Abstract
Nearly all teen pregnancies are unplanned, however teen pregnancy is becoming an epidemic. A lot of teens do not realize that having sex can bring on a lot of responsibilities. In most case scenarios, on average, adolescences say they did not want to get pregnant or cause a pregnancy. When you read about different statics about teen pregnancy, that alone is reason enough to create preventing programs about teen pregnancy. Knowing that teen pregnancy is closely linked to a host of other critical social issue, e.g. poverty, income, overall child well-being, health issue, education, just to name a few. There are also substantial public costs associated with adolescent childbearing. Consequently, teen pregnancy should be viewed not only as a reproductive health issue, but as one that works to improve these measures.
Keywords: adolescences, child, income, poverty, teen, sex
Within this paper, it will discuss the adolescent population involving, teen pregnancy. Teen pregnancy, is defined as being a young female under the age of 20 years of age. Teen pregnancy is a health issues. A teenager who’s having a baby is more likely to have social issues, e.g. poverty, poor education, risky behaviors that can lead to poor health issues, as well as child welfare.
Adolescent pregnancy rate has declined over recent years. However, the United States has the highest rate of pregnancy among adolescents compared with other Western countries. Pregnancy rates vary throughout the
Teen pregnancy continues to be a problem in America even though the CDC documents a decrease from 2007-2009 in all racial groups. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d.). Reducing the number of pregnancies in teens 15-17 is a core indicator identified by Healthy People 2020 to assess the status of adolescent health. Children born to teens are at risk for health concerns from being of low birth weight and having poor prenatal care such as delayed development. (Magness, 2012). Repeat pregnancy, dependence on welfare, and poverty are some of the results of adolescent pregnancy. Teen mothers tend to have health problems such as hypertension, and anemia and are at high risk for early delivery. Magness looks at the issue from the teen’s viewpoint and discusses the idea that some teens become pregnant to provide stability in an otherwise chaotic life and can gain maturity from the experience. Emphasis on continuing their education after delivery can prevent repeat pregnancies. Lack of productive or positive social activities or guidance can leave room for a teen to indulge in risky behavior to occupy their time. Peer pressure and influence from present day norms can cause teenagers to give in to early onset of sexual activity (Kirven, 2014). Finding after school or extracurricular activities can promote a healthier self
Teen pregnancy is an issue in United States, it is one issue that should wait until teens are married and know what they are doing with their lives. This issue came about in the early in the 1950’s – 1960’s. Teen pregnancy is a teenage girl between the ages 13-19 (girls who haven’t reached adulthood) having unwanted or wanted babies. Janet Bode once stated in her book, “Emotions run everywhere, scared, sad, disappointment and preparation for what is about to happen” (Bode 51). If we do not act now, teen pregnancy will be out the roof. Teen pregnancy needs a stop put to it no matter what, teens are still children themselves and they are still learning how to take care of themselves:
According to Trussell (1988), one out of every 10 women aged 15-19 becomes pregnant each year in the United States. Of these pregnancies, five out of every six is unintended, 92 percent of those conceived are premarital, and half of those conceived in marriage (Trussell, 1988). Researching teen pregnancy various studies suggests that teen pregnancy rates are determined by their sexual behaviors, with includes rates of sexual intercourse and condom and contraceptive use (Santelli, Orr, Lindberg, & Diaz 2009).
It has been receiving a great deal of public and official attention recently, including expressions of concern from President Clinton (Trad, 1999). However, the most extensive dilemma regarding the issue of adolescent pregnancy is the question of prevention. Preventing teen pregnancy includes such problems as the availability of birth control, sexual education among children and adolescents, and a greater sense of support for pregnant teens. However, before society can begin to successfully prevent pregnancies among teenage girls, the underlying causes and facts about the dilemma must first be exposed
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.”).
Teen birth rates are higher in the United States than any other country. In 2010, over 600,000 teens were impregnated; however, in following years, the number was reduced by half (Werner, 2014). These statistics show a decline in teen pregnancy; nonetheless, teen births continue to be an unsolved epidemic in the United States. There are no simple solutions to end this epidemic, as there are many contributing factors. For the United States to continue to see a reduction in teen births, Americans must remain vigilant in attacking some of the leading influences.
