Teen Pregnancy by Lilibeth Velasco

            It was common before in our grandparents day to get pregnant in their teens, now when we see a young girl pregnant we consider that wrong, and we try to stop young teens from getting pregnant. Why are young girls getting pregnant so early? How can we as a society prevent teen pregnancy?

            Young teens are getting pregnant earlier because, there not being well educated on the subject. Some schools do not provide sex ed. classes for their students, and these young girls may not receive "the talk" from their parents and if the parents do try to communicate with their daughter, they are at the phase when the teen does not want to listen to what their parent is talking about. Or their parent is not comfortable with their child attending a sex ed. class and got them out of that class and now the student is taking a different course. Mistakes can happen, but there are other reasons why they may consider to get pregnant.

            There are many reasons why these young girls are getting pregnant at a early age, they may not have the proper education on sex or have no idea what birth control is right for them. Adolescents may have troubles at home and feel as if they should rebel against their parents by becoming pregnant. What they are not thinking about it, is that it will cause more problems. How will she support the baby? Her parents will be furious when they find out and maybe the adolescents parents aren't financially stable to feed another mouth. Another young girls are getting pregnant is because they're not getting any love from home, and they look for those feelings elsewhere. Another aspect is young adolecents want control in their life, if they don't have much control in their life wither their parents or at school. One huge reason young girls are getting pregnant is because they believe by getting pregnant their boyfriend will lover them or stay with them. That's a big no-no!   

            Its very common to see adolescent girls in poverty to become pregnant, rather than the girl who are in the upper class. Poverty does play a major role for teen pregnancy, because of the lack of income they may have in their household by not being able to pay for birth control or condoms. These adolescents are not getting the proper education about sex in their household due to economic reasons, the parents are busy struggling to provide for their families, the last thing they want to talk about it sex. They have other priorities, which they also may not be home and the teen can rarely be at home and be involve with people who are bad influences.

            We don't hear so often about upper class adolescents getting pregnant at a young age. These girls are the ones with the resources, parents may be home more often, they provide with "the talk" and are able to get any sort of birth control for their daughters. Its common at a young age for them to go to school, do well, get involved in activities in school and out, and the main goal: to apply to college. These young girls are driven to be successful, they are not thinking about becoming pregnant because they have other priototires and there also staying busy with sports or clubs. Maybe a few may become pregnant because they have troubles at home, maybe their parents are working a lot, to keep their status. Also because their families have money, and if they do become pregnant they have the money to get an abortion.

            "In 2008 the teen pregnancy rate among African-American and Hispanic teen girls, age 15 to 19, was over two and a half times higher than the teen pregnancy rate among white teen girls of the same age group." It's common for these races to live in poverty and the adolescents not be well educated on the topic of sex, compared to a Caucasian in the upper class.

            The media also has a big impact on adolescents, like the show 16 and Pregnant. I believe some teens who watch the show realize these teen moms are becoming famous and trying to get pregnant on purpose so they can get on the show. It's ridiculous! But because of the show and the show showing many Americans that these young girls are struggling to finish school, drop out, have family problems, and the boyfriend leaves. "The research, coauthored by Wellesley College economist Phillip B. Levine and University of Maryland economist Melissa Schettini Kearney, finds that MTV’s 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom led to a 5.7 percent reduction in teen births." We may believe shows like 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom have a negative impact on a adolescent girl, but it actually makes them aware of what can happen if they become pregnant.

            Teen pregnancy numbers are reducing by media and having adolescents in sports and clubs can possibly reduce the numbers of teen pregnancy because they are staying busy. In the poverty communities schools should provide sex ed. classes if they haven't had them yet. Also set up meetings with the students parents to communicate with their adolescent to prevent teen pregnancy.

           

Sources

http://www.smith.edu/ourhealthourfutures/teenpreg4.html

http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2013/04/29/poverty-causes-teen-parenting-not-the-other-way-around/

https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-teen-pregnancy

http://www.wellesley.edu/news/2014/04/node/41168