Adolescence and Teenage Pregnancy

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Here in the Philippines, we believe in the saying of our national hero Dr. Jose P. Rizal that “Youth is the hope of our Mother land”. In their hand lies the future generation to follow. But as we see from the situation nowadays, what were expecting from the youth is the contrary if the saying. Teenagers are prone to pregnancy. Almost every year there is a rapid increase on the number of pregnant youths. One of the major causes of this problem are that most of the youths nowadays grew up in broken homes. Parents either the father or mother of the youths chose to leave their children behind because of the fact that they cannot handle anymore their obligation as parents. In relation to this problem, our government is now working on the Reproductive Health Bill (RH Bill) as one of the most effective solution not only to teenage pregnancy but also to the increasing population of our country.
Statement of the Problem
This study answers the following questions:
1. At what age did you become sexually active?
2. What is your current situation with pregnancy?
3. Was the pregnancy planned?
4. Did you ever think of aborting the baby?
5. How would you rate the following from its substantiality: condoms, pills, morning-after pill, other conceptive methods, STIS and STDS?
6. Do you know the whereabouts of your local family planning clinic? Did you know this before you got pregnant?
7. Do you know of anywhere in your local area where free condoms are available to younger couples?
8. As a teen aged mother, how do you plan to support your child’s financial needs?
9. Are you or your partner currently working? If yes, where do you see yourself in terms of occupation?
10. Can you manage financially, physically, emotionally and mentally your current situation?
11. Do you still continue to pursue your education?
12. Do the people around you respect your current situation at such young age?

Significance of the Study
This study is significance for the following reasons:
a. Enhancement of people’s knowledge on number of students indulged in Teenage Pregnancy in Philippines.
b. Increase the awareness and knowledge on the increasing number of teenage pregnancy cases.
c. To be able for them to absorb and reflect the effects and problems attached in teenage pregnancy.
d. To help prevent from indulging from this early pregnancy.

Teenagers – they are the ones involved in this case. They could be helped through the informative content of this study. They could realize the negative effects of teenage pregnancy and how it could change their whole life.
Society - it could lessen the percentage of single parenthood among the community. It could orient family members on how teenage pregnancy can affect the family most especially the teens.
Sources of Contraceptive materials – they may expect an increase in demand due to the awareness of the teenagers on getting pregnant at an early age
Local Government – they could be able to implement and facilitate projects concerning the rate of teenage pregnancy issue. They could be able to understand the deeper cause of this inflating rate of early pregnancy.
Community Members – they could build a strong alliance against teenage pregnancy and they could be a more productive part of the community in terms of cooperating in the alliance
Parents – they could expect a better future and a progressive and a more valuable and worthy support to their sons and daughters.
Non-Government Organization – they could more stabilize their goals on this sector and comply an efficient purpose on execution of ideas from which this study focuses. They could be more sufficient in terms of project planning and data analysis of social factors of teenage pregnancy.
Others – they would get a broader knowledge on how the teenage pregnancy work in the society.

Scope and Delimitations of the Study
This investigation is conducted to determine the rate of teenage students that is engaged in teenage pregnancy. This way, we could determine the status and profile of the teenager indulged in teenage pregnancy
The aspects looked into were the quantitative information of number of teen aged students indulged in teenage pregnancy and the data behind this.
This investigation focuses on number of teen age students indulged in teenage pregnancy in Philippines portrayed by teenagers as respondents during January to February 2011
Definitions of Terms
Teenage pregnancy – refers to any pregnancy on women that took place between the ages 13–19 years old.
Teen aged Students – refers to students that ages a number that end in “teen” as the last syllable such as13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19
.
Rate – refers to a quantity from a recent quantity
STIS – refers to Sexually Transmitted Infections
STDS – refers to Transmitted Diseases

Bibliography

CHAPTER II-REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
The purpose of this section of the study is to provide a review of relevant literature that focuses on questions related to teenage pregnancy. The Introduction to this study offered an overview of the extent of the problem, its effects and outcomes, and a conceptual framework in which I t was asserted that peer pressure to begin sexual activity coupled with low self-esteem may very well be instrumental in placing some young girls at risk for pregnancy during adolescence.
Statistical methods
The two outcomes were pregnancy rate, a proxy for conception rate, and pregnancy outcome. Both outcomes were measured at the level of small area and were analyzed for each of three age groups, 13-15, 16-17, and 18-19 years, based on the maternal age at conception. Pregnancy rates in 16-17 and 18-19 year olds were expressed as the ratio of observed to expected pregnancies, in order to standardize for marital status. The expected number of pregnancies was derived by applying national rates in married and unmarried teenagers to local married and unmarried populations, then adding the results to obtain a total. The expected number of pregnancies in 13-15 year olds in each area was derived from the total national rate. Pregnancy outcome was expressed as the proportion of conceptions resulting in a maternity; outcomes classed as miscarriage and other were excluded. This proportion was calculated separately for married and unmarried teenagers in each age group. I considered marital status to be an important indicator of the cultural background of young women, although in some cases conception would have preceded marriage.

