Topic: Teen Pregnancy: Is it lack of education or lack of parenting?

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IMac Magazine Teens today continue to get pregnant at an alarming rate. i can't help but wonder if it is because parents don't want to talk about sex or the impact of sex with their child. Parents today believe that they will have a better relationship with the child if they act more like a friend than as a parent. A parent can be both. You need to draw a line between the two and let your child know where that line is. Ignoring it isn't going to make the situation go away or make your child not have sex. Don't feel uncomfortable about talking about sex, diseases, and pregnancy. It is a part of life and unfortunately, no matter how much you want to tell people or believe that your child is a perfect child and is going to wait......99.9% chance, they are sexually active. Parents need to pull their heads out of the sand and acknowledge that we have a serious issue here. Educating your child on sex, the consequences of having sex, and the proper protection needs to be addressed by the parents and not by our educational institutions. It is not up to our school educators to properly inform our children on safe sex; it is up to the parents. Parents need to take responsibility of their children and their actions. It is so easy to blame our education system when we fail as parents, but come on, put blame where it really belongs, on ourselves as parents and not on our schools. Until we put blame where it belongs, protecting our children and educating them properly on sex, there will never be a resolution. It is only going to get worse. When you become a grandmother or grandfather because your 14 year old daughter or son wasn't educated properly because you chose not to speak with your child about sex, you are to blame and no one else. If that child is neglected and abused because your child doesn't have the patience to deal with an infant, you again are to blame. Your responsibility to your child is to teach them right from wrong. You are to teach them about the consequences of their actions. Give them the tools they need to stand on their own two feet, to make them strong enough to deal with all that life has to throw at them. Whether you are dealt a good hand or a bad hand in life, is moot. What is important is how you play your hand. Teach your child how to be the best that they can be and be accepting of your child. Accept who they are and be willing to listen to them. Have a two-way conversation with them about sex, about drugs, about life. Let your child express who they are, don't suffocate the, be honest with them, and never turn your back on them; no matter what. You might be pleasantly surprised. They might be more open to talking to you about personal issues. So read on and let me know what you believe and think. Would love to hear from you! Teen pregnancy is a serious consequence of early initiation of sexual activity. Other serious consequences to teen pregnancy are unattended birth, late or no prenatal care, decreased employment opportunities, and reduced educational attainment. Infants of teenage mothers are at greater risk of low birth rate and infant mortality. In the United State, adolescents between the age of 15 and 19 are getting pregnant at an alarming rate. In 1996, the pregnancy rate among the non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic teens is two times more than the non-Hispanic white. Socioeconomic factors and limited life options, place many youth at higher risk for unintended pregnancy. Early attempts at preventing teen pregnancy often ignored the complex relationship between development, environment, and behavior. The programs, "abstinence only" and those that focus on increasing knowledge, have not been effective in reducing the rate of unintended pregnancies. Adolescent behaviors are shaped by the desire to fit in with a particular group of peers or be accepted, or wanting to grow up too quickly. If early sexual behavior is the only perceived option to achieve these objectives, teens may choose it. Teenage pregnancy is defined as a teenaged or under aged girl (usually between the ages of 13-19) becoming pregnant. The term in everyday terminology usually refers to women who have not reached legal adulthood. Save the Children found that complications of pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of mortality among women between the ages of 15-19. The teenage birth rate in the U.S. is the highest in the developed world, and the teenage abortion rate is also high. Peer pressure is a factor in encouraging boys and girls to have sex. Another factor is inhibition-reducing drugs and alcohol, that influence teenagers to engage in riskier behavior or whether teenagers who engage in drug use are more likely to engage in sex. The correlation between drugs and alcohol and sexual activity does not imply causation. The drugs with the strongest evidence linking to teenage pregnancy are cannabis, alcohol, and amphetamines, including ecstasy . The drugs with the least amount of evidence, I found to support links to early pregnancy are opiates, such as heroin, morphine, and oxycodone, of which a well-known effect is the significant reduction in libido. It appears that teenage opiate users have significantly reduced rates of conception compared to their no-using, cannabis, alcohol, and amphetamine using peers. Most adolescents lack knowledge of, or access to conventional methods of preventing unwanted pregnancy. They may have been too embarrassed to ask or frightened to seek the proper information.

