Teenage Pregnancy

Teenage Pregnancy

The United States has the highest teenage pregnancy, about 1 million teenagers become pregnant each year and 95 percent of those pregnancies are unintended. Teenage pregnancy is one of the most important and alarming issues in today 's world. There are many reasons that teenagers become pregnant. Some of them want to have babies. However, the fact of the matter is that most teen pregnancies are unintentional (80 percent). Additionally, most of them occur to unwed teen mothers. This means that even though most teens do not want to become pregnant, they are still becoming so as a result of sexual activity.

Teenage pregnancy is formally defined as an unintended pregnancy during adolescence who will not reach her 20th birthday before the expected birth (age 14 to 21). For statistical purposes there may be a division made between the pregnancies of under-16 year olds and under-19 years old, and sometimes pregnancies experienced by those as young as 11 year olds are considered teenage pregnancies. Teenage pregnancies occur the same way that any other pregnancies occur; as the result of sexual intercourse. Some teens may intend to get pregnant, but research suggests that the vast majority of teen pregnancies are accidental and unplanned. Therefore, the question to answer is why these teenage pregnancies occur.

Teen pregnancy is one of the most difficult experiences a young person might ever face when it interrupts school or other plans. It can create an emotional crisis resulting in feelings of shame and fear, and it may appear that you will crumble under pressures in your environment. The question to answer is why these teenage pregnancies occur.

The first cause of this social problem that occurs is lack of knowledge. Teenagers who are uneducated about sex are more likely to have an unintended pregnancy. Today teens may get incorrect information from friends, videos, sitcoms and/or movies. Many times, teens do not have the knowledge needed to make informed and responsible decisions about whether or not to engage in sexual activity that can alter their life.

Teen girls are more likely to get pregnant if they have limited or no guidance from their parents. Most people evade their children from talking about sex. Parents may think they can 't have an effect on their teens ' behavior, but parental guidance is one of the most important tools in preventing teen pregnancy. Parents must be willing to provide guidance to their teens about sexual activity, although it is often a difficult discussion for them to engage in. When a teen does not feel that she can talk to her parents about sex either because they forbid sex talk or because they are not around, she will more than likely turn to friends for direction on whether or not to have sex, resulting in misinformation and possible teen pregnancy. All the parents should impart sex education upon their teenage daughters so that they should well be equipped with sex knowledge and save themselves from being victimized of teenage pregnancy.

Another important cause for teenage pregnancy that goes as a consequence of the before cause is that teens let their friends influence their decision to have sex. During the adolescence many times teens let their friends influence their decision even when they do not fully understand the consequences associated with the act. Peer pressure occurs when a friend confronts another friend and tries to convince him or her to take part in illegal activities, substances, or sex. A teen will always feel peer pressure in one form or another. In a recent survey released by the Kaiser Family Foundation, was discovered that one in three boys ages 15-17 say they feel pressure to have sex, often from male friends. The pressure felt by a teenager to start a sexual relationship is very large, and even more if their friends are sexually active because it is here when the adolescent begins to feel more pressure from their friends. As a result, this pressure becomes in unwanted pregnancies, or in teenage pregnancy. The last cause and the most common to occur teenage pregnancy, and is the main reason is for not using condom or some other method of contraception. This is yet another very fundamental reason for teenage pregnancies today. Even though the use of contraceptives has increased among teenagers, its use remains spotty. Teens may use birth control to help prevent teen pregnancy, but most do not use contraceptives consistently. A sexually active teen that does not use any birth control has a 90 percent chance of becoming pregnant within a year. Some of the reasons that birth control is not used include the following: uneducated about birth control, uncomfortable using birth control methods and unable to access reliable birth control. Though there are many types and brands of contraceptives and emergency birth control pills easily available in the market, these are never a guarantee for complete safety. Only Mother Nature knows when she might want to get into action, so no form of birth control is going to be completely foolproof. Sometimes, not knowing how to use a contraceptive properly can lead to unwanted teenage pregnancy. The teen sex stats that what we live today should serve as a reminder that teenagers need to be guided. They need education and knowledge of what 's available in order to help combat teen pregnancy. If there are many causes to teenage pregnancy, there are also preventions for it. One main factor is education, enough knowledge to what pregnancy is all about is a great help. Openness between parents and their teens can also help prevent early pregnancies; teens being able to freely share their feelings to their parents are more likely to be far from early pregnancy. Teenagers should understand that there are physical, psychological and emotional effects that come with sex. They should also be taught that the choices they make now can affect them later in life. Educating your teenager about the consequences of promiscuous behavior and giving him/her a loving, balanced home atmosphere, can actually go a long way in curbing unwanted teenage pregnancy in the future.

Works Cited
Clark, C. S. (1991, July 5). Teenagers and abortion. CQ Researcher, 1, 441-464. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/
Clemmitt, Marcia. "Teen Pregnancy." CQ Researcher 26 Mar. 2010: 265-88. Web. 11 Apr. 2012.
Clemmitt, M. (2010, March 26). Teen pregnancy. CQ Researcher, 20, 265-288. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/
Friedman, Jane. "Teen Sex." CQ Researcher 16 Sept. 2005: 761-84. Web. 12 Apr. 2012.
Glazer, Sarah. "Preventing Teen Pregnancy." CQ Researcher 15 May 1993: 409-32. Web. 11 Apr. 2012.
Maliki, Agnes Ebi. "The Effect Of Teenage Pregnancy On Adolescents In Amassoma Community Of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area Of Bayelsa State." Asian Social Science 8.1 (2012): 62-66. Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Apr. 2012.
Koch, K. (1998, July 10). Encouraging teen abstinence. CQ Researcher, 8, 577-600. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/

Cited: Clark, C. S. (1991, July 5). Teenagers and abortion. CQ Researcher, 1, 441-464. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/ Clemmitt, Marcia. "Teen Pregnancy." CQ Researcher 26 Mar. 2010: 265-88. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. Clemmitt, M. (2010, March 26). Teen pregnancy. CQ Researcher, 20, 265-288. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/ Friedman, Jane. "Teen Sex." CQ Researcher 16 Sept. 2005: 761-84. Web. 12 Apr. 2012. Glazer, Sarah. "Preventing Teen Pregnancy." CQ Researcher 15 May 1993: 409-32. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. Maliki, Agnes Ebi. "The Effect Of Teenage Pregnancy On Adolescents In Amassoma Community Of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area Of Bayelsa State." Asian Social Science 8.1 (2012): 62-66. Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Apr. 2012. Koch, K. (1998, July 10). Encouraging teen abstinence. CQ Researcher, 8, 577-600. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/