what’s going on with teen Pregenacy By: Phraina Mars

What is teenage pregnancy? Well for me I think teenage pregnancy is a female who is pregnant between the ages of 13-17. In my own opinion, teenage pregnancy is happening too often in the United States. According Wikipedia Teenage pregnancy, 1996 statistics shows that 55 out of every 1000 women ages 15-19 was pregnant.
The reason why I think teenager are having children is varied. First reason is that it is less pain now than when you get older. Secondly, the pregnancy is plan by some teens because they want children. Third, they are following the example that was set in their own family. Fourth, peer pressure forced so many teens to have children. Lastly, some teens want love in their life that they feel like they have not gotten from their family.
Teen pregnancy effects more than the mother. It also effects the father, family, and of course the child. The impact that the mother have in having a child is drop out of school. Teenage mothers need financial help because the fathers do not always give financial support. Therefore, the mothers turn into the government for support. According to Teenage pregnancy, “The correlation between earlier childbearing and failure to complete high school reduces career opportunities for many young women. One study found that, in 1988, 60% of teenage mothers were impoverished at the time of giving birth. Additional research found that nearly 50% of all adolescent mothers sought social assistance within the first five years of their child’s life.” Another serious impact that a mother go through especially with children is committing suicide. “Teenage women who are pregnant or mothers are seven times more likely to commit suicide than other teenagers.”
Children of teenage mothers suffer behavior issues, developmental disabilities, behavioral issues, affectionate behaviors, trouble with verbal communication, need social support, and usually would suffer academic performances. Female kids born to teenage parents are more likely to become teenage parents themselves. Male born to teenage parents are three times more likely to serve time in prison because they do not have a father figure to guide them through their life.
Some mothers do not get married to the father of their children. “Teenage parents are frequently in a romantic relationship at the time of birth, but many adolescent fathers do not stay with the mother and this often disrupts their relationship with the child. Research has shown that when teenage fathers are included in decision-making during pregnancy and birth, they are more likely to report increased involvement with their children in later years. In the U.S, eight out of ten teenage fathers do not marry their child’s mother.”
When teenage mother has siblings, the pregnancy affects them too. According to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teenage pregnancy, “One study found that the younger sisters of teen mothers were less likely to emphasizes the importance of education and employment and more likely to accept sexual initiation, parenthood, and marriage at younger ages. Younger brothers, too, were found to be more tolerant of non-marital and early births, in addition to being more susceptible to high-risk behaviors. An additional study discovered that those with an older sibling who is a teen parent often end up babysitting their nieces and nephews and that young girls placed in such a situation have an increased risk of getting pregnant themselves. ”Social workers tend to be involved more frequently with mothers. Their jobs as social workers insure that the child is in a positive environment.

Overall, when becoming a teenage mother there are many responsibilities in taking care of a child. Some teenagers think it is easy but learn the hard way when the child is in their life.  This child is a lifetime commitment and that is not easy.

This entry was posted on 14. June 2009 at 01:07 and is filed under Introduction to Sociology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.