Causes Of Teenage Pregnancy

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Causes Of Teenage Pregnancy

The Causes of Teenage pregnancy from: Obviously, the reason at the base of any pregnancy is sexual intercourse. But many researchers would like to know why the phenomenon of teenage pregnancy is so widespread. The easiest answer is that teens want to become pregnant; while this is not untrue in all cases, at least 80% of teen pregnancies are unintentional. Research has shown that one of the causes of teenage pregnancy is the lack of a sense of personal responsibility for their actions, lack of maturity, and most importantly a lack of knowledge regarding sexual intercourse and contraception. Related to this, teenage pregnancy is often closely associated with poverty, limited education and employment opportunities. 53% of teens admit not understanding sex or birth control and this is a reflection of one of the most fundamental causes of teenage pregnancy, ignorance. Indeed, teens in America, especially girls, are bombarded with mixed messages concerning sex. Sexis seen as immediate gratification with no consequences, but preparing for sex makes a girl promiscuous. Sex is seen all over the television and in movies, but equal treatment for birth control methods is completely absent. Open discussions about sex are very rare. If an adolescent female experiences low expectations for her future or lack of control over her life, she is more likely to become pregnant. Depression in general is another one of the causes of teenage pregnancy, leading girls to engage in risky sexual activity. Abuse of alcohol or drugs also leads to poor choices about sex and contraception, often ending up in pregnancy. Growing up in a family without an adequate amount of love or a father figure could also be one of the causes of teenage pregnancy; an adolescent girl will fall prey to the attentions of an older man in the hopes of receiving affection. Most girls are pressured by their boyfriends into having sex because they believe this will make their boyfriends love them more....(http://www.oppapers.com/essays/Causes-TeenagePregnancy/131533?read_essay)

Causes of Teenage Pregnancy

Kristen Miller, Yahoo! Contributor Network

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Dec 15, 2006 "Contribute content like this. Start Here." MORE: Teenage Pregnancy Teenage Mothers Teenage Stress Cognition Teenage Years

Teenage pregnancy is a growing problem in America. Teenage mothers often drop out of school and end up on welfare, barely able to support their child. Sometimes, teenagers who give birth do not live through the ordeal, as their bodies are not ready to handle the stress of childbirth. Why do teenage girls get pregnant? The answer is, there are many causes of teenage pregnancy.

The lack of education on safe sex, be it from parents, schools, or otherwise, is a cause of teenage pregnancy. Many teenagers are not taught about methods of birth control and how to deal with peers who pressure them into having sex before they are ready. According to the article "Lack of Parental Guidance Contributes to Teen Pregnancy", many pregnant teenagers do not have any cognition of the central facts of sexuality" (2). Emily claims that she was pressured into having sex with her boyfriend when she was thirteen and that no one had taught her how to deal with this pressure and to say "no". Emily wound up pregnant but aborted the child, as she felt there was no way that she, at thirteen, could take care of a baby. Felisha went to a high school in the mid-west that did not have sex education classes and Felisha's parents did not discuss sex in the house. At sixteen, Felisha became pregnant by having unprotected sex with her boyfriend, Jake. Due to complications during birth, Felisha's daughter did not live. Her parents were very ashamed of Felisha for getting into this situation, but she was upset with her parents for not discussing with her the facts about safe sex. The lack of safe sex education is just one cause of teenage pregnancy.Lack of parental guidance and supervision is a major cause of teenage pregnancy. Most teenage mothers have not been educated about sex prior to becoming pregnant, due in part to a lack of communication between the