CONTRIBUTING FACTORS
Causes or Effect? The burdens of early childbearing on disadvantaged teens are undeniable. Trying to untangle the factors which contribute to teenage pregnancy from its effects, however, leads to a "which came first, the chicken or the egg?" dilemma. Educational failure, poverty, unemployment and low self-esteem are understood to be negative outcomes of early childbearing. These circumstances also contribute to the likelihood of teen pregnancy. For example, recent studies suggest that most adolescent mothers have already dropped out of school before they become pregnant. On the other hand, adolescents still enrolled in school when they give birth are as likely to graduate as their peers. It is not clear how well the adolescents with the most problems would have fared in the future even without early parenthood.
Following are some of the contributing factors or causes of teenage pregnancy:
1) Lack of Parental Guidance: Most people evade their children from talking about sex. In some cases, they provide false information regarding sex and discourage their children to participate in any informative discussion about sex. In some cases, teenage mothers are not well educated about sex before getting pregnant and thus this leads to lack of communication between the parents and the children.
2) Adolescent Sexual Behavior: Among the adolescents, peer pressure is a major factor that encourages the teenage boys and girls to indulge in sexual activities. Early dating, as early as 12 years of age, is another factor that contributes to teen pregnancy.
3) Inadequate Knowledge about Safe Sex: Most adolescents are unaware of safe sex. They probably have no access to the traditional methods of preventing pregnancy. And the main reason behind is that they are either too embarrassed or fear to seek information about it.
4) Exploitation by Older Men: This is another major factor that contributes to pregnancy among the teenagers. Those girls who date older men are more likely to become pregnant before they attain womanhood. Rape, sexual exploitations etc. also takes place that leads to unwanted pregnancy among teenage girls.
5) Socio Economic Factors: Teenage girls who belong to the poor families are more likely to become pregnant. Researchers have found that even in the developed countries teenage pregnancy occurs most commonly among the deprived sections.

CHAPTER III-METHODOLOGY

Research Design
The study being conducted is a descriptive research. It includes the collection of data needed to answer the question concerning the current status of the study.
Research Respondents
The respondents of this research study are the female teen age students that are engaged in teenage pregnancy at Philippines. This study is conducted at Philippines where the study focuses to extract the statistical data of teenage pregnancy. This study is conducted in January-February 2011.
Research Instruments
The researchers used a self-structured questionnaire. The questionnaire is all about the background of the information about the pregnancy of the teenager. It is structured as to guide the respondent in reflecting and understanding her situation.
Validation of Research Instrument
The research instrument was submitted to our Research Professor to correct and finalize the questionnaire. Hence, there was no dry run conducted due to lack of time.
Method of Scoring and Interpretation
In analyzing the data gathered though the questionnaire, the researcher utilized the following: On the age of the teen aged female student that started to become sexually active Mean Range Interpretation 10 yrs. old and below too minor 11-15 years old early adolescent 16 - 19 years old late adolescent.

CHAPTER V-SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This chapter presents the summary, conclusions, recommendations based on the findings on the study.
SUMMARY
This study aim to know the rate of teenage pregnancy in Philippines. Specifically, the sought answers about the profile of female high school students in terms of the age when they became sexually active, current situation in her pregnancy, how the pregnancy was done–planned or not, thought of aborting the baby, rate of substantiality of contraceptive materials, effects of teenage pregnancy in the teen’s health, knowledge about the availability of free condoms, how to support the child’s financial needs, partner’s occupational status, management of the situation, pursuance of education, and the dignity and respect of the teen’s social community.
The female high school students of ages 12-18 were involved in this study as the respondents. Questionnaires were disseminated to the female high school students in Philippines. The study used the descriptive method of research since it was the most appropriate method to use that a self-structured questionnaire was used as a valuable tool in gathering data from the respondents. The results of the survey were tabulated and their acquired data was statistically analyzed and interpreted in order for the researcher to come up with a better conclusion.
CONCLUSIONS
The following conclusions were formulated based on the findings of the study and are presented.
1. The rate of teenage pregnancy in Philippines is very much alarming. It has been observed that the rate of teenage pregnancy is increasing because of curiosity and peer pressure. 2. Most female are sexually active at the age of 11-15.
3. Teenagers who are engaged at teenage pregnancy mostly are drop out of school.
4. Teenagers are engaged in this activity due to lack of knowledge about the consequence they are about to face.
5. Teenagers still depend on their parents.
6. They don’t know what kind of occupation they will have.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on the conclusions on the study, the following recommendations are hereby presented.
1. Every man and woman has the right to decide what he/she will take on his life. Just be sure that you can stand all the consequences in your every action.
2. Teenage pregnancy is not an easy thing. You should have the knowledge about this and be aware that it has dangerous effects on a teenager’s life.
3. There is no hindrance in anticipating in this situation.