Introduction
Teenage pregnancy, also called adolescent pregnancy, occurs in females under the age of 20. Teenagers often experience the same type of issues, in this case, that any woman can undergo. However, those under the age of 15 will have specific problems taking note that they are not yet well prepared for the case. Concerning parental education, teenage sexual development is a normal stage, and every person must undergo the same. Therefore, for a parent, the child expects guidance in all spheres of development. The teen requires to understand his or her feelings about sexual needs, peer pressure, and how to say no. Some parents often ignore the fact that their sons and daughters have grown enough and are experiencing varied desires, and it is on this basis that many adolescents often land in trouble. The use of established (parents as teachers and changing children’s world foundation) and proposed (nurturing talent) programs offer guidelines that can be implemented in parent education methods to solve the teen pregnancy menace.
Literature Review
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines teen pregnancy on the basis of an underage girl between 15 to 19 getting pregnant. Sample communities such as those in Malaysia describe teen pregnancy referring to an unmarried girl who conceives. In such societies, it bears a significant stigma, which derails the personality of the girl, and to an extension, her family (Fletcher, & Wolfe, 2012). Moreover, girls under the age of 20 who get pregnant are accustomed to facing medical problems and obstetric issues, a situation, which may be minimal to older girls out of that bracket. On the whole, teens are not prepared for parenting roles since they are short in finance, mental, and emotional capacity to take care of a child. Consequently, such children may be exposed to abuse, neglect, and even failure at school when they grow.
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Notably, the USA ranks the highest in teen pregnancy among all developed nations. Therefore, it would mean that parenting role is not at par in the country. Parents are the most influential people to the growth of a teenager, which means that knowledge and wisdom are prerequisite requirements to guide a teenager safely. Otherwise, lack of ability to offer guidance to a child is the main recipe to teen pregnancy. In developing countries, teen pregnancies may occur in marriage, and most of them (marriages) are planned cases. In such societies, early pregnancy may combine with cases of malnutrition as well as poor healthcare, which merge to foster medical problems.
Parents are then required to equip themselves with necessary parenting skills and roles. One should be an approachable parent. As a result, a child would have an easy time talking to his or her parent without any fear. In the process, a teen may be in a position to ask question, express feelings, and even share opinions. A parent should establish rules in the family such as curfews and dating guidance (Ruedinger, & Cox, 2012): Such can occur through open and respectful family communication. Through it, a child would be in a position to adopt appropriate behaviors required of every child in a family setting. Also, parents should assist their teenagers to plan for the future. Notably, the chances of a child engaging in sexual activities that may lead to pregnancy are often slim if they have proper guidance on professions they would like to pursue in life. All in all, an affectionate relation built on firm discipline and proper communication would act to foster upright teen life.
Two PE Programs
The Changing Children’s World Foundation (CCWF)
In this program, the children, parents, and facilitators are trained to show empathy in everyday life. The program is mostly utilized in children learning and parent’s groups based in the community to enhance the productivity and positivity in children (Rudoe, 2014). As they interact in any social setting, they would do so by showing empathy at all times to impart the sense of positive views about things in life. In this way, if parents and caregivers can openly interact with teenagers by discussing issues that matter to them, it would be easier to curb pregnancies that may arise.
In particular, empathy provides the groundwork for confidence and fosters morals, which then provides the ability for the parents and caregivers to transfer their love to the teenagers for the positive development process. Notably, as the teenagers interact with others in real life, they are likely to share the right emotions with others, which then would act to foster proper morals. Notably, the show of love and affection, if evidenced in all teens, it would foster proper morals, thus enhance development into responsible adults.
Parents as Teachers Program
In this program, a parent is trained to take the role of offering guidance and teaching to the child right from birth to teenage life. The personnel often reach the parents through various social gatherings such as schools, churches, and hospitals. In specific cases, they visit homes to advise the parents. With this in mind, personnel often offer resources and knowledge so that responsible caregivers can foster positive growth in their teens. One crucial advantage to this program is that the parent and teacher can collaborate to give optimal guidance towards the growth of a child since both have an elaborate understanding of the child’s life from a different environment.
However, some parents may be preoccupied with career roles, which may deter their ability to cater to the development of the child. Based on this demerit, the personnel responsible for the civic education would then advice such parents on how it is crucial to get involved in the development process of a child. The dispatched training is essential in educating the children to become responsible members of the society when they grow up.
The Nurturing Parenting Program & Nurturing Talent (Own) Program
In this program, various models are given to parents so that they can adopt the right attitude and skills to deal with the sons and daughters, especially from age 11. The personnel for this program often offer various materials and resources, which can be used to teach the children in the right way of life (Cook, & Cameron, 2015). From the website based platform, the prices of resource listings are low priced as they range from $0 to $25 in value. Notably, nurturing parenting programs deals with parents solely as it gives them the ability and skills to work around with the children in the most appropriate way. As a result, the skills they learn from the resources can be used to impact the lives of their children.
Other than nurturing parenting, parents can impact the lives of their children through nurturing talent. In this case, the focus is on training parents to have the ability to effectively identify unique interests and talent among their children. After such an identification, parents endeavor to make an impact by keeping the teens involved in their respective interests. As noted previously, the chances of a child engaging in sexual activities that may lead to pregnancy are often slim if they have proper guidance on professions they would like to pursue in life. In a similar way, engaging in art and sports among other notable interests distracts children from unhealthy behavior.
Conclusion
Teen pregnancy is risky due to involved issues accustomed to girls of between 15 and 19 years. Most of such cases are attributed to poor parenting skills, which is neglectful and improper. In most cases, the affected teenagers often do not have proper communication channels that they can use to air problems they have appropriately. As a result, they end up in immoral behaviors, which in some communities, fosters stigma. As a solution, three programs are discussed in this excerpt including parents as teachers, the changing children’s world foundation (CCWF), and the nurturing parenting program. In each case, training resources are availed to the parents and caregivers so that they can guide their children most appropriately.
References
Cook, S. M., & Cameron, S. T. (2015). Social issues of teenage pregnancy. Obstetrics, Gynaecology & Reproductive Medicine , 25 (9), 243-248.
Fletcher, J. M., & Wolfe, B. L. (2012). The effects of teenage fatherhood on young adult outcomes. Economic Inquiry , 50 (1), 182-201.
Rudoe, N. (2014). Becoming a young mother: Teenage pregnancy and parenting policy. Critical social policy , 34 (3), 293-311.
Ruedinger, E., & Cox, J. E. (2012). Adolescent childbearing: consequences and interventions. Current opinion in pediatrics , 24 (4), 446-452.
