Research Paper on Teen Pregnancy

Teenage Pregnancy: Who’s To Blame? Over the past 10 years, teenage pregnancy has escalated about 10%. As the years pass, more blames for teen pregnancy come up. The first few years that teen pregnancy became a problem, the people blamed the girl that became pregnant. Then as it progressed worse and worse, the blame pointed to the father of the unborn child. When the movie “June’ came out in around 2009 that became blame. Then came “16 and pregnant” and “Teen Mom”.
Hollywood started clamoring teen pregnancy pretty much saying its okay to be a teen mom because you can become ammos. This made the girls of the U. S think “Maybe since these girls are becoming famous for being a teen mom maybe I can too”. Then there’s the no sex education in the schools. Schools these days think that all teens know about sex so why teach it? Teenage pregnancies are 100% preventable. Teenagers should make the right decision and choose abstinence. If they choose to have premarital sex then they should take the right precautions to prevent pregnancies.
Media and society plays a huge role in teen pregnancy. “16 and pregnant” is a show that publicizes pregnant teenage girls. It shows their struggles in life as a pregnant teen, how they try to deal with the Judgment of their peers, trying to go through school, having the baby, and trying to be a teenager. Another blame for teen pregnancy is peer pressure. Friends getting pregnant and boyfriends are the main peer pressure girls get. When a friend gets pregnant some girls get Jealous of the attention their friend is getting so they go and get pregnant so they can have the attention too.

Then there’s the boyfriend factor; most teenage boys are sexually active and continue that way with all the girls he boy comes in contact with. Most guys think “Oh well since all these girls she hangs around with are doing it I’ll push her into doing it with me”, or they’ll pull the “if you love me” card. As a teenage girl there are many things going through your mind when a boy likes you and wants to have relations with you. You think about if he really loves you, if he’ll leave you if you don’t do it, etc. Cost teenage girls that become pregnant will tell you miss, I became pregnant to maintain a stable relationship with my boyfriend”. There are also many schools that don’t offer sex education. Most schools already have a high number of teenage pregnancies so they don’t think they need it because most of the kids there are already sexually active. The other half of schools that do offer sex education, don’t have any kids that sign up for the class. In 2009-12 there are more teenagers out there that are sexually active then there ever has before.
Sex education is the place where kids learn about sex and how to take the right precautions to maintain health. A living environment is also to blame. If a teenage girl lives in a not so good part of town and her mother was also a teen mom, that girl might become a teen mother. Yes, a girl may not become a teen mom in those living environments, but they also can come in contact other bad influences. Most girls that are pregnant, and or have had sex stated that they were either intoxicated or under the influence of illegal drugs.
Parent’s are also a blame for teenage pregnancies. When parent doesn’t have tell the child about sex or having babies, it hurts the child in the long run because when contraceptives. Also, when a parent drills into their kids’ heads “don’t have sex or lull be tramp” “don’t get pregnant or I’ll kick you out and you’ll be homeless”, and try to restrict the kid from dating, talking to, hanging out with, or any type of contact with the opposite sex will cause the child to rebel against their parent’s thus having sex and getting pregnant.
In 2009, 1 of 11 year olds have had sex, 2. 4% of 12 year olds, even though pregnancy at these ages is very rare, sexual activity is more likely to be in the teens. 5. 4% of 13 year olds, 11% of 14 year olds, 20% of 15 year olds, 33% of 16 year olds, more than half of the teens 17 to 19 said that they were sexually active UT 25% said they have not until the age of 20 (Gale, 2007). The average age of a teen having premarital sex is 16. 4 years in Caucasians and 15. 5 years in African Americans (Talk of the Nation, 2008).
It is estimated that 19% of teenage girls who get pregnant opt for abortion, with about 52% of women younger than 25 years old getting abortions. Of the girls who give birth, most decide to keep their babies. Between 1982 and 1988, only 3% of Caucasian girls gave up tier babies for adoption, compared to the 19% between 1965 and 1972. That figure is even smaller for African American arils. These figures still hold generally the truth now days (World of health, 2007). Not only does premarital sex without contraceptives lead to pregnancy it also leads to Studs that can lead to permanent sickness and even death.
Teenage mothers are at more risk of health problems than adult mothers. They are more open to dieses such as tootsie, anemia, and upperclassman. The number one contraceptive used by teenagers is birth control. It is 100% effective if taken the right way. The pro side of teen pregnancy is that you get to have a baby and that’s about it. The con side of teen regency is that you are a child your self and you are in your teens you are suppose to have fun and live life.
Teen pregnancy is becoming an epidemic and it needs to stop because the abortion rate is sky rocketing, babies are being left out in the rain with no parental guidance. Yes, there are some teens out there that are great parent’s but they are very slim. When it comes to having children, teenagers are not able to raise them because they are children themselves. If teenagers think they are mature enough to have premarital sex then they should make the mature decision to prevent pregnancies.