Teen Pregnancy

Haley Lundak
Professor Haddox
English 1302- 7a.m.
31 January 2013 Teen pregnancy is a growing trend. Cities and towns all over the country are being affected by this growing statistic. However, El Paso is being overwhelmed with this statistic. Teenagers in El Paso are being affected by the growing statistic in extreme ways. The teens of El Paso are being greatly influenced by the culture of El Paso, today’s society, and they are falling into the trap that their demographics portray will happen to them. The culture of El Paso is very unique due to the fact that it is a border city. The city has very strong Mexican influences in its culture. The Mexican influences contribute the attribute of modesty to the people of El Paso. The modesty of the people that live in El Paso contributes to the high rate of teen pregnancy because families do not want or feel comfortable talking about racy topics such as sex, having protected sex, and unplanned pregnancy with their teens. This causes many teens to be ignorant or misinformed which can contribute to the growing statistic. Teens in El Paso are not only affected by the Mexican influences in El Paso’s culture, but they are also affected by the city atmosphere. Large cities are more likely to have teen pregnancy, and El Paso fits this idea. El Paso’s high population and large city atmosphere contribute to teens becoming pregnant because they are more likely to fall into this statistic. Teens in El Paso are falling into many statistics set by their situations. The demographics of El Paso show that the teens in the city have a much higher possibility of becoming part of a pregnant teen statistic. Demographics show that certain races and ethnicities of people are more likely to have pregnant teens such as African-Americans and Hispanics. El Paso follows this demographic trend because the city is predominantly of Hispanic ethnicity. Also, low income families are more likely to have their teenagers become pregnant. El Paso is subject to this because it has many low income families residing in the city. Teens that come from low income families are more likely to become pregnant because they are not able to receive as many of the resources as teens that come from better homes. Low income families do not always know about all the resources that are available to them and their teens to help receive things like healthcare, sex education, and birth control methods. Teens in El Paso are influenced by their immediate surroundings as well as the influences that the rest of the country has on them. Society has changed over the years, especially in regards to teen pregnancy. Teen pregnancy has become more prevalent in today’s society. Pregnancy in teens has almost become acceptable in society today. Pregnant teens have become so common today that there are televisions shows about them. Society almost promotes pregnancy in teens with all the television shows that are shown. Being a pregnant teen is almost portrayed as being “cool” now. Television shows like “16 and Pregnant,” “Secret Life of an American Teenager,” and “Teen Mom 1, 2, and 3” all show teenagers that have become pregnant. Movies about pregnant teens have also become popular such as Juno, The Pregnancy Pact, Crossroads, Precious, and Too Young to Be a Dad. People in society just keep subjecting teens to the image of pregnancy among them, so teens couldn’t get away from the image of teen pregnancy even if they wanted to. Pregnancy in teens is happening; however, if society did not openly acknowledge it as much, the thought may not seem as acceptable. El Paso teens are being influenced by today’s society in ways that make them more likely to become another statistic in the growing trend in teens. Pregnancy in El Paso teens is a very big problem. They are strongly influenced by the culture of the city they live in, today’s society, and their demographics. So, El Paso teens have high probabilities to join in the growing statistic across the nation.