The following paper will address the research process of teen pregnancy. During the years of the adolescent years it is all about knowing yourself, getting used to the changes of your body, and most of all engaging in some sort of sexual activity or activities. Adolescent sexual activity and its consequences continue to be important policy concerns in the United States. Nationwide, nearly half of all high school students report having or had sex and one-fifth of the report having or had four or more partners by the time they graduate (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010). The Evaluation of Adolescent Pregnancy and Prevention Approaches is a response to persistent concerns about the consequences of teen sexual activity. The Pregnancy Prevention Approaches evaluation is being undertaken to expand available evidence on effective ways to prevent and reduce pregnancy and related sexual risk behaviors among teens in the United States.…
Although popular opinion sometimes indicates otherwise, according to a statistical analysis from the US Department of Health and Services (2014), teen pregnancy rates have been steadily declining for the past twenty years. In America, most teenagers are not yet fully independent from their parents, as teenagers in other cultures sometimes are, so they are not ready to become parents. Since this issue has a huge impact on young women and men affected by it, this may account for the disparity between popular opinion and the statistical data on the subject.…
What are the health risks of teen pregnancy? This question is rarely explained or even thought about before pregnancies. Teenage girls who are pregnant especially if they don't have support from their parents are at risk of not getting proper prenatal care. Prenatal care is serious, especially in the first months of pregnancy. Prenatal care screens for medical problems in both the mother and baby, watches the baby's growth, and deals quickly with any complications that occur. Pregnant teens also have a higher risk of getting high blood pressure than older pregnant women. Equally…
Due to lack of education, poverty levels, and lack of parental guidance teen pregnancy has been on the rise in the United States. According to a 2012 report there were a total of 305,388 babies born to women aged 15-19 years old. At least one study estimates that 90% of these pregnancies are unintended. If we can find ways to help the teen prevent pregnancy it will save the United States approximately $9 billion per year, in health care.…
Teen pregnancy has become all too common in this day and age. Some teens think it will not happen to them and do not use necessary precautions to protect against it. There are several causes for teen pregnancy and the effects can be life changing. With new movies like “Juno” or TV shows like “Teen Mom” on MTV, teenage girls think that having a baby is easy, that everybody will help them, and that their life will be the same. TV and society are ok with teen pregnancy letting the teenagers do what they want thinking is right. But what if making the right or wrong decisions bring them bad consequences in the future?…
Recent statistics concerning the teen birthrates are alarming. The United States has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the western world with approximately one million adolescents becoming pregnant every year (National Women's Health Information Center). Almost one-sixth of all births in the United States are to teenage women. Although pregnancy may occur in any teenager, some teens are at higher risk for unplanned pregnancy than others. There are many risk factors to adolescent pregnancy, these include factors in the community and the family such as parents’ lack of education, family marital disruption, lack of parental support, violent crime, unemployment, poor child rearing practice, poverty, and inappropriate sexual pressure or abuse. According to a 2004 study, eliminating exposure to abuse, violence, and family strife could prevent one-third of teenage pregnancies. As well as community and the family factors there are individual factors that increase the risk of adolescent pregnancy, a few of these individual factors are lack of religious affiliation, drug and alcohol use, engaging in…
Becoming a teen parent is always a scary thing to go through, but over the years, the United States has been trying new and different ways to lower the occurrence of unplanned pregnancies among teens. There has always been a high rate of teen pregnancies in the United States, and according to The Los Angeles Times, “Teen pregnancy rates in the United States have fallen in recent years, but the country still has a higher rate than any other developed country” (Roan). Even though the rates of teen pregnancy in the United States have fallen, they are still the highest in the world. Throughout the years, the United States has been experimenting and brainstorming new ideas to prevent teens from falling into peer pressure of having sex. They added child development classes to the high schools to teach teens what happens when they decide to get pregnant or accidentally get pregnant. Becoming a teen mom has many effects on teens that are forced to grow up faster, change their priorities, and push back their future plans.…
One of the largest drains on our society is the cost associated with unplanned pregnancies, especially those in teenagers. With the proper implementation of preventative programs, these costs could be lower or alleviated all together. While the United States teen pregnancy rate fell in 2009, it was calculated in a 2006 report by Saul Hoffman, that teen childbearing cost taxpayers at least $9.1 billion (The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy). Preventative programs along with parents and adults having open conversations with teens about these newly famous reality mothers could go a long way to help stop teen pregnancy.…
