Teen Pregnancy

Cellisa Elzy

25 March 2014

Cellisa Elzy Mrs.Verdun

Eng IV, 8B 25 March 2014 The definition of love is a deep feeling of sexual attraction and desire. (Harper) So, when teens have sex and become pregnant, were they actually in love when doing the deed? A teen being sexually active has been stirring up controversy from way back in the 1950s. The entire world is divided on whether teens should be able to be sexually active. According to Psychology Today, one in seven teenagers who end up pregnant reported having sex before the age of 15. The problem with teens is that they dont think about the consequences of making a child. Half of the teens that got pregnant said they werent using any contraceptive, and 31% said they didn't think they could get pregnant at the time. (Roan) They are missing out on so much and they dont even realize it.

Teens have a combination of hormones and being nave, it happens all the time and they usually call it love. In reality the average person doesnt find out the person they want to be until their mid or late-20s, so the person theyre in love with will most likely change in next seven years. According to Sarah Kreshaw of the New York Times, today teenage marriages are two to three times more likely to end in divorce than are marriages between people 25 years of age and older. So, even if these pregnant teens, made it right 48% of them will not work and will a divorce by the age of 25. As irresponsible as teens are, they dont buy any contraceptives or talk to anyone about having sex, so they eventually make babies. They maybe think they will get independence from their parents or their parents treat them like babies, their boyfriend is not in love like they are and they want to make him stay, they think they will get respect from their peers, or theyve experienced child abuse early on in their life at least once or twice. As quiet as its kept children that undergo child abuse are 25% more likely to become a statistic of teen pregnancy.(National Child Abuse Statistics) Whats really sad is that theyre not really understanding the mistake is very stressful, pricey, and time consuming, 3 of which the average teenager does not have.

The first thing they will experience is confusion because it maybe wasnt reaction they wanted or hoped for from their parents or significant other or their parents. They may even have any feelings of resentment. They may have never thought teen pregnancy would happen to them. For some teens there are 3 options, abortion, adoption, and parenting. However, seeing that abortion can cost anywhere between $300 all the way up to $1000 and adoption is something a lot of people are against, keeping the baby may have been the only option, so there are regrets of even having sex without contraception.(Fiano) Teen mothers are judged so much today, a lot of times their friends either start judging them and leave them alone or their friends parents stop them from being friends claiming that the teen mom is a bad influence or even bad for their children to hang around. To top it all, 25 percent of teen mothers experience postpartum depression(Nauret). Acccording to Cancer.org, teen moms have 2 times more chance of getting cervical cancer than a woman who has gotten pregnant at 25 or older. Not to mention, do to complications, a under developed body, and little pre-natal care, babies are most likely to die during their first

year of life from teen mothers rather than mothers thats 20 years old or older.(Eden) Needless not to say, to me, its just not worth it, and I would rather stick to absence. Tons of teen mothers dont have jobs when they make the baby so there is no income to support the child. Combining numerous doctor appointments, days of being so sick you cant go to school, an extra month after you have the baby, and days when you absolutely can not find a babysitter, you are missing a lot of days of school. Thirty percent of teen moms drop out of school, and fewer than that follow on to college.(Volny) Going back will be harder because the class doesnt wait for you and you are missing valuable instruction time, making it easier to fail. Depending on your parents to pick you up if you fall is and has been a second nature since birth, but when youve proven to them that you are independent or grown, whos going to help? All you have left is your boyfriend (whos probably in school also) and his parents, but theyre not always there. According to StayTeen.org, three in ten teenagers will get pregnant at least once before their 20 years old. Thats almost 750,000 teenagers being careless and losing out on so much of opportunity and 187,500 of those teen moms will have a

second child within two years of the first one.(Know The Facts) Thats 750,000 to 937,500 babies without a steady Mommy and Daddy home. These girls will not be able to live like a normal teenager or in some cases graduate on time. You may think having a baby will make your relationship even stronger, but the fact is 8 out of 10 fathers don't marry the mother of their child, says StayTeen.com. The reason for that is because your personality changes in time. You will not be the same person in your thirties as you were when you were seventeen. This sparks a problem because its giving the father a reason to leave and giving you a harder life. Aside from the obvious, Teen pregnancy has a lot more cons than pros. For one you cant really celebrate your babys coming like a normal mother because of the negative attention you will get all the time. Its a constant thing, people saying things to hurt your feelings like, Her life is over., I bet she doesnt know who the father is. , and She will never live a normal life. Those insults are only as true as you make it. Its really your choice on whether you want to carry on with your life or purchase contraceptives before anything happens that you might regret. Being a teenager will consistently effect your decision making, because we always make choices

based on our emotions. Never make permanent decisions on temporary feelings because its only going to hurt you in the long run.

Lastly, we will talk about stopping the issue before it becomes a bigger problem. Talking to your parents about sex will help a lot more than you assuming about things. They may even help you get contraceptives or tell you to wait to have sex, but who says thats such a bad thing. If talking to your parents is so hard, talk to a big cousin or older sibling, whats the worst that can happen other than them talking your head off about STDs, STIs, birth control, and absence. According to planned parenthood.org, ongoing dialogue makes parents and teens closer, and decreases your risk of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. Most likely your parents already know a lot about staying sexually healthy, knowing theyve lived through it already. The sex talk might even make you and your parent or parents have more trust within each other. Although, they might not support you having sex, at least they know your safe and well protected. Thats better than shocking your parents with the Mom, Dad, Im pregnant. Conversation. After all, it will help in the long run.

Cellisa Elzy Mrs. Verdun Eng IV,8B

25 March 2014 Bibliography Marcotte, Amanda. "Tackling Teen Pregnancy." The Daily Beast. Newsweek/Daily Beast, 17 Sept. 2013. Web. 06 Feb. 2014. Kershaw, Sarah. "Now, the Bad News on Teenage Marriage." Www.nytimes.com. The New York Times, 3 Sept. 2008. Web. 22 Mar. 2014. Fiano, Cassy. "LifeNews.com." LifeNews.com. Life News, 23 Aug. 2013. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. Folny, Renee, MD. "TheGrio." TheGrio. TheGrio, 28 Aug. 2012. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. Roan, Shari. "U.S. Teen Pregnancy Rate Remains Highest in Developed World." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 19 Jan. 2012. Web. 05 Feb. 2014. "Teenage Pregnancy and Social Disadvantage: Systematic Review Integrating Controlled Trials and Qualitative Studies." Home. BMJ Publishing Group Ltd, 12 Nov. 2012. Web. 05 Feb. 2014. "Teenage Pregnancy." HealthyChildren.org. American Academy of Pediatrics, 31 July 2013. Web. 05 Feb. 2014. Allen, Colin. "Peer Pressure and Teen Sex." Psychology Today: Health, Help, Happiness Find a Therapist. Psychology Today, 1 May 2003. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.

"Teenage Pregnancy: Medical Risks and Realities." WebMD. WebMD, 12 Nov. 2012. Web. 04 Feb. 2014. Harper, Douglas. "Love." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, 2010. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. "National Child Abuse Statistics." Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse. Child Help, 2014. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.

Eden, Elizabeth, MD. "A Guide to Pregnancy Complications." HowStuffWorks. How Stuff Works, 2013. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.

"Know the Facts." Stay Teen. Stay Teen, 2012. Web. 23 Mar. 2014.

"Info For Teens." Talking With Your Parents About Sex. Planned Parenthood, 2013. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.