Okay, so I bet everyone is wondering WHY is teenage pregnancy a problem??
There are many reasons, but first of all……HEALTH RISKS!
These health risks are not only for the mother, but also for the child. Teenage mothers are vulnerable to many complications, like high blood pressure and anemia just to name a couple. Teenage mothers are also hesitant to seek medical help. Seven out of ten teens do not go to a specialist until the third month of the pregnancy. It would not be good for older mothers to even wait that long, but it is even worse for teenagers who are at higher risks for complications.
It does not stop at physical health risks either; pregnant teenagers are known to have more mental health complications as well. This is probably because our society tends to look down on teenage pregnancy; therefore, many pregnant teenagers do not get the support they need to deal with the responsibilities of caring for a child.
Now, what about the health risks for the baby? Well the most common one is premature delivery. Premature delivery is very frequent among teenage mothers, and it is VERY bad for the baby. Why? Because their vital organs are underdeveloped putting them in a constant struggle for life. Babies that are born prematurely have a much greater risk of dying early in infancy than normal weight babies. And babies born to teenage mothers have the highest rate of infant mortality.
That is seriously some scary stuff!
These health risks are pretty much a huge reason of why teenage pregnancy is a problem….but they are definitely not the only reasons. More to come on them later!!
Have a great night =)
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Is teenage pregnancy easy? Um, not at all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is going to be my last post on the causes of teenage pregnancy.
One of the actual causes of teenage pregnancy is that teenagers do not fully realize the consequences and hardships involved. Many of them actually think that teenage pregnancy is glamorous, especially with teenage celebrities becoming moms like Jamie Lynn Spears and Bristol Palin. There was actually a picture of Bristol Palin holding her baby while wearing her graduation cap and gown. This image may give teenagers the idea that teenage pregnancy is not too much to handle. In reality, it is very difficult for teenage parents to graduate.
At T.C. William's High School in Washington D.C., there are SEVENTY teenage parents.A senior at this high school stated, “Some girls seem to be really into it. They are embracing their pregnancies." Obviously, these teenagers are unaware of the hardships that lie ahead for them.
There was a TV program done by ABC Primetime called “Family Secrets: Teen Pregnancy” that focused on these hardships. It followed around the lives of pregnant teenagers. One in particular was Hannah, and she really stood out to me. She was a cheerleader, homecoming queen, and girlfriend to the school’s quarterback. So, yeah….pretty much perfect life, right? Yep, until she got pregnant. Her long time boyfriend actually ended up leaving her & she obviously became the talk of the town.
She stated, "The hardest part now is like, what am I going to do now? There's a huge detour in my life. I can't do everything I wanted to do. I think about that every day."
Hannah gave birth two months prematurely to twin daughters, Mya and Braelyn. After only twelve days after birth, Mya passed away.
I think this program really shows how difficult teenage pregnancy actually is! It is DEFINITELY not something to be taken lightly. Once you become a parent, you are responsible for a life that is not your own, how is that going to be easy ESPECIALLY as a teenager??
But anyways, I am out for the night! Enjoy your evening!! :)
Teen Mom
Hey guys! Teen Mom is a popular show on MTV that follows the lives of teenagers who gave birth. In this video, Maci (a teen mom) is describing how hard teenage pregnancy really was. I love love love Maci--she was my favorite on the show & is from my hometown! But anyways, here's the clip! :)
You can also watch full episodes of Teen Mom, as well as 16 & Pregnant on the MTV website!
You can also watch full episodes of Teen Mom, as well as 16 & Pregnant on the MTV website!
Sunday, March 28, 2010
More on the causes....
Hi guys!!
I have more on the causes of teenage pregnancy today!
Well the first one I want to talk about today is the lack of safe sex education. Many schools in the United States focus on abstinence ONLY education. Now, we all know that abstinence is the only sure way to prevent pregnancy, but is this idea really realistic? No, because teenagers engage in sexual activity anyways. These teenagers NEED to know the information about proper safe sex practices and how contraceptives should be used. Abstinence is a great idea to be taught, but it should be coupled with safe sex practices. At my high school, our sex education class focused on abstinence and flew through safe sex education. Needless to say, the rate of teenage pregnancy at my high school was pretty high. Now, I am not saying this is the reason…but it is probably a contributor.
Another cause is the lack of easy access to contraceptives. Contraceptives, such as The Pill, require a prescription; therefore, one would have to go to the doctor. Then they would have to get the prescription filled which may be costly. Also being a teenager, you would have to get your parents to accompany you to the doctor, and I think it goes without say that most teenagers are NOT open with their parents about being sexually active. So, that puts them in a sticky situation. It has been found that in other countries, where contraceptives are readily available and inexpensive, the rate of teenage pregnancy is substantially lower to that of the United States. Researchers believe that improving access to contraceptives and effective health education will dramatically reduce the rate of teenage pregnancy. I believe this is true as well!
