Every year at school I see pregnant teens, it breaks my heart. I am against teen pregnancy. Having a baby when you haven’t even experienced life is wrong. Many teenagers have children when we can’t even take care of ourselves, achieve your goals, or provide the bet life for them.
Being a teen mom is becoming the new normal, and it should be stopped. The national campaign said “38% of teen girls who have a child before the age of 18 get a high school diploma by age 22. And less than 2% of teen mothers attain a college degree by a thirty” (Perper 1). As teenagers we cannot provide for a child let alone ourselves. We are still babies in the words eyes. We rely on our parents more than anything. Most teen mothers live “below the poverty line” (Perper 1). Most of the teenage mothers drop out of high school and the fathers say”... It has a negative influence on their education attainment as well” (Perper 2). If you drop out of high school or even get a GED you will barely make above minimum wage. In America we already have decreased economic opportunities and without a college degree you can barely find a job. So you won’t be able to provide the best care for a child.
Most teen relationships won’t last. So you will eventually be a single mom struggling to make it by. “Majority of teens aren’t married when pregnant and a paternity test is involved”( Harvard 2). And if you have a child young the father of the baby won’t be able to pay a decent amount of child support, “less than ¼ of teen moms receive child support a year and if they do its less than 2,000” (Perper 3). Having a child as a teen there are many risks that comes with it. Teens have a higher risk of “premature labor and preeclampsia” (Harvard 1). The children of teen mothers also struggle more in school than those of older parents. So you aren’t only affecting your life but you are affecting the child’s life too.
As a teen parent you won’t be able to just go to the mall with your friends or experience college like everyone else. It may cause you to see the child as a burden and not give it the love it needs. “Most children of teen moms become teen mothers too or they are incarnated by the age 18” (Perper 3). We should be making the best of our lives. Touring colleges with friends and looking for prom dresses. Not shopping for cribs and studying for a GED. MTV produced the show “teen mom” and it shows the daily struggle of a teen parent. Most of the girls ended up in rehab or jail. “57% of teens pay more attention when celebrities talk about teen pregnancy” (Candies 1). Celebrities grab our attention more than the everyday teen. Teenage pregnancy is an epidemic that needs to be stopped.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
So many teens today are becoming parents. When I was in school their were a few girls that were pregnant, but most of the teenagers cared more about shopping, and going to parties. I look at high school kids today so many are pregnant or already had babies. I believe teenage pregnancy is one of the top reasons teens drop out of school. In the article “Teenage Pregnancy Is a Serious Problem” written by Kristin Moore and Barbara Sugland, they state that “the children of teenage parents often do poorly in school.” With a lack of education limits teens employment possibility, which effects how well they will be able to take care of their self and child. Teen pregnancy is just one of the consequences for having sex at an early…
- 869 Words
- 4 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
In my opinion, anyone who gets pregnant as a teenager should have had better access to birth control and comprehensive sex education.…
- 2110 Words
- 11 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Teenagers who become mothers have a very slim chance of having a good future. If a teenage girl gives birth while still in high school, she will most likely drop out to care of the baby. They also might not have the support of their family and therefore do not receive the knowledge of how to properly care for the baby. The mothers would be forced to rely on public assistance and advice on how to raise the child. However, if they do marry the father, they might end up divorced and have to raise their baby as a single parent.…
- 460 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Parenthood is the leading cause of girls dropping out of school. More than 50% of teenage mothers do not graduate from high school. The United States has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the western world. Bearing a child at any age can be difficult but for teenagers it can have substantial negative effects not only for the teen but also for their families. Since teenagers are mainly dependent on their parents or guardians this burden is pushed back on them as well.…
- 1187 Words
- 34 Pages
Good Essays -
Teens should be allowed to have babies because it makes them mature faster. Sometimes teen mothers do not get support from the baby father. They often have to drop out of school pick up and work to be able to support them and the child. In an article in People magazine a teenage girl name Ambria Branch gave birth to her first child in the eighth grade. A few years later she goes on to take college courses and a night job at Amber`s childcare center. Ambria made a statement about how much “She can't imagine life without Amber: "I love everything about her” even though she had given up a lot of her own childhood herself she still loves her daughter with everything in her. Sixteen year-old Katy Macdonald got pregnant in the 11th grad she was a straight A- students took AP class and wanted to be a doctor. After finding out about the baby she dropped out of AP and started attending school half- time so that she can work. She saved all of her paycheck and put them in a bank account for the baby. “I’ve had to grow up almost overnight," Katy says because although she is not an adult she has to make adult choses for her and her child. Sometimes times the girls have to stop everything they are going or have dreams of to take care of their motherly duties. A lot of times they are single mothers and do not get help from the fathers or their families. As mothers they have to stop what they are doing and pick up jobs so that they can provide for their child. When a teen have to become a teen parent they mature a lot faster than…
- 295 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
