Sally Kanu

Professor Camargo

English 1102

30 April 2014

Teenage Pregnancy

Cause, Effect, and Prevention

There is growing epidemic that is affecting communities worldwide. Teenage pregnancy has grown tremendously over the last few years. 34.2 out of every 1,000 teenage girls between the ages of 15 and 19 becoming mothers. Nonetheless, states are continuing to restrict abortion, and easy access to emergency contraception is still a matter of debate. (FloridaJohnson2013)

Who do we blame? Culture, television shows, parents, friends, school, the government? The United States of America takes the lead in the world in inappropriate teenage pregnancies

which also leads to some educational and societal consequences. The life of teenage parent may lead to dropping out of school, depending on welfare, poverty stricken, and other hardships (Foster 1990). According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy three in ten teenage American girls will get pregnant at least once before the age of twenty. Thats nearly seven hundred and fifty thousand teen pregnancies every year (National Campaign). At the age of seventeen years old I was Miss. Garinger, Senior Prom Queen, accepted to Duke and Chapel Hill, a high school graduate, a college freshman, and a teenage mother. Life took a turn at young tender age of seventeen, I didnt know if it was turning for the worse or better. My goal out of high school was to go to college and graduate as a Physician Assistant, but those plans were put on a standstill as I prepared to endure the challenge of becoming a teenage mother. I love my handsome son named Jayden, but the timing of his blessed arrival wasnt particularly the best time.

Adolescents, roughly fifty percent of them, never imagined how becoming pregnant would change their lives immediate following the birth of a child (Eleven Facts). Becoming a mother, whether as a teenager or an adult, you have to be prepared mentally, physically, emotionally, and definitely financially secure. Susan Phipps-Yonas, a clinical psychologist whom wrote several journals, stated that while the typical teenage girl is biologically ready for motherhood, a complex set of social and psychological variables leads those least well-suited for the role into becoming teenage parents. Although the body is able, the mind and situation of a teenage individual is not capable to raise a child being a child themselves. Advocating against teen pregnancy, mentoring and educating the youth are beneficial influences towards handling such a growing epidemic.

In regards to teenage pregnancy, is poverty a cause or effect factor? Or maybe even both? Living in poverty and enduring the hardships of being poor causes many stress on individuals. When considering how teenage pregnancy and poverty relate it is important to consider poverty as a factor among others in leading to teenage pregnancy. Poverty is an outcome of teenage pregnancy, not only for the teenage parents but the child as well. According to Teenage Pregnancy and Poverty, in a 2010 report using 2006 data it showed the top three states and their rankings in terms of both teenage pregnancy and poverty. Texas, the leader in teen pregnancy rates, is ninth in the nation in the poverty rankings. New Mexico is second in teenage pregnancy rates, and third in poverty rankings. Mississippi is third in teen pregnancies, and the highest rate of poverty in the country. It has been reported that only a third of teenage mothers graduate and achieve a high school diploma; even teenage fathers finish fewer years of school than men who become fathers when they are older, leaving both parents unable to take of themselves and provide a better living for their child (PregnancyTeenHelp). Additionally the National Campaign

to Prevent Teen Pregnancy has reported that a minimum of seventy five percent of teen mothers who are unmarried will be on welfare within five years of the birth of their first child (National Campaign). This research concurs with feedback from a young African-American female during an interview I conducted. She stated she had her son at the age of sixteen years old and also gave birth to a baby girl a year after the birth of her son. She dropped out of school, but years later she obtained her GED. She stated being a young parent is a difficult task and the only way she is surviving is through assistance from the government i.e. SNAP benefits (food stamps), section eight housing development, Medicaid, Childcare Resource and Work First. The struggle of being a young mother and father puts a toll on their young lives; teenage parenthood: is the survival of the fittest!

Is being pregnant becoming a trend? Shows such as Sixteen and Pregnant and Teen Mom display the major conflicts, stress, depression, and struggle of raising a child at a young age. With shows that broadcast the difficulty of teenaged pregnancy, why are the rates of this epidemic increasing? Are these shows hurting or helping the situation of teenage pregnancy? I personally watch both shows on MTV and I think the shows have a negative and positive effect on teenage pregnancy. The positivity of the shows is the display of the difficulty of raising child when youre not financially secured and mentally prepared to handle the duties of being a mother or father. Like a coin, it has two sides, although positive the broadcasting of young individuals on reality television making money from their situation; some teenagers were getting pregnant on purpose to make it on the show. I created a survey about whether the reality television shows had a negative or positive effect on teenage pregnancy, and dispersed the survey amongst my English-1102 classmates. Thirteen out of sixteen students responded that the reality television shows, Sixteen and Pregnant and Teen Mom, had a negative effect on teenage pregnancy. One

interesting response I received from a classmate stated how teenagers who are supposedly poor and struggling, can afford the houses and cars they have, its not showing the reality of being a teenage parent because the teens are able to support themselves with money they received from being on the reality television show is bogus!

Besides reality shows, media has other influences on youth and teenage pregnancy. From videos and shows it displays good feeling of sex and the bad consequences of sex. Young people are overexposed to sex and not sex education. Lack of sex education is another big factor towards the cause of the growing epidemic of teenage pregnancy. In survey conducted in English 1102 sixteen of sixteen students, 100 %, all stated that education is key in prevention of teenage pregnancy whether its from school or home. In the Teenage Pregnancy survey the feedback in regards to prevention included knowledge of sexual issues such as the cause and effects of teenage pregnancy, sexual transmitted diseases, HIV, overall norms and behavior of sex, abstinence, protection barriers (condoms), and communication with adults is detrimental in prevention of teenage pregnancy and other sexual consequences. What you dont know, majority of the time can hurt you; if I knew then what I know now, I would have made better decisions. I do not regret the blessing that was received, but the timing of occurrence wasnt stable. I was seventeen and confused with a newborn, now twentythree with a handsome six year old son. My son is my motivation. To provide a better life and future for us, I set out to accomplish goals that were put on hold in regards to being a teenaged single paren. I went back to college and graduated, bought a house, financially secured and now back in school to further my career in healthcare. I mentor a lot of teenage pregnant girls, those who are teenage mothers and those who are not. I encourage the soon to be young mothers to

complete school, stay focused, stay motivated for not only themselves but most importantly for the life and future of their child. To the girls who have not experienced the life of teenage parenthood I educate them about avoidance of teenage pregnancy, to practice abstinence or safe sex, and preach that although their body is able they are not able to endure the challenge of being a mother. Advocating against Teenage Pregnancy and educating those on prevention will make a difference not only in the lives of the teenagers; but also of the parents, guardians and society. Helping the youth will help save their future!

Works Cited

FLORIDA, R., & JOHNSON, S. (2013, May 22). The New Geography of Teen Mothers. The Atlantic Cities Place Matters. Retrieved April 22, 2014, from http://www.theatlanticcities.com/neighborhoods/2013/05/geography-teen-mothers/5493/

Foster, Henry W. "A Model for Increasing Access: Teenage Pregnancy Prevention.Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved. 1.1 (1990): 136-46. Print.

N.p. Web. 22 Mar 2014. <http://www.pregnantteenhelp.org/teenage-pregnancyand/teenage-pregnancy-and-poverty/>.

Phipps-Yonas, Susan. "Teenage Pregnancy and Motherhood: A Review of the Literature.American Journal of Orthopsychiatry.50.3 (1980): 403-431. Print.

"Who We Are." The National Campaign. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2014.