Teen Pregnancy

Prevent Teen Pregnancy

After reading Martha Balash's article, Schools Can Help to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. Balash has put time and effort into this proposal on stopping Teen Pregnancy. I think Balash's introduction is very effective because she goes straight to the facts. She doesn't try to mislead you with any false facts. She goes straight to the point and the point is to prevent teen pregnancy. Balash tells that schools has more influence over teen pregnancy than what the public thinks. She thinks that if schools and parents put enough effort into their teen pregnancy programs that the teen pregnancy numbers will drop. And I agree with Balash on this subject fully. The United States has the highest teenage pregnancy rate of all developed countries. That's pretty scary being compared to China and other developed countries with higher populations and still having the highest pregnancy rate. Schools need to start programs that encourage abstinence, and show or list the consequences of being sexually active. "They are not taught the importance of abstaining from sex nor, at the very least, the proper use of effective birth control and protection from sexually transmitted diseases" (Johnson). And the problem that occurs with this is that the parents or family that interact with the teenagers are no more educated than the teenager themselves.
School districts need to have educators on their staffs that can be available for parents who seek information and guidance. Many parents don't know what is "normal" sexual behavior for children of a particular age. They may rely on personal memories or past experiences. And in a sense it is not helping out the teenagers but actually hurting them in the long run. They will learn from the adults' mistakes and not from there own.
The teenage birth rate is declining. Between 1991 and 2002, the rate fell by 30 percent (from 61.8 per 1,000 women to 43). Still, in 2002 (the most recent year for which data are available), about 4 teenage girls in 100 had a baby. Teen pregnancy rates have declined in recent years. The decline is thought to be attributed to more effective birth control practice and decreased sexual activity among teens. And Balash believes that these rates have declined because of better education and teens are not having as much as sex, since they now know the consequences.
Teen pregnancy is an important issue. There are health risks to the children born to teenage mothers. Most are more likely to suffer health, social, and emotional problems. There is an increased risk for complications such as premature labor during teen pregnancy and socioeconomic consequences as well. Teenage pregnancy and childbearing also have substantial economic consequences for society in the form of increased welfare costs. The federal government spent over $38.0 billion to provide services and support to families that began with a birth to a teen. This includes families headed by adult females who were teenagers when they had their first child. The federal government's financial support for teen pregnancy prevention initiatives pales when compared to this large expenditure. In 1996, the federal government invested $138.1 million—less than one-seventh of one billion dollars to prevent teen pregnancy. That is more than 275 times less than the amount the federal government spent to support families begun with a birth to a teen. Balash has presented her ideas and thoughts very well in her paper. She gives excellent ideas on how to help prevent teen pregnancy in schools. Her main goal was to improve on the education of sex education. What she means by this is to re-educate students and parents so that they can help one another when they have questions. Balash really wants to improve sex-education programs at schools, presenting the children with the risks and consequences. And she believes that if schools do improve on those programs, then the teen pregnancy rates will drop tremendously. But Balash will not see overnight success in teen pregnancy, it will take years to see a tremendous drop in the teen birth rates, and this will take everyone's cooperation and support to make these programs that Balash speak of a huge success in the long run.