Well, I have to go read for history for the rest of the night & I am already so tired! More on the causes of teenage pregnancy next time!
I have more on the causes of teenage pregnancy today!
Well the first one I want to talk about today is the lack of safe sex education. Many schools in the United States focus on abstinence ONLY education. Now, we all know that abstinence is the only sure way to prevent pregnancy, but is this idea really realistic? No, because teenagers engage in sexual activity anyways. These teenagers NEED to know the information about proper safe sex practices and how contraceptives should be used. Abstinence is a great idea to be taught, but it should be coupled with safe sex practices. At my high school, our sex education class focused on abstinence and flew through safe sex education. Needless to say, the rate of teenage pregnancy at my high school was pretty high. Now, I am not saying this is the reason…but it is probably a contributor.
Another cause is the lack of easy access to contraceptives. Contraceptives, such as The Pill, require a prescription; therefore, one would have to go to the doctor. Then they would have to get the prescription filled which may be costly. Also being a teenager, you would have to get your parents to accompany you to the doctor, and I think it goes without say that most teenagers are NOT open with their parents about being sexually active. So, that puts them in a sticky situation. It has been found that in other countries, where contraceptives are readily available and inexpensive, the rate of teenage pregnancy is substantially lower to that of the United States. Researchers believe that improving access to contraceptives and effective health education will dramatically reduce the rate of teenage pregnancy. I believe this is true as well!
Well, I have to go read for history for the rest of the night & I am already so tired! More on the causes of teenage pregnancy next time!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Some causes of teenage pregnancy
So, some of you may want to know what is causing teenage pregnancy rates in the United States to increase……
The first cause I want to present is sexual content in the media. It seems like an obvious cause, but for some reason I never thought of it! I found a study that was done that observed the effects of sexual content in the media on teens. The researchers in this study actually found that teens who were exposed to sexual content in the media were up to 2 times more likely to become pregnant in high school (Chandra et al. 1053). This is STUNNING to me… 2 times more likely to become pregnant?? Wow…I mean today sex is used to sell pretty much everything! Teenagers are exposed to it every day through the music they listen to and the shows they watch. So, this study was shocking to say the least.
A study performed by the Alan Guttmacher Institute states that, "American teen-agers have inherited the worst of all possible worlds regarding their exposure to messages about sex. (The media) tell them that sex is romantic, exciting, titillating, yet at the same time (they) get the message that good girls should say no. Almost nothing they see or hear about sex informs them about contraception or the importance of avoiding pregnancy (Raspberry 3)." I believe that most of us can relate to this quote. We have seen sex through movies and TV shows, and it is almost never informative about contraception and avoiding pregnancy. The characters never stop and say, “Wait…I don’t want to get pregnant” or anything of the sort. They just act like nothing wrong could happen, and like it is all just fun.
So basically, large amounts of sexual content in the media and how sex is portrayed through the media are some of the contributing causes to teenage pregnancy. This issue is pretty easy to notice---just flip through your TV channels now & you’ll see what I am explaining.
Well, I gotta get going for now! More on the causes of teenage pregnancy next time!
References:
Chandra, Anita, Steven Martino, Rebecca Collins, Mark Elliot, Sandra Berry, David Kanouse, and Angela Miu. "Does Watching Sex on Television Predict Teen Pregnancy? Findings From a National Longitudinal of Survey of Youth." Pediatrics 122.5 (2008): 1047-054. Pediatrics-The official journal of The American Academy of Pediatrics. 31 Oct. 2008. EBSCO. Web. 22 Feb. 2010..
Raspberry, William. "U.S. Teen-Agers and Sex." The Washington Post 15 Mar. 1985, Final ed., First sec. LexisNexis. Web. 27 Feb. 2010..
The first cause I want to present is sexual content in the media. It seems like an obvious cause, but for some reason I never thought of it! I found a study that was done that observed the effects of sexual content in the media on teens. The researchers in this study actually found that teens who were exposed to sexual content in the media were up to 2 times more likely to become pregnant in high school (Chandra et al. 1053). This is STUNNING to me… 2 times more likely to become pregnant?? Wow…I mean today sex is used to sell pretty much everything! Teenagers are exposed to it every day through the music they listen to and the shows they watch. So, this study was shocking to say the least.
A study performed by the Alan Guttmacher Institute states that, "American teen-agers have inherited the worst of all possible worlds regarding their exposure to messages about sex. (The media) tell them that sex is romantic, exciting, titillating, yet at the same time (they) get the message that good girls should say no. Almost nothing they see or hear about sex informs them about contraception or the importance of avoiding pregnancy (Raspberry 3)." I believe that most of us can relate to this quote. We have seen sex through movies and TV shows, and it is almost never informative about contraception and avoiding pregnancy. The characters never stop and say, “Wait…I don’t want to get pregnant” or anything of the sort. They just act like nothing wrong could happen, and like it is all just fun.
