Teenage Pregnancy, and Early Childhood Education - Research Paper Example

? Teenage pregnancies and early childhood education Teenage pregnancy & early childhood education Teenage pregnancy is an ill that affects many of today’s developed societies making it a vital public health issue that is common and preventable. Teenage pregnancy mainly encompasses young girls between 13 and 19 years. Ideally, the levels of teenage pregnancies in different countries tend to vary depending on the perceived levels of sexual indulgence and the amount of general knowledge offered to the teenagers. However, the number of teenage pregnancy in sub- Saharan nations leads the worldwide pack. On the contrary, the teenagers who find themselves pregnant face additional medical problems for their newborn babies. Mostly, these babies tend to be under weight during birth due to the ages of their mothers. On the other hand, teenage pregnancies tend to draw influence from a number of factors. First, the social issue that may include education level is a crucial influence. Additionally, the economic status from which a teenager comes from is a factor that brings about this societal problem. With these facts in mind, this paper will illustrate how teenage pregnancies tend to influence early childhood education as per a number of peer-reviewed articles as sources. Personal reflection Over the years, teenage pregnancies have greatly affected the learning progress of teenagers and young adults. In my view, society pays minimal attention to the risks involved in the discontinuity of education for teenagers. Arguably, the effects of teenage pregnancies vary from health related risks to emotional torment and discomfort. The health risks are greater than the other risks, as there are also the risks of contracting sexually transmitted infections. However, many teenagers have focused on pregnancies and have neglected the fact that their general reproductive health may also be at risk due early indulgence in sexual related activities. On the contrary, teenage pregnancies have found ways in which teenagers have sought to do away with the issue in secret. One of the ways in which the teenagers deal with unplanned teenage pregnancies is unsafe abortions that the authorities may not be aware of. Incidentally, unsafe abortions are the leading killers within teenagers with the mortality rates rising by the day. Ideally, the loss of a generation would mean that the education system would suffer in the end because the alarming death rates may disrupt the learning process. In this regard, reproductive health is the key aspect in which the education syllabus should base its criteria for teaching in order to ensure the number of those that discontinue learning reduces by an incredible rate. Without this, teenage pregnancies will forever remain a constant hurdle that the society will have to encounter due to the poor planning structures. Essentially, the key to minimizing the teenage pregnancies is the application of reproductive health topics within the education curricular without society being modest in any way. Causes and effects of teenage pregnancies Over the years, teenage pregnancy has become the main cause for the rise in the number of high school dropouts. Essentially, schooling forms the basic part to a comfortable future for any young boy or girl. For a woman, the amount of schooling reflects on her professional carrier, her ability to get married, and remarkably her life standards. In this regard, it is critical for a young woman to determine the time to which is appropriate for her to conceive so that her future remains as prosperous as intended. Incidentally, child upbringing is a demanding task hence the time spent on this business should have been on other matters like schooling especially for the young adults. Intense researches have shown that early teenage pregnancy may be detrimental to a woman’s life because it raises the chances of her not finishing her education compared to her childless peers. This is to mean that early parenthood lowers their chances of exploring their full potential that will translate to a prosperous future. For instance, the responsibilities of parenthood become an inhibiting factor to a fulfilled life. According to the National Educational Longitudinal Study, adolescent parents spent almost ten years in school compared to their childless peers who spent at least twelve years on the same. However, other researchers tend to view this problem from a lesser repercussions angle. They argue that teenage pregnancies and its effects are not as disastrous as many would portray it. On the contrary, they say that the welfare levels of those who delay their childbearing ability tend to reduce their opportunities to maximize on their potential. This is to mean that pregnancy for a woman at any age is a hindrance to self-actualization for the female gender. These reformists go by the name revisionists due to their contradictory view of societal issues. Texas Comprehensive Centre found out that most teenagers attributed early pregnancies and sexual indulgences to lack of interest in school related activities. Many tended to drop out of school and entered into early marriages. These marriages were purely circumstantial, as the mutual bond is not love, but situation and responsibility. Bair-Merritt et al (2005) depicted that these early marriage unions gave birth to physical abuse and emotional trauma. Crime also becomes the norm for these adolescent parents for the simple reason that they need to sustain themselves and their young ones. In addition, children born of teenage mothers were more likely to grow up without ever knowing the identity of their fathers hence preventing them from accessing fatherly love and guidance. They viewed engagement in early premarital sex as a way of rebellion regardless of the consequences involved. Some felt that the school administration imposed rigid rules on them making them hate the culture of learning. Swann et al (2003) drew a different conclusion in comparison to young fathers. They found out that both genders had equal opportunities of continuing with school and graduating in various fields given the opportunity. The chances of employment opportunities were relatively the same especially for those who managed to finish high school. However, these teenagers only needed the motivation for them to continue with learning as their circumstance proved heavy on their emotions. According to Hofferth et al (2001), teenage pregnancy tends to lower the motivational levels of the teenage mothers because they view themselves as let downs to the society. Ideally, the number of teenagers who go back to school and attain either high school or college diplomas has always been low. Additionally, the peers to these young girls ridicule them hence discouraging them from continuing with learning. This is a kind of mental abuse, tends to affect the psychology of these young mothers. In extreme cases, these teenage mothers may indulge in substance abuse in order for them to stop viewing themselves as failures. Seemingly, what they do not understand is that substance abuse is a temporary solution to any problem. Surprisingly, researches have also shown that the largest numbers of those who end up pregnant in their teenage years come from