The Problem of Teenage Pregnancy in the United States
Pregnancy among teenagers has become a major problem in the UnitedStates. Understanding this problem is vital to correcting it. Some wouldeven go so far as to indicate that teen pregnancy in this country hasbecome an epidemic. It appears to be extremely common and in the 15 to 19-year-old age group 10 percent of these individuals will become pregnantevery year, and more than 40 percent of these individuals will be pregnantbefore they reach their 20th birthday (Kirby, 89). Because of this thebirthrate for teens is approximately 5.3 percent and this is much higherthan the other industrialized nations such as Britain, Sweden, and Denmark. This is true today and has been true for approximately the past 20 years While there have been fluctuations up or down in the number of teenpregnancies and the teen birthrate it would appear that the amount of teensgetting pregnant and choosing to keep their babies has remained nearepidemic proportions for quite some time (Kirby, 89). There are otherstatistics that are important to this issue. Poverty and ethnicity ofindividuals are very important when looking at the pregnancy rates ofteenagers in the United States (Kirby, 89). Individu
While this may be true, it is alsoimportant that parents make sure that their teenage children know the factsabout contraception and pregnancy so that teenagers who do choose to engagein sexual activity will have the knowledge that they need to protectthemselves from problems that can arise (Kirby 91). Differences between these groups of individuals were not as staggering aswas first suspected, but they were still rather substantial and this wastrue even when the rates were controlled for ethnicity, poverty, and otherissues. Teen pregnancy rates are slowly falling due toincrease knowledge that deals with sexual activity and contraception. Other studies have indicated that teens that have given birth are notimpacted in the long-term by this particular issue (Whitley & Schofield,184). During the 1980s it did begin to increase somewhat, butresearch also indicates that the rate of teenage pregnancy has beendecreasing over the last decade or so (Smith, 28). However, other research that is more recent has worked to indicate thatteenagers will engage in this type of behavior if they choose to and havingcontraception does not cause them to become involved with this type ofbehavior at any greater rates. As has been mentioned andnoted in other research this does not appear to increase or decrease theamount of sexual activity that a teenager will engage in (Kirby, 93). Currently throughout the world there are more than one billionpeople who are between 10 and 19 years old (Kirby, 93). Inshort, there is no easy answer to the problem of teenage pregnancy in thiscountry. Comparative studies havebeen done based on teenagers who have even birth and those who have chosento protect themselves from pregnancy or abstain from sexual activity. Many of these myths have since been corrected in the minds of manyteenagers and because of this these individuals are realizing that it canhappen to them and they are choosing to protect themselves againstpregnancy and other issues that can come about from sexual activity such asdiseases like the AIDS virus (Kirby, 91). Until this isaccomplished teenage pregnancy in this country will continue to be a majorproblem even if the rates of it have declined somewhat throughout theyears. This is the main concern at this point when teen pregnanciesare studied. Instead, it simply helps these individualsto be safer in the choices that they make (Kirby, 91). There were many myths that used to be shared by teenagers such as the ideathat they would not get pregnant the first time they engaged in sexualactivity (Kirby, 91).
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