies had been inducted to help uncover the root. Teen Pregnancy Statistics (Reasons for Teen Pregnancies, 2009) performed a research and provided insight of explanations for youth’s sex lives. Some ricks factors listed are being a victim of sexual abuse, dating at a young age, peer pressure, lack of self-discipline, dropping out of school, living in poverty or rural communities, and using alcohol, drugs, or tobacco (Reasons for

"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.

Teen pregnancy is prevalent in America today, with approximately one million teenagers getting impregnated each year (Planned Parenthood-Helping Young). As of 1995, Texas had the third-highest teen pregnancy rate in America (Teen Pregnancy-State). Some teens are risking a pregnancy because of peer pressure. One 16-year-old virgin explains, "It's hard to abstain when it seems like everyone but you is having sex,"(Teen Pregnancy-Voices). Six out of 10 sexually active girls are having intercourse because their boyfriends want them to (Teen Pregnancy-Facts & Stats).