So basically, large amounts of sexual content in the media and how sex is portrayed through the media are some of the contributing causes to teenage pregnancy. This issue is pretty easy to notice---just flip through your TV channels now & you’ll see what I am explaining.
Well, I gotta get going for now! More on the causes of teenage pregnancy next time!
References:
Chandra, Anita, Steven Martino, Rebecca Collins, Mark Elliot, Sandra Berry, David Kanouse, and Angela Miu. "Does Watching Sex on Television Predict Teen Pregnancy? Findings From a National Longitudinal of Survey of Youth." Pediatrics 122.5 (2008): 1047-054. Pediatrics-The official journal of The American Academy of Pediatrics. 31 Oct. 2008. EBSCO. Web. 22 Feb. 2010.
Raspberry, William. "U.S. Teen-Agers and Sex." The Washington Post 15 Mar. 1985, Final ed., First sec. LexisNexis. Web. 27 Feb. 2010.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Why teenage pregnancy?
Okay, so I want to explain why I am interested in the issue of teenage pregnancy in the United States….
First of all, I am interested in it because the United States has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy among all developed countries. In the United States, 750,000 teenagers per year become pregnant. This is three times higher than Canada and eight times higher than Japan (Hoffman and Maynard 1). Yeah, I know that is a shocking statistic, right? But anyways, another reason interesting fact is that after 1990 the rate of teenage pregnancy had actually been decreasing. It hit a plateau in 2000 and stayed about the same for awhile, until 2005. In 2005, it began increasing and was increasing for awhile. Although, recent research does show a decrease this year. However,I find it kind of strange that it had been low for so long, but then turned around and began increasing. And I think that it is important to make sure that it continues to decrease and not rise again! I was also interested because at my high school there was a high rate of teenage pregnancy, and I always knew it wasn’t a good thing….especially when very few of the teenage mothers originally in my graduating class did not end up actually graduating at all. I wanted to learn more about this issue! The main things I focused on finding out were……………….
1) What are the main causes of this issue?
2) What are the risks/consequences involved?
3) What are some solutions?
Teenage pregnancy has plenty of causes from sexual content in the media to lack of easy access to contraceptives to teenagers not being fully aware of the responsibilities of being a parent. Teenage pregnancy is also something that needs to be addressed because many risks are involved, such as health implications and behavioral issues.
In later posts, I am going to elaborate on everything I have learned about this issue & explore more about a solution I feel is really effective! However, for now I gotta get going! I have to study for statistics (…blah) Talk to you later!
Reference:
Hoffman, Saul, and Rebecca Maynard, eds. Kids Having Kids: Economic Costs and Social Consequences of Teen Pregnancy. 2nd ed. Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute, 2008. Print.
First of all, I am interested in it because the United States has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy among all developed countries. In the United States, 750,000 teenagers per year become pregnant. This is three times higher than Canada and eight times higher than Japan (Hoffman and Maynard 1). Yeah, I know that is a shocking statistic, right? But anyways, another reason interesting fact is that after 1990 the rate of teenage pregnancy had actually been decreasing. It hit a plateau in 2000 and stayed about the same for awhile, until 2005. In 2005, it began increasing and was increasing for awhile. Although, recent research does show a decrease this year. However,I find it kind of strange that it had been low for so long, but then turned around and began increasing. And I think that it is important to make sure that it continues to decrease and not rise again! I was also interested because at my high school there was a high rate of teenage pregnancy, and I always knew it wasn’t a good thing….especially when very few of the teenage mothers originally in my graduating class did not end up actually graduating at all. I wanted to learn more about this issue! The main things I focused on finding out were……………….
1) What are the main causes of this issue?
2) What are the risks/consequences involved?
3) What are some solutions?
Teenage pregnancy has plenty of causes from sexual content in the media to lack of easy access to contraceptives to teenagers not being fully aware of the responsibilities of being a parent. Teenage pregnancy is also something that needs to be addressed because many risks are involved, such as health implications and behavioral issues.
In later posts, I am going to elaborate on everything I have learned about this issue & explore more about a solution I feel is really effective! However, for now I gotta get going! I have to study for statistics (…blah) Talk to you later!
Reference:
Hoffman, Saul, and Rebecca Maynard, eds. Kids Having Kids: Economic Costs and Social Consequences of Teen Pregnancy. 2nd ed. Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute, 2008. Print.
Monday, March 22, 2010
My first ever blog entry!
Hi everyone!
My name is Gretchen! I am doing this blog for my english composition class and I'm actually pretty excited about it! I am new to this whole blog thing, but it seems really fun! In this blog, I am going to be exploring the issue of teenage pregnancy in the United States and elaborating on a solution that I feel would be effective! Thank you for checking out my blog :)
My name is Gretchen! I am doing this blog for my english composition class and I'm actually pretty excited about it! I am new to this whole blog thing, but it seems really fun! In this blog, I am going to be exploring the issue of teenage pregnancy in the United States and elaborating on a solution that I feel would be effective! Thank you for checking out my blog :)
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