Teen Pregnancy
Teen pregnancy is a major social concern today. Teens are notusually emotionally or financially prepared to become parents, yet teenstend to have high fertility rates. Most often, when teenagers becomepregnant is is completely unplanned, and the overwhelming nature of thissituation can cause them to make impulsive decisions. (Mayo Clinic)"Teenage pregnancy rates remain high. In the United States, approximately 1million teenage girls become pregnant every year. As many as 5% of teenagegirls give birth and, in 1997, about 13% of U.S. births were to teens.About 25% of teenage girls who give birth have another baby within 2years." (WHC) As a mother of three young girls that are about to reachtheir adolescent years, this is a topic of the utmost concern for mebecause I know they are all at risk of being affected by teen pregnancy insome way. There are serious consequences of teenage pregnancy includingthat the children born often have health problems like low birth rate anddevelopmental challenges, teen mothers often leave school and do not havethe resources to care for their children without assistance, and thesepregnancies are a burden on society in the forms of public assistance and
Teens should have a plan for avoiding pregnancy eitherthrough abstinence or through use of contraception. It is a concern for me because I have childrenwho may be a part of the generation most at risk for teen pregnancy tooccur. Certainly, some teens are having sex, both protectedand unprotected, but many teens are not having sex at all; many people maybe lying about the sexual experiences they claim to have had. " (NCPTP) There may be times when the teen's distress may be causeto seek out a mental health professional for counseling and advice. The cuteness of thechild may deceive the teen mother that the baby will actually be demandingand possibly annoying. Rule number nineis that girls especially need to remember that sex will not make someone beany more committed to her, and that having a baby is more likely to make aman leave her than to make him stay forever. However, because girls are becoming fertile at suchyoung ages (on average around the ages of 12 or 13) and at least 80percent of teens will have sex, the coming years may see a higher number ofteen pregnancies than ever before. It is a concern for teenagers because an unwanted pregnancy canseriously damage their lives, socially, emotionally, and otherwise. "Adult parents canhelp prevent teenage pregnancy through open communication and by providingguidance to their children about sexuality, contraception, and the risksand responsibilities of intimate relationships and pregnancy. All of these factors play a role in leading tooverwhelming guilt, anxiety, and fear, and depression is very common amongpregnant teens. Various studieshave demonstrated that efforts to improve teenagers' access tocontraception do not increase rates of sexual activity. Rule number ten is that teensmust remember that if they are not prepared to be a mother or father, whichmost teens are certainly not prepared to be, then protection must be usedat every sexual encounter. " (Planned Parenthood) Contrary to the fears ofopponents to sex education, these types of education programs have not beenshown to influence younger children into having sex any kind of increase insexual activity among teens in general. (WHC) Teenage pregnancies also lead toa rise in delinquent behavior among the fathers involved, includingincreased alcohol and drug consumption.
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Acceptance Essays
