Teen pregnancy is a growing epidemic in the United States. Teen girls are becoming pregnant at an alarming rate, with a lot of the pregnancies planned. With television shows broadcasting shows such as “16 and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom”, it is giving teenage girls the idea that it is alright to have premarital sex and become pregnant. It is in a way condoning teen pregnancy.
I am interested in discussing teen pregnancy and the options that are out there for the teens who find themselves in this situation. I don’t think enough is being done to educate or prepare these teens about how their lives will change in the event of pregnancy. I am especially interested in this issue, because I found myself in this very situation when I was just seventeen years old. I made the decision that was best for me at the time, but wasn’t given all the support I think I needed. I didn’t have anyone to talk to who was going through what I was at the time. I think that teenagers wanting to grow up too fast, peer pressure and television, both reality and fiction, all play a huge role in this problem. I think the answer to probably not solving this problem, but hopefully lowering the number of teen pregnancies is to better educate our teenage population. All in all, I would like to see teens better educated on teen pregnancy. Also to let them know if that is the situation they find themselves in, that there are options out there for them to choose from. There is someone for them to talk to and confide in about what they are feeling and how they want to proceed.
There have been numerous surveys of adolescent sexual behavior, but their results have often been inconsistent. There is, however, general agreement about one point: Young people are having sex at an earlier age than they did a century ago. Although this change is just one part of an overall trend toward more liberal sexual attitudes and behaviors, it poses some special