Teen Pregnancy

Teen pregnancy is on the rise after so many decades of its declination. This in some part may be related to teens not knowing enough information to protect their selves before they have sex, peer pressure, and not knowing how to properly prevent a pregnancy from happening to them. Teen pregnancy is an issue that seems to be gaining more popularity in the past few years. This is a problem because how is someone who is only a teenager, supposed to be ready to be a parent? Most teen moms do not feel that they can finish school, and usually end up dropping out which also means they do not further their education to the college level. Half the time teen dads do not end up marrying their babies’ mother which leads to a broken family for the child to grow up in. It is also very likely that the children of a teen pregnancy will grow up thinking it is normal and be a teen parent as well. I am interested in this topic because in my graduating high school class of 13 people in 2010, two of my classmates have already had children, both unplanned pregnancies. In my home town in the past year alone there have been 4 teen pregnancies which is a lot compared to none in the past barely. I want to learn more about the statistics and what research has shown about the gaining popularity of teen pregnancy. My opinion about the cause of the increase of teen pregnancy in my home town for example, would be the increase of underage drinking and drug use. This has a big part to do with why it has been happening so much more now than it did before. Another cause of this problem is not educating teens about contraceptives and safe sex. Even though most parents don’t think it will happen to their kids, it is still something that they should talk about with them before it is too late. Also most teen moms do not know of other options such as adoption agencies if they are not ready to deal with such a big responsibility. Like I mentioned in the paragraphs above I would educate teens about the consequences of having a child before they are ready. They need to know the statistics and facts about being a teen parent and should know that it is a serious subject that should not be taken lightly. Another aspect about teen pregnancy is that they are forced to grow up before they are ready to. They will miss out on a lot of things with their friends because of their new responsibility and possibly even lose friends because of their newborn children. By helping teens learn more about the risks and responsibilities about having a child so early in life, they might realize on their own to have protected sex to prevent that from happening to them. In conclusion teen pregnancy is a very important issue to deal with. By teaching education, prevention, and safe sex teens will be better able to make more responsible decisions about sex and whether or not they are emotionally ready for it.