teenager and her parents. According to the article "Lack of Parental Guidance Contributes to Teen Pregnancy", parents sometimes knowingly provide false information about sex to discourage their children from participating in it (2). Kira became pregnant at fourteen because, she says, her mother did not have "the talk" with her and failed to inform her about birth control. Susan's parent's only words to her about sex were "don't do it". She became pregnant at sixteen and her parents were shocked. Susan claimed that if her parents had been more open with her about sex, she may not have gotten pregnant at such an early age. Lisa became pregnant at seveteen years of age. She suffered a miscarriage when her boyfriend, John, beat her up when she told him she was pregnant and he claimed it wasn't his. Lisa says it could have been avoided if she had a more open communication line between herself and her parents. Parental guidance and supervision is an integral part of keeping teenage girls from becoming pregnant. Exploitation by older men is a cause of pregnancy among teenagers. Often times, a girl who is impregnated by an older man has been raped, sometimes even by a family member. In one study, the abuser was six or more years the senior of the victim (Stock 4). Girls who have suffered sexual abuseat some point in their lives are more likely to become teenage mothers. According to Jacqueline L. Stock, "those who reported sexual abuse were three times as likely as those who had not experienced abuse to become pregnant before eighteen years of age" (1). Crystal was seventeen years old when she became pregnant by her brother's friend, who was four years older than her. She kept the baby and has been in contact with the man. Unfortunately, she also dropped out of high school half way through her senior year so that she could stay home and take care of her son, David. At fifteen years old, Alannah entered a relationship with a man twice her age named Mark. The relationship ended when Mark raped her when she told him she didn't want to have sex with him. Alannah aborted the pregnancy but lives with those memories everyday. Tanya was sexually abused by an uncle who lived with her between the ages of five and eleven. At fifteen, Tanya became pregnant by her boyfriend Chris, who was sixteen. Tanya opted to keep her baby and has recieved no support from Chris. Tanya left public school and started schooling through a correspondence school so that she could stay home and take care of her daughter, Alexis, while also attempting to finish high school. Older men having sex with younger girls is a big cause of teenage pregnancy. It's no secret that teenage pregnancy is a common thing to see these days. There are many causes of teenage pregnancy, ranging from lack of parental guidance, to not being educated on safe sex, to peer pressure, to sexual abuse and rape. The fact is, with a little communication and education, the number of teenage girls who become

mothers can be drastically reduced. -----tock, Jacqueline L., Michelle A. Bell, Debra K. Boyen, and Frederick A. Connell. "Sexual Abuse is a Factor in Teenage Pregnancy". Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Galenet. OCCC LRC. 1 Mar. 2004. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/100858/causes_of_teenage_pregnancy_pg3.html?cat=25

What are the factors that lead to high rate of teenage pregnancy in England
Date Published: 26th February 2010 carolyn2010RSS Introduction Teenage pregnancy refers to a situation in which under age girls usually between the ages of thirteen and seventeen become pregnant. In different parts of the world, the term may vary because definitions of the age of consent or social economic conditions may determine when women are regarded as having reached legal adulthood. For purposes of this paper, special attention shall be given to England. Factors that lead to high rate of teenage pregnancy in England England has recorded the highest pregnancy rate in Western Europe and this has attracted a lot of government attention to the issue. Policy strategies have indicated that some of the factors causing teenage pregnancy include the lack of opportunity, deprivation, reception of mixed sexual messages and lack of knowledge about contraception. While all the latter factors may be instrumental in determining teenage pregnancy in England, some factors are more consequential than others. (Cunnington, 2001) Most teenage pregnancies are usually unplanned. In England, a number of teenagers who had ever engaged in sex were asked why they decided to do so claimed that they were pressured into the act. Consequently, one can assert that Peer pressure is an important factor in determining why some people may choose to have sex and this may eventually lead to early pregnancy. The issue of contraception has been the subject of debate especially in the English context. The most obvious assumption may be that teenagers have very little information about conventional methods of preventing pregnancy and this may make them particularly susceptible to early contraception. In the United Kingdom, it was found that most women in the teenage bracket were more likely than other women of other age groups to avoid the use of contraceptives. Consequently, the lack of this alternative is definitely something that ought to be considered when trying to understand why teenage pregnancies in England have still been higher than most other countries in western Europe. It has also been shown that fifty percent of all unintended pregnancies among women of all ages are due to lack of contraception. A large share of the remaining fifty percent is due to poor use of the contraceptives or the lack of consistency in using them. (Fraser, 2004) Studies done on contraception in England have found that the rate of contraception use among teenagers is more or less equal to the rate of use among other age groups. Consequently, it can be asserted that these increased pregnancy rates could have been caused by higher failure rates among this group than in other groups altogether. Additionally, the situation may be further be compounded by the tendency of teenagers to use shorter term methods rather than long term ones. It has been shown that the use of the following methods may reduce the occurrence of unintended pregnancies Dipo Provera Injectable contraceptive Subcutaneous implants Intrauterine devices The utilization of such methods is more effective because it requires less user interaction and can therefore be very effective at solving the problem. The reason why most English teenagers have refrained from such methods is that they may feel shy when approaching health care experts. Additionally, some of them may perceive the use of these long term methods as an intentional way of engaging in sex yet most of the time their actions are unplanned. The government alongside other health organizations has not realized this issue and has therefore failed to address it. It has also been shown that teenage pregnancy rates in England may be increasing because of failure to address intergenerational relationships. A number of teenagers have engaged in relations with persons who are much older than they are. Statistics have shown that older men are twice as likely to impregnate teenage girls compared to those girls who have relationships with their age mates. (Oakley, 2002) This may largely be because a huge percentage of girls who have

