Teenage Pregnancy

1. (Robin Elise Weiss, LCCE)
Another problem facing teen mothers is the use of drugs and alcohol, including cigarette smoking. No amount of any of these substances is safe for use in pregnancy. In fact, their use can complicate pregnancy even further increasing the likelihood of premature birth and other complications.

2. Rebecca B. Singson
In the Philippines, the sexual revolution has ushered in a period in which the average adolescent experiences tremendous pressures to have sexual experiences of all kinds. Filipino teens get a higher exposure to sex from the Internet, magazines, TV shows, movies and other media than decades ago, yet without any corresponding increase in information on how to handle the input. So kids are pretty much left to other kids for opinions and value formation when it comes to sex.

3. (Dryfoos, 1991)
Bearing a child during adolescence adds up the stress and triggers changes in various aspects-physical, emotional, personal, and social. Among the well documented includes school dropouts, developmental and health problems, depression, poverty, etc.

4. (Dilworth, 2004)
It’s found that literature on teenage pregnancy mostly focuses on the negative consequences of being a teen parent though there are teen parents who said that they enjoy being so and the child has brought more joy to the family.

5. Mariah Kilgore,
The situation of teenage pregnancy has grown abundantly throughout the United States. Sex education taught in the school system can help teens realize the consequences of having pre-marital sex and prevent pregnancy. The realities and effects of teen pregnancies are sometimes difficult and harsh to face for the mother, father, and child.

6. Fullerton,1997
Social, economical, environmental as well as individual factors determines for the increase in teenage pregnancy rate and thus makes it difficult to disentangle the exact cause for teen pregnancies.

7. Finkel et al, 2002
Speaking about expectations for the future, one needs to remember that teenage mothers typically do not plan long-term and attempt to concentrate on their baby. On the contrary teenagers who plan long –term and expect a lot from their future delay pregnancy as much as possible and certainly for a longer period of time than those who lack hope and expectation of the future.

8. Jessor, R., & Jessor, 2002
Ignorance about reproduction and contraception is another factor that contributes to the increase of teenage pregnancy and places another burden on females and the society they live in. Misunderstanding and false assumptions regarding reproduction and contraception can lead to trial-and-error approach to exploring sexual life which in turn might result in an unwanted pregnancy. For instance, the majority of US teen females still believe that losing virginity without a condom will not result in a pregnancy, while others believe that one cannot get married if she did not have an orgasm.
9. Shah et al, 2003
Health or sex education that teaches females and males about contraception and safe sexual behavior is believed to be able to quickly and efficiently reduce the number of pregnancies in the USA as well as other countries around the world. Countries of the European Union that already use progressive sex education at young age at school witness lowering rates of teenage pregnancies. The proponents of early sex education in schools claim that providing all the needed information about sex, contraception and pregnancy to school children will allow them to make their own informed and educated choices and then decided what to do with their lives.

10. Ettinger, 2001
Resources needs to be directed in tackling psychosocial factors influencing teen mothers like low self esteem, low expectations, unrealistic goals, limited support etc.