disconnected families or broken homes (Kirby, 2001). In addition, children from families that had low incomes also ended up indulging in early sexual encounters as a way of bridging the financial disparity. Mostly, they engage in transactional sex for them to gain something in return. As a result, teenage pregnancy may occur since they are too young to have any information on contraception. For instance, a single mother may not be fully capable of shaping her children’s behavior since she dedicates most of her time to fending for her children. Sequentially, she may never have the time to instill the needed traits that may lower the chances of her children engaging in early sex. Consequently, some of these teenage parents experience hardships especially when their parents neglect them and their newborn babies. Sequentially, these teenagers may run away from home then try to survive on the streets that prove to be challenging. Their circumstances force them into taking up adult responsibilities at extremely tender ages. Arguably, teenage pregnancies translate to high poverty levels especially for the school dropouts. Essentially, food, shelter, and adequate clothing are the most fundamental of needs. For instance, a school dropout mother may not be able to provide these basics to her young one due to her educational background. In today’s world, any form of additional skill, or basic education serves as the base to which job acquisition may be possible. In this regard, it is easier to get cheap labor from these teenagers because of their desperate situations. Clearly, desperation brings in all manner of discrepancies for the reason that these teenagers have to survive at all costs. How to reduce teenage pregnancies and promote education among them Education is a vital pillar in the building of a healthy society and hence should be a matter of priority for societies and individuals. Santelli et al (2005) stated that one of the ways in which society may deal with this issue is through the incorporation of basic sexual education. Emphasis should be on abstinence especially at the most critical juncture in a child’s development. For instance, it is vital that governments include this education in the syllabus especially in high school. Overtime, societies have been shying away from the sexual subject that have made it grow to the menace that it is today. Contraception use and delayed on set of sexual intercourse may form the basis for the curricular. In addition, societies may also need to increase the number of community based and youth friendly centers. These centers would serve as resource centers where the young boys and girls would spend their time in desirable activities that promote upright behavior. Swann et al (2003) findings argued that equipping the young teenagers with self-awareness skills would help in personal development. Mostly, the teenagers who had access to this kind of information from other sources tended not to engage in risky behaviors since they were aware of the consequences involved. Therefore, improving on the communication skills for these young teenagers would help reduce early pregnancies drastically. Reduced numbers of teenage pregnancies would affect the statistics of school dropouts, which will in turn go drop significantly. Arguably, parents play vital roles in the shaping of their children’s destiny. Therefore, it is critical that these outreach programs target parents in order to influence completion of education. Some of the teens give value to what their parents rather than what their teachers communicate to them. Additionally, it crucial for government institutions to put up clinical facilities that offers tailor-made solutions to the specific needs of the youth. The friendliness aspect also involves the location of the centers and hours in which the centers operate. For instance, teenagers need the assurance that their privacy and dignity in these institutions of health will be of relevance. Otherwise, they will shy away due to this feeling hence locking in issues within them. These issues when not addressed lead to experimenting and engagement in risky behaviors for them to satisfy their curiosity. Additionally, the learning institutions need to provide adequate learning opportunities for both teenage parents and the childless teenagers. In order, to encourage the teenage parents to finish school, non-profit organization may use role models who went through same experiences, but still managed to turn their lives around. These individuals will serve as inspiration to them by making them understand that early pregnancy does not seal one’s fate but only serves a lesson learnt (Stewart et al, 2004). Conclusion Subsequently, teenage pregnancy affects childhood education especially for those in high school. The lack of proper information exchange structures causes disconnect between adolescents and their superiors. In this regard, the establishment of proper communication channels may help in the reduction of some societal ills. In addition, victimization of teenage parents is an unnecessary vice that the learning institutions should strive to eliminate. This can be through either other childless students or the teaching staff. Therefore, schools should provide friendly surroundings that encourage students to seek knowledge irrespective of their background or experiences. Subsequently, by dealing with teenage pregnancies as a crucial element that drives towards minimized education attainment will be a step towards the betterment of education standards and achievements. References Bair-Merritt, M. H., Blackstone M., Feudtner C. (2005). Official the American Journal Academy of Pediatricians: Physical Health Outcomes of Childhood Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence: A System Review. Retrieved from 25 October 2012 http://www.pediatricsdigest.mobi/content/117/2/e278.short Green, H. H., Documet, P. Journal of Adolescent Health: Parent peer education: Lessons learned from a community-based initiative for teen pregnancy prevention. 37 (3), 100-107 Hofferth S.L., Reid L., Mott, F. L. (2001) Family Planning Perspectives: The Effects of Early Childbearing On Schooling over Time , 33 (6) Kirby, D. (2001). The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy: Emerging Answers: Researching Findings on Program to Reduce Teen Pregnancy. Reviewed from 25 October http://www.catalystforchildren.org/pdf/Emerging_Answers.pdf Santeli, J., Ott, M. A., Lyon, M., Rogers, J., Summers D., Schleifer, R.(2006). Journal of Adolescent Health: Abstinence and abstinence –only educatio : A review of U.S policies and programs, 38 (1) 72-81 Strunk, A. J., The journal of school nursing: The Effect of School-Based Health Clinics on Teenage Pregnancy and Parenting Outcomes: An Integrated Literature Review, Retrieved from 25 October 2012 http://171.66.127.221/content/24/1/13.short Stewart M., Letourneau N., Barnfather A. (2004). Journal of Adolescent Health: Adolescent mothers: Support needs, resources, and support-education interventions. 35 (6) 509-525 Swann, C., Bowe, K., McCormick G., Kosmin, M. (2003). Teenage pregnancy and parenthood: a review of reviews: Evidence Briefin. Retrieved from 25 October 2012 http://www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/documents/teenpreg_evidence_briefing.pdf Read More