Rant

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.
Firstly, consequences of raging hormones may result in teenage pregnancy. Why? It is because the adolescent stage is where they experience sudden and unknown emotions. According to an online article entitled “What Causes Teenage Pregnancies,” in this stage of growth also, there is a huge influx of hormones that cause emotions to rage and change among adolescents. Teens also feel a natural sense of rebelling against the set norms and rules. All this, coupled with a sudden sense of fresh-found liberation and sexuality, results in giving vent to their feelings through sexual experiences.
Secondly, peer group pressure is another root of early pregnancy. Most teenagers opt to have sexual intercourse because they need to achieve the acceptance given by the CIRCLE of FRIENDS. Still according to the article previously mentioned, the only way to be accepted is to have relationship with the opposite sex and have sexual relations. This kind of promiscuous behavior may lead to unwanted teenage pregnancies.Many times these teens let their friends influence their decision to have sex even when they do not fully understand the consequences associated with the act. Teenagers have sex as a way to appear cool and sophisticated, but in some cases the end result is an unplanned teen pregnancy. During adolescence, teens become more focused on their appearance and how their peers perceive them. They want to be seen as part of the group, so if teen pregnancy is viewed as acceptable in their school or amongst their friends, they may seek to become pregnant as a way to gain social acceptance.Other times, their boyfriends try to talk and persuade a teenager to have sex with them with no protection. These young girls think they are in love so they find that there is nothing wrong with the situation.
Thirdly, teenage pregnancy is caused by contraceptive failure. This is another basic reason for teenage pregnancy. Many brands and types of contraceptives are available in the market easily. But according to the article “What Causes Teenage Pregnancies”, contraceptives are NEVER a guarantee for complete safety. Since teens are still growing and young, they still lack knowledge in using these. They even misuse these. Therefore, this behavior leads to early pregnancies. Young teenage girls do not take their birth control consistently which can cause pregnancy. 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.Contraceptive failure is a significant cause of accidental pregnancy. Anne Fleissig found that over two thirds (69 per cent) of the women in her study who had become unintentionally pregnant claimed to have been using a method of contraception at the time they conceived. Other research has shown similar results. A study of 769 women requesting abortion in the NHS, conducted by David Bromham, chair of the faculty of Family Planning and Reproductive Health care of the Royal College of Obstetrician and Gynaecologists found that 68 per cent had conceived as a result of a failure of contraceptive method.
A study conducted in 2006 found that adolescents who were more exposed to sexuality in the media were also more likely to engage in sexual activity themselves.According to Time, "teens exposed to the most sexual content on TV are twice as likely as teens watching less of this material to become pregnant before they reach age 20.”Teen pregnancy may also be caused by the glamorization of teen pregnancy. The movie industry and the media contribute to teenage pregnancy by glamorizing teen pregnancy in news stories and movies. Movies that depict teen pregnancy as something to be desired encourage teens to engage in reckless sexual activity. According to MTV’s hit show, Teen Mom, critics say that the show is encouraging teen pregnancy after three friends of one of the show's young stars got pregnant. I don't believe anyone would deliberately set out to create a television program that would encourage teen pregnancy.A recent study claimed that teenage pregnancies are linked with television programs with sexual content (Yahoo News, 2008). Teenagers obtain a significant amount of information regarding sex through TV and such programs do not generally emphasize the responsibilities and risks of sex. The study established that television program with sexual content generate teenagers’ perception that there is little risk of sex without contraception. Consequently, it may be regarded that the low contraceptive use in modern times among United States teenagers is the result of unconstructive sexual contents in television programs. A teenager who is sexually active but does not use contraceptives within a year has a 90 percent possibility of becoming pregnant (Guttmacher Institute, 2006 )Recent findings suggest that television plays one of the major roles in the high rates of pregnancy among teenagers in the United States. As a result, the present society recognizes the fact that having sex before 20 years old is a common thing.
Stewart Farber stated in 2003 that, another reason why adolescents become pregnant at an early age is due to rape. Unfortunately rape does still occur in the U.S. and happens to a lot of young girls till this day. Teens can become pregnant as a result of sexual abuse or rape. The Guttmacher Institute states that between 43 and 62 percent of teens acknowledge that they were impregnated by an adult male, and two-thirds report that their babies' fathers are as old as 27. Approximately 5 percent of all teen births are the result of a rape. Before age 15, a majority of first-intercourse experiences among females are reported to be non-voluntary; the Guttmacher Institute found that 60% of girls who had sex before age 15 were coerced by males who on average were six years then them. One in five teenage fathers admitted to forcing girls to have sex with them.
Teen girls are more likely to get pregnant if the have limited or no guidance from their parents. Many parents have busy lives that prevent them from providing the guidance and support that their young teenagers need to make good decisions on issues such as sex, according to the website Parentdish. When a teen does not feel that she can talk to her parents about sex either because they forbid sex talk or because they are not around, she will more than likely turn to friends for direction on whether or not to have sex, resulting in misinformation and possible teen pregnancy. Low self-esteem is among the causes of teen pregnancy. Children who are not shown love and affection from parents will seek it out with their peer group. Many adolescents report feeling pressured by their peers to have sex before they are ready. Families with two parents in the home have a lower incidence of teen pregnancies.
Lastly, Teen drinking can cause an unexpected pregnancy, according to the website Love to Know. Many teens experiment with drugs and alcohol. Drinking lowers a teen's ability to control her impulses, contributing to 75 percent of pregnancies that occur between the ages 14 and 21. Approximately 91 percent of pregnant teens reported that although they were drinking at the time, they did not originally plan to have sex when they conceived. More than one-third of sexually active teens and young adults age 15 to 24 report that alcohol or drug use has in- fluenced them to do something sexual.
In conclusion, this trend is important and has many causes and effects. It is increasing more and more each day. There are still many reasons why teenage pregnancy occurs. Whatever these reasons are, the event of having a baby at an early age can be highly traumatic. Nevertheless, despite the numerous elements that can influence teen pregnancy, for many teenagers, the lack of safe sex education from schools, parents, or otherwise is the root cause of teenage pregnancy. Generally, teenagers are not taught regarding the means of birth control and how to respond with friends who compel them into having sexual intercourse before they are prepared. Most teenagers do not plan to get pregnant; yet the high rates of teen pregnancy in the United States still remain a serious problem. . For the majority of women, teen pregnancy significantly diminishes their chances of any happy ending.