early sex do so with men outside their age bracket. Since this issue has not been tackled properly, then pregnancy rates will continue to be high. Sexual abuse is also another important predictor of early pregnancies and has led to these high rates. Research conducted in the year 2002 revealed that about sixty percent of teenagers who had engaged in sexual behavior had done so because of coercion by a male. However, a much smaller percentage of pregnant teenagers attributed their respective situation to a direct rape. The numbers vary with different studies but most of the percentages are below ten percent. (Department of Health, 2005)While the latter figures may seem much lower, they still represent real cases and when translated into real figures, then one can see that such numbers cannot be ignored. However, minimal action has been directed towards the latter category of girls largely because it is often assumed that such situations are inevitable and they are not decided by choice. In close relation to the latter matter is that of early childhood abuses. There are certain psychological factors that are often linked to the occurrence of teenage pregnancies. Numerous studies have been conducted among pregnant teenagers in relation to the lifestyle that they had lived in the past. These studies revealed that over forty percent of teenagers who had given birth before the age of eighteen in England had been molested at some point in their childhood. An equally high number of teenage fathers who had been interviewed agreed to the fact that they had coerced or even raped the girls that they had sex with. These numbers show that sexual abuse has a large role to play in the process of understanding teenage pregnancies. (Fraser, 2004) Dating violence is another important contributor to the high cases of pregnancy in England. It has been shown that large shares of adolescent women are usually in abusive relationships when they conceive. A study conducted in the entire region of the United Kingdom found that about seventy percent of all pregnant teenagers have ever experienced abusive relationships. While the latter studies may encompass other parts of the region such as Wales and Scotland, one cannot ignore the fact that England is one of the largest contributors in the region and regional statistics reflect what could actually be going on within this country. Usually, domestic abuse is a contributory factor in determining these pregnancies because such boyfriends regularly sabotage any birth control efforts made by teenage girls. In fact studies done in the same region have reflected the following -62 % of 12-15 yrs olds- domestic violence -56% of 16-18 yrs olds- domestic violence -51% of all girls- sabotaged birth control The latter study entailed only pregnant teenage girls amounting to three hundred and seventy nine. In England, it has been shown that approximately fifty percent of all teenage pregnancies occur among some of the lowest social economic groups within the country. Other statistics also show that only fourteen percent of pregnancies occur in relatively stable social economic groups. Consequently, poverty is an important contributor towards the occurrence of such an issue. (Arai, 2004b) A number of reasons have been put forward to try and explain the relationship between poverty and teenage pregnancies. At surface level, it may be assumed that some teenagers may be interested in getting financial incentives offered by the government where such benefits may entail housing, welfare financial aid among others. However, studies done to confirm this have indicated that most teenage girls actually know very little about the incentives. Furthermore, those who claim to know end up being bitterly disappointed when they find out that what they had assumed was correct was actually a big mistake. One such article was put out in an English local daily in which the author asserted that some teenagers may get pregnant just so that they can collect food stamps, welfare or have their own places to stay by the time they reach eighteen years of age. While the latter report may seem like it makes some sense, the research was not scientifically done and one cannot rely fully on such reports. (Geronimus, 1999) It should be noted that the UK government has engaged in numerous strategies to minimize teenage pregnancies within the region. First of all, the government has centered on sex education as an effective weapon to deal with these high cases. One of the assertions made by opponents is that exposing children to such sexual education may actually encourage them to engage in sexual activity earlier. However, success rates on teen pregnancies in other Western European nations such as Germany have indicated that early exposure to sex education is actually beneficial to a teenager. In most societies of the world, people tend to have sex by the age of twenty years old. Consequently, it would make more sense to inform these individuals about the importance of safeguarding against unplanned pregnancies rather than letting them do what they desire. In fact, some of the most conservative societies about sex education have reported high instances of teenage pregnancies because sexual matters are handled secretly and young people do not have a chance to protect themselves. (Sexual Exclusion Unit, 2003) The UK Department of Health realized the latter fact and placed sex education as one of the priority policies. Despite acknowledging the latter fact, England's pregnancy rates are still not as successful as they ought to be. Part of the reason for this failure is due to the fact that the government has identified sex education as an important predictor of teenage