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
Teen pregnancy is a problem that is plaguing the U.S., as well as other countries. This social problem affects teens of every ethnic and economic background. Before we discuss what some organizations are doing to help, let’s look at some of statistics surrounding teen pregnancy. Even though this is a serious problem, the good news is that teen birth rates in the United States have dropped almost continuously since the early 1990s — including a six percent drop from 2011 to 2012 — further decreasing from 2011's historic lows. Teen birth rates declined for all races and for Hispanics except for 18–19 year old Asian/Pacific Islanders, for whom rates did not change. The decline was greatest for Hispanic teens, with a drop of 11% from 2010. The U.S. teen pregnancy, birth, sexually transmitted disease (STD), and abortion rates are substantially higher than those of other western industrialized nations. Non-Hispanic black youth, Hispanic/Latino youth, American Indian/Alaska Native youth, and socioeconomically disadvantaged youth of any race or ethnicity experience the highest rates of teen pregnancy and childbirth. Together, black and Hispanic youth comprised 57% of U.S. teen births in 2011 (CDC, 2012).
Over the past two decades, the rates of teen pregnancy have grown dramatically. According to the Prevention of Teen Pregnancy, approximately every thirty-one seconds ateenager becomes pregnant in the United States. This is unbelievable, however that is the truth that no one can deny. Many people think that teen pregnancy don't effect them unless they get pregnant or one of the family members in teenage get pregnant. However teen pregnancy really affects our communities and country. Approximately, over eighty-five percent of teenage girls who become pregnant every year do not plan their pregnancies and only fifteen percent of pregnancies are prepared. The causes of teen pregnancy is unsafe sex or poor sex education in
There is a big problem that is going on in the United States and it is teen pregnancy. The United States have the highest teen birth rates than any other western industrialized nations. Teen pregnancy doesn’t only affect the teen and the baby, it affects everyone around them including their family and the society around them. There are solutions to teen pregnancy that doesn't only include the teen and their family, it includes the community. Teens need to know the risks and consequences of teen pregnancy.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) the 2011 birth rate for teens was 31.3 births per 1000 women aged 15–19, a record low for the United States. However, there are many ways to reduce the amount of teenage pregnancies (Trudeau). The United States has a problem of teenage pregnancy occurring with the most occurring in the capital Washington D.C. where there are a diverse group of teenagers (Dawani). This shows that our nation has a problem of teenage pregnancy, but the most is in a well civilized area in our nation. Studies have shown that The highest rate of teenage pregnancy in a developed country occurs in the United States with the rate of teenagers being twice as likely to give birth compared to teens in Canada and ten times as likely as teens in Switzerland showing that a diverse population has an effect on social behaviors (Dawani). Our nation needs to find ways to decrease the alarming statistic. Studies have shown there has been a decrease in teenage pregnancies.A recent article has shown the teen pregnancy rate is down nearly 40 percent and the teen birth rate has been cut by one-third since the early 1990s, but the problem is still occurring today (Dawani). Teenage pregnancy in the United States is a problem with many causes such as lack of education from parents and the education system, media influences, and the cost of contraception used and many solutions to stop the epidemic.
Adolescent pregnancy is a contemporary social challenge that can no longer be overlooked in terms of its magnitude in the society today. Despite the widespread sex education and peer counseling and guidance, there still is a wide prevalence of teen pregnancy, a challenge that does not only affect the teenagers but the society at large.
Teenage pregnancy has been famously depicted as a situation that involves the female adolescents. For one to be dubbed as a pregnant teenager, she ought to be at the early age of twelve years though in most scenarios it has been fourteen and older. In the developed as well as developing countries, the cause of the teenage pregnancy has been common with most of them being related to the specific situation of the teenager as well as the group that the teenager interacts with. However, the rate of the teenage pregnancy has been varying from one nation to another nation and has been related to the variance of the sexual activities, general sex education as well as contraceptives that are accessible to the teenagers (Atkinson, et al, 2016). In
"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.
The teen pregnancy rate had decreased by the maximum of about 55 percent. Most teen birth rates had also gone down about 64 percent, but yet teen pregnancies and birth rate for teenagers ages 15-19 in the U.S still remains one of the highest comparable countries. Due to parenthood, most of teen moms drop out of school. More than 50% of teen mothers never graduate to get their diploma. Sexually active teens that don’t use any type of protection has a 90 percent chance of becoming pregnant within a year, 84 percent of teen pregnancies are unplanned.