Teenage pregnancy represents a situation where female adolescents get pregnant at ages between thirteen and nineteen. In recent times, there has been a consequent rise in teen pregnancy most of which are mistakes and entirely unplanned and which leads to abortions and severe healthcare risks. Statistics indicate that teen pregnancy is rampant in the USA. Teenage pregnancy is commonly associated with things like engaging in sexual activities at young ages, peer pressure, and lack of information and education about reproduction.
Although some teenage pregnancies are completely intentional, most of them are unintentional and they come along with severe negative impacts on the child, mother, and the family as a whole. Most teenage mothers tend to lack necessary resources that can enable them to maintain healthy habits during pregnancy to make sure they give birth to healthy kids. These young girls often fail to complete their studies and this begins a perpetual cycle in that their child may likely be a teenage parent. The paper will, therefore, examine the issue of teen pregnancy, facts about it and why it is important to study teen pregnancy. In this analysis, there will be a discussion of a sociological theory related to teen pregnancy and an excellent recommendation of possible ways of curbing this problem.
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The Need to Understand Teenage Pregnancy
Given that the issue of teen pregnancy is very critical in the society, it is important to analyse it entirely. Teen pregnancy has many risks and impacts. In the United States, the costs of teen pregnancies per year right from public assistance, involvement with the criminal justice system, lost tax revenues, and child healthcare is approximately $7 billion. Mostly, low income for mothers is associated with teenage births hence about 80% of teen mothers are likely to depend on welfare (McElroy & Moore, 2018). Also, studies indicate that only a third of the teen mothers manage to get to high school, which indicates that most of them end up dropping out of school. In light of this, these young mothers end up lacking full qualifications for appropriate jobs in the future, hence they settle on low wage jobs or even remain unemployed. Further, this contributes to poor living conditions and unsafe environment for the baby. Following these consequences, it is necessary to carry out studies on these issues to establish possible causes and how this issue can be managed.
Facts about Teenage Pregnancy
A lot of research has been done on the issue of teen pregnancy and the researchers have established several facts. First, it is clear that most high school students have engaged in sexual intercourse at least once or better still had sexual encounters. Secondly, 80% of teenage pregnancies are accidental and unplanned. They happen before these youngsters are ready to comprehend the implications and hustles of parenthood. Studies indicate that 70% of the African-American teens and 78% of the American teens get pregnant while still teenagers due to the barriers in communication between them and their parents ( SmithBattle, 2018 ). Parents are too busy at work to set some time aside to talk to their children and give them advice on their lifestyle. Thirdly, about half of the American teenage population are already sexually active and this increases the risk of teenage pregnancy and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Generally, according to many studies that have been carried out, it is clear that the risk of teenage pregnancy is very high within our society and it is about time the society together with the government join hands to help eliminate it.
Sociological Theory
The Social Conflict theory argues that human behavior in a particular social context is as a result of the presence of conflicts between competing groups. When it comes to teen pregnancy, the two parties which can get into conflicts is the youths are and their parents. Children and parents are always at loggerheads given that parents demand obedience from their kids whereas the kids demand privacy sometimes. Teen pregnancy s therefore considered a form of rebellion and several parents tend to chase the girls away instead of supporting them emotionally and psychologically (SmithBattle, 2018). Similarly, some parents push the girls to do abortion or even end up giving the children for adoption, which in return causes resentments in the family. Another conflict arises between teenagers and other taxpayers. Some people may feel that paying tax for young mothers is a huge burden. Teen pregnancy has also caused a conflict between media and society. This is because society feels like some programmes such as “16 and pregnant” which are aired by televisions are meant to glamorize and promote teen pregnancy. The advantage of this theory is that it enables one to see views of both sides of any conflict whereas the disadvantage is that the theory allows only two radical and extremely different opinions.
Prevention of Teen Pregnancies
As earlier discussed, teenage pregnancies can have negative repercussion on the baby, the mother as well as the whole family. The best way of preventing these challenges is by encouraging teenagers to abstain from sexual intercourse. Abstinence from any form of sexual encounters ensures that one is free from any risks of getting pregnant (Custodio et al., 2018). The method is the best since it also helps in the prevention of contracting sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS.
Another way of preventing teenage pregnancies is the use of contraceptives during sexual intercourse. Different statistics indicate that many of the teenagers did not use any form of contraception during their last sexual encounters since their partners did not approve of it (Martinez & Abma, 2015). Providing education so such teens on the essence of contraceptives can help them to change their behaviors and perceptions towards engaging in safe sex.
Finally, it is important that parents and teenagers engage in constant communications. Breaking the communication barriers that exist between parents and their teenage sons and daughters allows the children to understand the physical and emotional changes taking place in their bodies. The parents influence the decisions made by their children more than any other party such as the media or society. Therefore, taking the initiative of starting conversations about safe sex at the family unit can be beneficial as far as managing teenage pregnancies is concerned.
Conclusion
It is important for any member of society to take part in averting the issue of teenage pregnancies. Advising the teens alone can go a long way in molding them and guiding them through the journey of growth and development into adulthood. The government on its part should improve on sex education in all educational levels. These measures will ensure that there is a reduction in cases of unplanned pregnancies, which have negative effects on the teenagers’ mental, psychological and emotional wellbeing.
References
Custodio, N., Gomez, R., Mejicanos-Portillo, K., & Templeman, J. (2018). Teen Pregnancy Prevention: Nine Minutes to Avoid Nine Months.
Martinez, G. M., & Abma, J. C. (2015). Sexual activity, contraceptive use, and childbearing of teenagers aged 15–19 in the United States.
McElroy, S. W., & Moore, K. A. (2018). Trends over time in teenage pregnancy and childbearing: the critical changes. In Kids having kids (pp. 23-53). Routledge.
SmithBattle, L. (2018). 4 Teen Mothering in the United States: Fertile Ground for Shifting the Paradigm. Re/Assembling the Pregnant and Parenting , 75.