The United States has the highest teen pregnancy rate of the Western Industrialized world. An estimated 820,000 American teenage girls become pregnant each year (Teen Pregnancy Statistics, Teenhelp.com). The United States’ teen pregnancy rate doubles Canada’s, is four times the rate of Germany and France, and is eight times higher Japan’s teen pregnancy rate (Teen Pregnancy Statistics, Teenhelp.com). With 34% of our nation’s teens having at least one pregnancy before they turn twenty, teen pregnancy is becoming a problem of epidemic proportion (Teen Pregnancy Statistics, Teenhelp.com). To mitigate an epidemic, one must find the causes. There are many factors contributing to teen pregnancy including parental neglect, sexual abuse, the disregard to talk to teens about contraceptives, and prevailing cultural attitudes toward teen pregnancy. Proper identification of contributing factors and employment of proven remediating actions can and have been found to positively impact teen pregnancy.…
According to Family First Aid, “The United States has the highest rates of teen pregnancy and births in the world and it costs the United States at least $7 billion annually.” Thirty-four percent of young women become pregnant at least once before the age of 20 -- about 820,000 a year. Eight in ten of these teen pregnancies are unintended and 79 percent are to unmarried teens.…
About 820,000 teen pregnancies occur in the United States annually. This means that thirty-four percent of young females will have at least one pregnancy before reaching the age of twenty. Eighty percent of these teen pregnancies are unintended (Statistics). A sexually active teenager not using any contraceptive has a ninety percent chance of getting pregnant within a year (Get). These statistics will only continue to rise if teenagers under the age of eighteen are unable to receive birth control without parental consent. Teen pregnancy is a cycle, “girls born to teen parents are almost 33% more likely to become teen parents themselves, continuing the cycle of teen pregnancy (Importance).” Considering these facts, it is evident that it could all be prevented simply by allowing young girls to obtain a birth control prescription from their medical doctor.…
Teen pregnancy also affects the mother's life when they have the baby, and for the rest of their life. Teen mothers are at a higher risk of developing postpartum depression which can interfere with healthy teenage development. Without the support of parents who disapprove, teens can feel isolated and are less likely to eat well, excersise, and get enough sleep. Also, juggling school and a baby can be difficult. Pregnancy is the leading reason teen girls drop out of school. Less then 50% of teen mothers ever graduate from highscool and less than 2% get their college degree. Without a diploma or degree, many job oppourtunities are closed.…
Teen pregnancy is a major social and public health problem in the U.S. Teens have the highest pregnancy rate in the industrial world; 82 percent of the pregnancies were unplanned. Teenagers become pregnant at twice the rate of teens in other industrial countries, including England, Canada, and Wales. The Guttmacher Institute reports that 750,000 teenagers 15 to 19 become pregnant each year. Teen pregnancies are tied to poverty, academic failure, child abuse and neglect crime and other social health related problems (Spencer 1).…
Teen pregnancy is an important issue especially in America. Currently the United States has the highest teenage pregnancy rate and the highest teenage low birth weight babies. For decades, our primary means of preventing teenage pregnancies was to demand that teenagers not have sex, but teens are rebellious so no matter what you say if they want to have sex they will. There are many consequences to having a baby young. Teenage pregnancies ruin not only one, but many lives. There are several health risks for the baby and children born to teenage mothers and are more likely to suffer health, social, and emotional problems than children born to older mothers. Also, women who become pregnant during…
The numbers of teenage pregnancy are very high but when you think about the numbers most could have been prevented with the use of protection. Some people may not afford condoms but if you cannot afford a condom you cannot afford a baby. Children from homes ran by teenage mothers go through a hard time in life. Teenage mothers have no time for other things, because they are busy taking care of their baby. Most teen mothers end up dropping out of high school, because they do not have time for school anymore. They work for low wages to make money and support the child. Some teenagers try to stay in school to have a good image, so that other people in school do not look at them as a pregnant teenager but as just one of them. Most teens that have had sex wish they had waited longer and most teens and adults believe that it is important for teens to be given a strong message from society that they should not have sex until they are at least out of high school. Other teens do what they have to do and give their full support to the child, they stay in school until close the time of their baby’s delivery date. When teenagers plan to have intercourse, they should think about whether or not they could hand…