Education/prevention on Teenage Pregnancy in the Central Valley, CA - Dissertation Example

Download file to see previous pages While traditional and conservative thinkers espouse conventional methods such as education and counseling, as a solution to teenage sexuality and pregnancy, liberal thinkers champion for the availing of contraceptives, alongside the provision of sex education. Against this backdrop of differing opinions, the needed to establish the most sustainable and tenable solution to the conundrum that is teenage sexuality, pregnancy and STDs remains paramount. While the problem of teenage pregnancy is a global phenomenon, Central Valley CA provides an interesting and suitable specimen for this study, by the courtesy of hosting conservatives, Catholics and Hispanics whose economic mainstay is agriculture. The presence of conservatives and Catholics provides a chance to determine the extent to which ideological persuasions affect the rate of teenage pregnancy, while the presence of Hispanics provide a useful case for analyzing the way in which teenage pregnancy accosts minority groups. In as much as the presence of diverse subcultures in Central Valley CA means divergence of opinions [and hence a delay in policy formulation], this diversity underscores the need for a collective and multipronged approach which includes all stakeholders in the society and different methods of birth control, as the most tenable and sustainable solution to the recurrent problem which is teenage pregnancy. Introduction The reality of teenagers being sexually active is a matter that is an indisputable fact. Because of this, concerns over teenage pregnancy, the contraction of STDs, unwanted [premarital] pregnancies have generated concerted efforts to improve and strengthen teenagers' access to contraceptives. Contrariwise, there are those who gainsay the benevolence of this idea, arguing that the provision of contraceptives to teenagers is likely to generate more problems, when it is done outside the knowledge of parents. The latter group is emphatic on the use of education as the solution to the problem of sex-related threats such as teenage pregnancy, STDs and abortions. The crux of the matter shall there be discussed in the discussion that ensues forthwith. Methods The discussion that is sustained herein is supported by secondary data that is derived from previous works that scholars, researchers and policy makers have conducted. The data is largely qualitative in nature, though quantitative data has been also used. In turn, these scholars, researchers and policy makers have cited previous surveys that had been conducted over the same topic, to lend their work credence. The experience that these authors had acquired also helps fortify their works and further compounds the veracity of the standpoint that is built on such works. These data have been used to fortify the standpoint that has been taken. The articles used were selected based on the authority of their authors, in the matter concerning reproductive health, teenage pregnancy and sexuality. This authority is based on the roles that an individual has played in policy formulation and execution, and the works the same have discharged in the field of academics, in the same issue of reproductive health, teenage pregnancy and sexuality. These literary materials that have been used as references and points of authority have been obtained from public health and social sciences sections of a local library. These materials do not have their scope of analysis limited to Central ...Download file to see next pagesRead More