Teenage moms and pregnancy - a sociological approach - Essay Example

al affiliation Teenage moms and pregnancy- a sociological approach Teenage pregnancy may be referred to as pregnancy in females below the age of twenty until the day of delivery. The society has found a way of labeling such women as a result of early pregnancies, which have for a long time been termed as unplanned. These women, most of the times, are not married or in a sensible relationship that can enable thriving of a child. Research done by sociologists and analysts in the field of sociology and teenage mothers indicate that these pregnancies depend on myriad of factors ranging from societal to individual factors. The levels of teenage pregnancy may not be the same in all states regarding on the levels of mass education in relation to this issue (Baker p.34). On a sociological perspective, various factors need to be put under scrutiny to have a clear understanding of this topic. Among these issues include; why women breed at such a tender age through comparisons with women from other cultures. Highlight will also be shed on when women began marrying and breeding since time immemorial and the impact of industrialization on women. It is also important to study the reasons why the issue of teenage pregnancies has become too common despite the de-stigmatization as well as the impact of high divorce rates on teenage pregnancies. Finally a highlight on single parenting and the models they have created for the young children who are expected to start families in the future needs to be studied. One of the factors that lead to teenage pregnancies has been associated with young girls being in extremely violent relationships at the time of conception. An in-depth interviewing of the women who have had such relationships has been beneficial to this study. I conducted this research on women of the same age, race and nationality to find out the reasons behind their pregnancies. According to their responses, it is evident that at the tender age of eighteen, most of them were brutally hurt by their boyfriends. Majority of these women claim that their boyfriends would not allow them take birth control pills, thus teenage pregnancies. Some of these women expressed feelings of fear whilst around men and would not want to have any other relationship with them from the response of the youngest female in the group, she confesses that having a baby without a father would not be the least of her worries and that she believes that with the world of equality, she is able to fight for the rights of her child and give the best they would ask for. Teenage pregnancies have been attributed to poor economic status of the women in question. From data on behavioral survey on women, women are likely to find partners in their lives for the purposes of support. Young women in sub-Saharan Africa have been known to rely on men for their survival. Majority end up getting married at a very tender age for lack of money to go on with their education whilst in their families. According to Gillham (p.78), the higher the rate of poverty, the higher the rate of pregnancy levels in young girls. In his work, countries like Niger have recorded far much higher levels of teenage pregnancies. Another major cause of teenage pregnancy results from sexual abuse or rather rape of the minors. From my survey on tabulated answers from my respondents- these results emanate from standardized questions, questionnaires- many young girls are under the risk of rape from their elder members in the society. Some girls scribbled information at the back of the script given, how terrible their experiences were having no place to write what they felt from deep within them. To that effect, Dillon and Cherry (p.88) indicate that young girls in South Africa have experienced worse experiences in their lives that result from rape. Unfortunately, the ones who became pregnant have led worse lives than any human can imagine. Their lives are characterized by nightmares and fear of their unknown future. Research conducted by the US government has indicated that among the causes of teenage pregnancies emanate from negative influence by the media (Guttmacher Institute p.47). Young adults have been overexposed to sexual content on the media both electronic and print, which lead to their early interest in sexual activities at an early age. From an analysis of materials published on the same content, a clear conclusion is that young girls who are exposed to such content are more likely to get pregnant before attainance of age twenty. It is in light to the effect of media on teenagers that the government has undertaken a measure to weigh what should be aired on televisions or not. All the programs that need parental guidance have been asked to do so in order to have a limit on what the teenagers can view and what they cannot. The government has also undertaken measures to regulate the material published by the gutter press that seems too much explicit (Ventura and Mosher p.11). In doing so, the government hopes to reduce the number of teenagers who are too much exposed to explicit content. From research on the works of various authors, I ma justified to agree with the concept of media being a bad influence. Most of the magazines were too overt to even be sold on the streets! A clear analysis of this fact would lead to our justification of the contribution of media on teenage pregnancies. In the U.S.A, high school girls have been noted to be more vulnerable when it comes to teenage pregnancies. Indulgence into drug and alcohol abuse as a result of peer pressure has led to an increase in pregnancy levels at a tender age. As a result of the same, most of them end up dropping out from school for the purposes of bringing up other children. Majority of them end up living miserable lives that would require them to come up with solutions of how to readjust their lives with young children. According to Lyan, Senior editor of the ‘Shine’ magazine, on Teenage pregnancies and young mothers, she interviews Rahna Reiko Rizzuto, a 20 year mother who admits to motherhood being a very difficult task. The basic tenets of ideal motherhood don’t just come through easily, one has to learn them. One cannot afford being a tiger mom and leave the children behind but find all the possible ways of making the children as happy as they would want to be in life (Alphonse p.1). Drug and alcohol abuse has been recorded as a contributing factor to teenage pregnancy. Young teenagers who indulged in over consumption of alcohol and drug abuse have been documented to be at a higher risk of getting pregnant at a tender age. From my survey on the previous works done on alcohol abuse as well as interviews from another group of young mothers in a hospital clinic, I find that most of them drunk too much alcohol and in the process found themselves engaging in unprotected sexual intercourse. Some claimed to have used heroine and other drugs like morphine that made their ‘happier’ than usual. While conducting the interview, one woman, twenty one years of age breaks down for having no control of herself at the time of the conception of her baby. Though the baby brings joy to her life she says that it came at the time at the time she was about to start her career. She recalls being in a night club for the first time that the incident happened. At the end of the interview she gives a sound of warning to all the young people who are used to overindulging in drugs and alcohol as way of pass time. In her conclusion, she states that, ‘it is better to have another form of leisure than to be an addict of alcohol or any other drug or worse even, night clubbing’. Conclusively, from the research on the teen mothers, it is evident that the teens need time and space to discover their personality. Before their pregnancy, majority of the interviewees seemed to have a bitter past that led to their pregnancy. Some seemed to have a good time with their youth until the time the pregnancy came in. At the time of pregnancy was when it was most difficult as they had to undergo the trauma of another child being born. After child birth, more frustrations came in as they had no one to look up to especially the ones who were still struggling to identify the fathers of their babies. Bringing up a baby, according to them, was no easy task and they had to fight through thick and thin to give their babies the best they deserved. Works cited Alphonse, Lylah. Parenting: The opposite of a 'Tiger Mother': leaving your children behind. 2011. Baker, Philip. Teenage pregnancy and reproductive health. New York: RCOG Publishers. 2007. Dillon, Mary & Cherry, Andrew. Teenage pregnancy: a global view. Greenwood: Greenwood Publishing Group.2001. Gillham, Bill. The facts about teenage pregnancies. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group.2007. Guttmacher Institute. U.S. Teenage Pregnancies, Births and Abortions. National and State Trends and Trends by Race and Ethnicity, 2010. Ventura, Jake & Mosher Wade. Estimated pregnancy rates by outcome for the United States, 1990–2004. National Vital Statistics Reports 2008;56   Read More