Realities on Teen Pregnancy in America

Although the rate of juveniled arriveliness in the United States has declined greatly deep down the past few years, it is still an enormous problem that engages to be addressed. These rates argon still higher in the 1990s than they were only a decade ago. The United States puerile count overrate exceeds that of or so other industrialised nations, even though American striplingagers be no more hinge uponually engagement(a) than puerileageragers are in Canada or atomic number 63. Recent statistics concerning the teen birthrates are alarming. Ab step forward 560,000 teenage girls fork over birth each year.Almost one-sixth of all births in the United States are to eenage women are to teenage women. 8 in ten of these births extended from unintended pregnancies. (Gormly 347) By the age of eighteen, one out(a) of four teenage girls will fork out force big(predicate). (Newman 679) Although the onset of pregnancy may occur in any teenager, some(a) teens are at high er risk for unplanned pregnancy than others. youngrs who wrick sexually active at an earlier age are at a greater risk primarily beca workout unripened teenagers are slight in all likeliness to use birthcontrol.African-American and Hispanic teenagers are twice as probable to give birth as are white teenagers. Whites are more likely to have stillbirths. Teenagers who come from inadequate neighborhoods and attend segregated directs are at a high risk for pregnancy. Also, teenagers who are doing despicablely in school and have few plans for the future are more likely to become parents than those who are doing well and have high educationsl and occupational expectations.Although the rate of teenage pregnancy is higher among low- income African-Americans and Hispanics, especially those in inner city ghettoes, the fare of births to teenagers is highest among white, nonpoor young women who live in mall cities and towns. (Calhoun 309) In addition to the head teacher of which t eenagers become pregnant, interest is shown in the social consequences of early parenthood. Adolescent parents (mostly mothers) may find that they have a lost or restrict probability for education. (Johnson 4)The higher a womans level of education, the more likely she is to postpone spousal relationship and childbirth. Adolescents with little schooling are often twice as likely as those with more education to have a baby bafore their ordinal birthday. Some 58% of young women in he United States who cod less than a high school education give birth by the time they are twenty years old, compared with 13% of young women who complete at least twelve years of schooling. (Tunick 11) Teens who become pregnant during high school are more likely to drop out. Calhoun 310)A teen mother leaves school because she cannot manage the task of caring for a baby and stu end, and a teen father unremarkably chooses a melodic phrase over school so that he can pay bills and result for his child. (Johnson 4) Teen mothers commonly have fewer resources than older mothers because they have had less time to gather avings or build up their productivity through work experience, education, or training. (Planned Parenthood 1) Because of this, teen mothers are generally poor and are dependent on government support. Newman 679)The welfare system is usually the only support a teen parent will receive. social welfare benefits are higher for families with absent fathers or dependent children. (Calhoun 309) In some cases, teen mothers may in like manner receive help like Medicaid, pabulum Stamps, and Aid to Families with Dependent Besides educational and financial problems, teenage mothers may face a great deal f emotional trickle and may become very stressed. Teen mothers may have limited social contacts and friendships because they do not have time for anything other than their baby. overleap of a social life and time for herself may cause the teenage mother to become depressed or have severe intellectual anxiety. (Johnson 5) Depression may become worse for a teenage mother because she usually does not know much(prenominal)(prenominal) about child learning or about how to care for their children. Children who are born to teenage mothers usually resist from poor parenting. (Berk 188) Also, children of teenage parents start being exually active in the beginning their peers and they are more likely to become teenage parents themselves.These children may also suffer from financial difficulties similar to that of their parents. Children whose mothers are age seventeen or younger are three times as likely as their peers to be poor, and are likely to stay poor for a bimestrial period of time. (Calhoun 311) The children born to teenage mothers sometimes score lower on development tests than the children of older mothers. It come outs that rather than declining over time, educational deficits increase in severity and the children show lower academic chieveme nt, higher drop out rates, and are more likely to be held back in school. Teenage pregnancy comes with not only a child, but also umteen consequences.Teen mothers face greater health risks than older mothers, such as anemia, pregnancy induced hypertension, toxemia, premature delivery, cervical trauma, and even death. Many of these health risks are due to inadequate prenatal care and support, rather than tangible immaturity. The teenage mother is more likely to be undernourished and suffer premature and prolonged labor. (Calhoun 311) The death rate from pregnancy omplications are much higher among girls who give birth under age fifteen. (Gormly 347)Poor feeding habits, smoking, alcohol and drugs increase the risk of having a baby with health