pregnancy but it has not been able to concretize some of its action plans. First of all, sex education in most school institutions is still reflective of traditional ideas and concepts in which the basic "sexual mechanics" are addressed and other more relevant matters such as contraceptive use are not discussed. Consequently, the government ought to look for ways in which it can incorporate these ideas into current sex education. Overly, poor structural design of sexual education in most schools may be causing some of these problems. (East, 2006) It has also been shown that availability of sex education centers alone cannot solve the problem of teenage pregnancies. In fact, in socially deprived areas, teenagers were less likely to approach those centers for assistance on such issues yet in less social deprived locations, teenagers were more pro-active despite the fact that there were already low levels of pregnancy in such areas. This goes to show that the problem does not merely lie in informing teenage girls about sex. Instead, the motivating factors behind engagement in early sex have not been addressed. The government has not aimed at tackling any of the following issues Poor emotional health Low educational attainment Disengagement away from learning Low aspirations Los self esteem and many more (Arai, 2003a) If the government was to handle this matter from its root causes, then teenage pregnancy rates would not remain as high as they are currently. A number of political figures in England have acknowledged these facts and one such example is the Member of parliament for Rhondda. He asserted that teenage pregnancy and deprivation are quite synonymous. In fact, he asserted that when one tries to map out some of the issues facing this particular group, it had been found that teenage pregnancies are consistent with some of the poorest communities in England. In the year 2005 alone, England recorded about thirty nine thousand, eight hundred and four conceptions amongst teenagers. The latter figure showed that in every one thousand teenagers, about forty two of them would be pregnant. (Mancloa et al, 2003) Teenage pregnancy is associated with deprivation because most teenagers may be locked up in a cycle of underachievement. They lack role models around them that can encourage them to pursue their dreams and ambitions. Also, they are in a position where they may have had problems in their childhood and may have been exposed to poverty at early ages. These circumstances form fertile ground for the occurrence of teenage pregnancies and may eventually be translated to high prevalence rates. Conclusion Teenage pregnancy rates in England are still at the highest levels in Western Europe. This can be attributed to a number of factors such as child poverty, domestic and sexual abuse, lack of sex education, peer pressure, one's social economic background and the lack of information on contraception. The government has tried tackling some of the latter factors but failure in implementation could have led to disappointment in using the strategy. First of all, the government has concentrated too much on the issue of contraception without dealing with root causes of the matter. Secondly, it has failed to address other matters such as rape and abuse. Also, there sex education has been implemented poorly since traditional ideas in the matter still prevail.

References Arai, L. (2003a): Low expectations, sexual attitudes and knowledge: Explaining teenage pregnancy and fertility in English communities; The Sociological Review, 51, 2, 199-217 Arai, L. (2004b): Teenage Pregnancy and Fertility in English Communities: Family, neighborhood and Peer Influences on Behavior, Queen Mary, University of London, Policy Press East, P. (2006): How do Adolescent Pregnancy and Child bearing affect the child bearers? Family Planning Perspectives, 28, 4, 69 Mancloa, F., Johns, M., Gong, E. & West, E. (2003): Best Practices in Teen Pregnancy Prevention; Journal of extension, 41, 2, 36 Oakley, A. (2002): Doctor Knows best; Open University Press Department of Health (2005): The Health of the Nation, London, The Stationery Office Sexual Exclusion Unit (2003): Teenage Pregnancy, London, The Stationer Office Fraser, A. (2004): Association of young maternal age with adverse reproductive outcome; Eng Med Journal, 333, 1113 Geronimus, A. (1999): What teen mothers know; Human Nature Journal, 7, 13, 45 Cunnington, A. (2001): What's so bad about teenage pregnancy?; Reproductive Health care and Family Planning, 27, 36 Read more at http://www.articlealley.com/article_1418219_61.html?ktrack=kcplink http://www.articlealley.com/article_1418219_61.html