TEEN PREGNANCY

Who is to blame? Teenage pregnancy has been one of the societal problems which triggers the vicious cycle of poverty today, apart from it causing an uncontrollable increase in populations. The rate at which incidents of teenage pregnancy sometimes drop to a low rate, and at other times increases at a drastic rate, making it evident that the situation it is stronger than the fight being waged against it.

Apart from curiosity and the lack of sex education, which leads some teenagers into this situation, most are victims of teenage pregnancy through no fault of theirs. As part of the teenage development stage, many teenagers become curious about the rapid changes in their body, and the strange passion of emotional feelings and attraction for the opposite sex.   Parents who assume the worst about their pregnant teens often fail to see that they have an enormous influence on their children’s decisions about sex. Teens who feel a loving parental presence at home are more likely to abstain from sex, wait until they are older to begin having sex, have fewer sexual partners and use contraception more consistently. Close parent-child relationships not only help to protect the young from early sex and pregnancy, but also help them avoid risky behaviors, such as violence, substance and alcohol abuse. High-quality research and anecdotal evidence point to this conclusion.

Many parents remain in the dark for a long time before discovering that their teenage daughters have become pregnant, but when realization kicks in, they find it easy to blame their children for the situation they are in. In fact, the opposite is sometimes true. Parents who abuse or neglect their family must take responsibility for pushing their vulnerable teens into the arms of their boyfriends. Their parents may not have abandoned them completely, but the troubled teenagers’ need for love and attention often drives them to engage in destructive behavior. Those who seek unconditional love think they can get this from their babies, another motivation to get pregna

Statistics on Teen Pregnancy:

Why is U.S Teen Pregnancy rate so high? Some people blame the highly sexualized images children see on television and in their favorite movies. Others believe it's a lack of effective sex education. While most experts agree teen pregnancy can be attributed to a number of factors, effective contraception remains crucial in the fight against this complex social issue. A sexually active teenage girl who does not use regular contraception has almost 90% chance of becoming pregnant within one year

Absent Teenage Fathers: In many cases, the child's father is either missing or unable to provide the proper financial support; almost 80% of teens do not marry the fathers of their children. More than half of teen parents have no child support agreement in place and of the 29% who do have a legal agreement, only half actually received child support payments. Although many teen moms do receive assistance from their own parents, a large number must learn to care for their children with little or no outside help.

Consequences for Children of Teenage Mothers: Statistics show that children who are born to teenage mothers are immediately placed at a greater risk of developing many physical, social, and behavioral problems.

Consequences for Society: Teenage pregnancy has massive financial consequences. In fact, one report suggested that teen pregnancy costs the U.S. almost $11 billion per year; this includes increased medical care, foster care, increased incarceration rates among the children of teen parents, and lost tax revenue. 

How can we prevent teen pregnancy? https://youtu.be/BlglBvFGCis?t=117