problems. Johnson 3) The younger the teenage mother is, the higher the chances are that she and her baby will have health problems. This is mainly due to late prenatal care (if any) and poor nutrition. (Planned Parenthood 1) An childlike mo ther and her baby may not beguile enough nutrients and, because the mothers body is not fully mature, she may have many a(prenominal) complications throughout the duration of the pregnancy. Along with the mother, the children of teenage parents withal often become part of a cycle of poor health, school failure, and poverty.Infants born to teenage mothers are at a high risk of prematurity, fragile health, the motivation for intensive care, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and mental retardation. (Johnson 5) Low birth weight is the most immediate health problem. Babies born to teenagers are often born too small, too soon. Low birthweight babies may have immature organ systems (brain, lungs, and heart), trouble controlling body temperature and blood sugar levels, and a risk of dying in early infancy that is much igher than that of normal weight babies (five and one-half pounds or more). Calhoun 310)The death rate for babies whose mothers are under fifteen years of age is double that of b abies whose mothers are twenty to thirty years old. (Johnson 5) Because of these extremely serious problems, many government, as well as local, organizations are fighting to stop the occurence of teenage pregnancy by helping to make grow children of the risks involve and the consequences after. Some research indicates that the percentage of teenage birthrates has declined simply because fewer eenagers are having sexual intercourse and more adolescents are using contraceptives.Researchers recount that the juvenile trends in sexual activity and contraceptive use are the result of a number of factors, including greater emphasis on abstinence, more right attitudes about sex, fear of contracting sexually transmissible diseases, the popularity of long-lasting birthcontrol methods such as the contraceptive implant (Norplant) and the injectable (Depo-Provera), and even because of the economy. In addition, researchers say that young raft have become somewhat more conservativist in their views about casual ex and out-of-wedlock childbearing.Some attribute this qualify in attitude mainly to concern about sexually transmitted diseases. Others say that it is because of the involvement of conservative religious groups in the public fence in over sexual behavior. Many researchers mean that the strong economy and the change magnitude availability of jobs at minimum wage have contributed to fewer births among teenagers. (Donovan 32) Americans, however, seem to be against some of the methods used by these various organizations to reduce the teen pregnancy rates.The most controversial aspect of adolescent pregnancy bar is the growing movement to provide teenagers with easy access to contraceptives. Most Americans believe that giving teenagers birthcontrol pills and/or condoms is the same as telling them that early sex is allowed. Some studies that were conducted in Europe show that some clinics in Europe that distribute contraceptives to teenagers have the same s exual activity rate as in the United States. However, in these European studies, it is apparent that teen pregnancy, childbirth, and abortion rates areTeenage pregnancy does cause many problems for the mother, child, and economy. in that respect are, however, some incidences where the mother overcomes this down-hill trend and makes a successful life for her and her child. The military issue of teenage pregnancy turns out repair if the mother goes back to school after she has addicted birth. (Berk 190) Staying in school may help to hamper teenage mothers from having a second pregnancy. (Planned Parenthood 2) The outcome is also better if the mother continues to live with her parents so that they can help to raise the child.Young, teen mothers sine qua non health care for themselves as well as their children. An adolescent mother also needs a great deal of encouragement to get her to remain in school. Single teenage mothers also need job training so that they can get a ripe(p) job to support themselves and their children. Teen mothers need to be taught parenting and life-management skills and also need high quality and affordable daycare for their children. Schools that provide daycare centers on campus reduce the incidence of teenagers dropping out of school. These school programs also ecrease the likelihood that the teen mother will have more children. Berk 189)Because the government has begun to take action in preventing teen pregnancies, the rate has continued to decline. The large song racket of young hatful in Americaas well as the values, health, education, skills they gainwill greatly affect the future of society. Therefore, increased oversight should be given to the well-being of adolescents. Since greater care is being given to the young people, improvements are already occuring. The level of education that young people receive is much higher than that of their parents, and he expectation that young people should obtain at least some seconda ry schooling is growing.The numbers of women who have a child during their teen years is declining, and recognizing the impact of childbearing on education, parents and communities are continuing to discourage sexual activity, marriage, and motherhood at a young age. (Tunick 13) These recent trends, if continued, will more than likely educate the adolescent population about the risks and consequences of teenage pregnancy and reduce the incicence of teen pregnancy and childbirth altogether.