The fourth source by the Office Of Adolescent Health has a strong and detailed overview of teen pregnancy and childbearing. I found this source through University of Alabama Scout search engine and the audience is the general public. The source includes statistics from 2013 that 273,000 babies were born in the US from females ages 15-19. The text also mentions the sad reality that comes along with teenage pregnancy such as, mother and teen less likely to finish school, more likely to rely on public assistance, more likely to live in poverty as adults, and more likely to have children who has poorer education, behavioral, and health outcomes throughout their lives rather than a child born into older parents that are prepared for a child. Along with addressing the issues of teen pregnancy, the source also touches on strategies and approaches to prevent unwanted teen pregnancies such as the contraceptive method I talk about in my paper. This information adds to my paper because it demonstrates the problems with teen pregnancy and the steps the US can take to lower the teenage pregnancy rates.…
- 888 Words
- 3 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Teen mothers, fathers, and their children face social and economic disadvantages throughout their lives. Teen mothers have higher rates of low birth weight babies and infant mortality than mothers in their 20s. They are more likely to live in poverty as well as rely on public assistance, and approximately 38% only will likely finish high school.…
- 693 Words
- 3 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
In 2012, there were 305,388 babies born to teen mothers (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). Although this is, a smaller number than previous years it is still an alarming amount. Becoming a teen mother can lead to many hardships for both, the mother and the infant. According to Weiss (2010), babies born to teen mothers are at risk for premature birth, which could lead to hyper activity, respiratory problems, blindness, deafness, mental retardation and possibly death. Children of teens also, show a trend in repeating, by becoming teen mothers themselves, dropping out of high school, and is at a higher risk for other risky behaviors. Many factors are contributed to the amount of teen mothers, most prevalent is teens with a lower socioeconomic status, and being a…
- 1850 Words
- 8 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Did you know that teen pregnancy has been increasing in the United States more and more each year? Approximately one million teenagers become pregnant year round, according to the National Campaign to Prevent Teenage Pregnancy. Around 750,000 of 15- to 19-year-olds become pregnant each year, according to The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, though many teenagers do not believe that they will get pregnant if they engage in sexual activity. Why are there so many teens pregnant? And why do they do it in the first place if they know they are going to regret it ? The answer is too much freedom and absolutely no discipline.Teenagers don't understand the fact that one day they'll regret it , but the problem is that they say,"Oh, no. That will never happen to me, I have self-control,” but when that self-control isn't controllable anything can happen. Generally, a girl having been pregnant before adulthood is critically looked down with shame. Basically, teenage pregnancy occurs due to the following reasons: consequences of raging hormones, peer group pressure, contraceptive failures, lack of knowledge, abuse or rape, absent parent, glamorization of pregnancy, and teenage drinking.…
- 1554 Words
- 7 Pages
Good Essays -
Becoming a teen parent is always a scary thing to go through, but over the years, the United States has been trying new and different ways to lower the occurrence of unplanned pregnancies among teens. There has always been a high rate of teen pregnancies in the United States, and according to The Los Angeles Times, “Teen pregnancy rates in the United States have fallen in recent years, but the country still has a higher rate than any other developed country” (Roan). Even though the rates of teen pregnancy in the United States have fallen, they are still the highest in the world. Throughout the years, the United States has been experimenting and brainstorming new ideas to prevent teens from falling into peer pressure of having sex. They added child development classes to the high schools to teach teens what happens when they decide to get pregnant or accidentally get pregnant. Becoming a teen mom has many effects on teens that are forced to grow up faster, change their priorities, and push back their future plans.…
- 1574 Words
- 7 Pages
Better Essays -
Teen moms will get government assistance at one point in life to help clothe and feed their child. They are also at a greater risk to live in poverty because most of them don't have an income coming in and if they do its not enough to live off and raise a child. Without an education you won't go far at all in this world because its only getting more and more competitive. About one fourth of teen moms will have a second child within 24 months of their last birth which can/will cause them to drop out of school. ”Teen moms are bad moms” is the most common stereotype that i have heard.…
- 522 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Research shows that babies born to teen mothers are more likely to be born underweight than babies born to mothers over age 20; 7 percent of pregnant teens receive no prenatal care. Teen pregnancy often creates a cycle of poverty, crime and further teen pregnancy. Research has shown that sons of teen mothers are 2.7 times more likely to go to prison than sons of women that had children after the age of 20, as well as children of teenage mothers are twice as likely to be abused and neglected as children born to women over the age of 20(Redelmeier, Rozin & Kahneman,…
- 10143 Words
- 41 Pages
Good Essays -
The U.S. Department of Health and Human services, claims that “A total of 249,078 babies are born to women aged 15-19 years old, a birth rate of 24.2 per 1,000 women of this age group.” One in six births were to females who already had one or more babies. Two in five females will become pregnant before they reach the age of twenty, as four out of the five of these will be unplanned pregnancies. This shows that underage pregnancies are quite frequent, so, people should try to help them in any way that they can. Teenage mothers deserve government support.…
- 873 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
One major effect of teen pregnancy is that the child may be raised by a single parent.…
- 443 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Many young teenagers in today’s time are getting pregnant. Teenage pregnancy has become a very big problem in our society. I believe that they should wait until they’ve at least graduated high-school and have a good paying job. I also think that they should make sure that their baby’s daddy is a good man and won’t leave after getting someone pregnant. My main suggestion is that they wait until marriage.…
- 464 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays