Factors of Teenage Pregnancies

Teenage pregnancies have suddenly become an epidemic in our generation. This resulted to teenage mothers dropping out of school and ending up on welfare, barely able to support their child. In worst cases, teenagers who give birth die through the ordeal, as their bodies are not prepared to handle childbirth. So why do teenage girls get pregnant? There are a number of causes to why this is so. Firstly, teenagers themselves are responsible for the increase of teen pregnancies. The lack of knowledge, carelessness and lack of self-esteem are major attributes to why more teenagers are in sexual relationship. Secondly, these unfortunate attributes have been influenced by many other factors. These factors include the media, peer-pressure, lack of education and lack of parental guidance.
In today’s generation media is cheering on early sexual activity amongst teens by promoting a demeaning view of women. It emphasizes on sex and improper depiction of women, and as a result an increase of underage pregnancies occurring. Media convinces girls to take a dutiful role in their sexual relationships. Boys, in contrast, may come to interpret thoughtless male sexual behaviour as ‘boys being boys’ and dismiss their partners’ feelings and welfare altogether. Wonder how much these negative messages are affecting teens? “A new study shows that 12- to 14-year-olds exposed to the most sexual content in movies, music, magazines, and on television were 2.2 times more likely to have had sexual intercourse when re-interviewed two years later than their peers who had a lighter sexual media diet.” (Warner, Jennifer). Therefore showing that media has a great effect on today's generation.
The second factor that causes teens to have sex is peer-pressure. Many teens, especially boys, feel pressure to have sex before they are ready. “One in three boys ages 15-17 say they feel pressure to have sex, often from male friends. Teen girls feel less pressure- only 23% said they felt such pressure.” (Allen, Collin). Also, according to research released, “63% of teens believe that waiting to have sex is a good idea, but few people actually do.” (Allen, Collin). Consequently, since guys feel peer-pressure to have sex, often from male friends they end up putting pressure on girls to have sex as well.
The third factor is lack of parental guidance. Many teenagers are not taught about preventing pregnancies and how to deal with peers who pressure them into having sex. Most teenage mothers have not been educated about sex prior to becoming pregnant, due in part to lack of communication between the teenager and her parents. An example of this is Susan who found herself in a minor incident of becoming pregnant at the age of sixteen.
“Susan’s parents’ only words to her about sex were ‘don’t do it’, so she later on ended up pregnant. Susan claimed that if her parents had been more open with her about sex, she may not have gotten pregnant at such an early age.” (Miller, Kristen). Therefore showing that parental guidance and supervision is an important part of keeping teenage girls from becoming pregnant.
It’s no secret that teen pregnancies are a common thing to see these days. The causes of teenage pregnancy ranging from bad influence from media, teen pressure and lack of guidance from guardians causes girls to have low self-esteem, lack of knowledge and make them careless. And in return, these characteristic flaws cause more girls to be in sexual relationships. So it’s up to you to answer one vital question. Do you want your children, grandchildren or loved ones to go through the pain and constant emotional conflict of deciding if they would have an abortion or keep the child? If not, then take action and step up to the plate. Help teens understand that the media’s version of love, how women should act or dress and how men should act are not always right. Help teens understand how to deal with teen pressure. Also get more presentations in schools to help teens understand more about teen pregnancies and how to deal with media, peer-pressure and how to build up teens self-esteem to prevent teen pregnancies. Lastly, parents should get more involved! It may be uncomfortable to talk to your kids about sex but if you think about it, what’s more awkward and difficult; you talking to your kids about sex or them telling you that there’s a baby on the way and now having to decide what to do about it?