Teen Pregnancy - Research Paper Example

Teen pregnancy has negative effects that can be avoided. The major causes of teen pregnancy involve the levels of irresponsibility of each individual in society. Education about teen pregnancy and issues related to it should be made available so as to help solve the problem. The main reason behind the concern is the effects that come along with teen pregnancy. Most babies and teen mothers undergo tough times that can be avoided in a reasonable time. This is only manageable with relevant information and care provided to teens in an effective manner. The contributors, effects and solutions to teen pregnancy will be discussed in the sections to follow in a wider scope. Teen pregnancy may be as a result of many factors, one of the key factors includes psychological factors. Most teens have a premature behaviour which may be considered to be irresponsible and arise due to a teenage psychology. The emotions undergone by teenagers are may be adverse arising from the peers or personal transition, which is associated with this stage of growth. There may be a lack of support from the families due to lack of family closeness and openness which is a requirement for teens to grow up in a responsible manner. The lack of required family attention from the family members may make them resort to seeking for love from other people of the opposite sex. This automatically leads to teen pregnancy. Lack of education concerning the risks involved in having premature sexual intercourse is another main cause. There may be insufficient or total lack of education concerning the causes of pregnancy. This may be a failure of the parents or the educational institutions or even the teens themselves. As a result, the knowledge of the “safe and unsafe” days during the menstrual circle may be missing yet this is crucial knowledge that the female teens ought to be well versed with. The other factor of education involves the use of contraceptives in a safe manner. The adolescent sexual behaviour comes in as a factor that cannot be ignored. At this stage, most sexual activities are introduced and learnt by the teens. The urge to satisfy the curiosity counts much on their behavioural change. The mass media has contributed immensely to the careless and irresponsible sexual behaviour of the teens (Rozakis 12). As a result, they remain vulnerable to becoming pregnant at this stage of their development. At some point, some of the pregnant teens sought to abortion which impacts more negatively to them than expected. The lack of discipline and self control can be viewed as another factor that contributes to teen pregnancy. Most teens that get pregnant fall pray due to lack of taking charge of their responsibilities. This is mostly attributed to by the abuse of drugs such as alcohol and unchecked levels of interactions with the opposite sex. This brings with it the lust for the youngster that eventually leads to teen pregnancy. On the other hand, restricting the teens too much may also contribute to the same since any slight opportunity is utilised to the maximum which puts them at a risk of becoming pregnant. The socio-economic factors count much to what may be referred to as child prostitution (Baker 69). This often results from lack of funds as a result of poverty. Most teens fall into prostitution in order to raise funds for their families but put under the risk of getting pregnant. The negligence on the available birth control methods may so much be associated with this factor whereby the methods are in some cases not affordable. Income levels become the main contributors of this culprit especially in the sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia. The teenage girls may also exhibit sexual abuse. This may lead to teen pregnancy as the sexual intercourse between them and older men may predispose them to a higher likelihood of getting pregnant compared to the case where they have sexual intercourse with teenage boys. Thus, the mischievous behaviour of the elder men resulting to sexual assault or consented sex becomes a posing danger to the teen girls getting pregnant. The effects of teen pregnancy have a wide range covering economic, medical and psychological both to the parents and teens. To begin, the medical complication aspect that comes with it may be so adverse. The major cause of this is the lack of adequate medical attention during pregnancy as they try to keep it a secret for a long period of time before it is discovered. This often results to medical conditions that could otherwise be prevented. Some of these complications may not only affect the baby but also the mother leading to the use of more funds in an attempt to rectify the situation. This has been witnessed in a number of cases involving teen pregnancy especially for the teens living in poverty stricken areas. The importance of medical checkups maybe ignored by such communities, which, in most cases, rely on a traditional system of childbirth and pregnancy handling rather than the modern methods. The other result that comes along with teen pregnancy is the emotional crisis to the teen. This involves the psychological trauma undergone by the teen that gets pregnant since in most cases, it comes as a surprise to them. This leads to case of attempting suicide or self abortion. This is a clear indicator that teens are not psychologically prepared for child baring, and the imagination of the responsibility that comes with it is just unbearable for them. A similar condition may be experienced by parents who feel disappointed with their child. As a result, an unfriendly emotional atmosphere is created which may not be withstood by the affected members. The other effect may be the worries about the future. Teen pregnancy may result to lack of certainty concerning the future of the girl affected arising from the fear of enough knowledge to raise the baby. The dreams of her future life may appear dim at the point thus; fear for the dream becomes an issue of concern. In addition, delayed education comes in as another effect of teen pregnancy. Most teens become pregnant at high school level thus school is put on hold during the period. Lack of proper guidance and counselling may result to the teen dropping out of school as a result of embarrassment. Drug abuse may be a step to take for teens that may lack a proper counselling for the depressing moment of pregnancy realisation. The most common form of drug abuse involves smoking and the use of alcohol which may otherwise prove to be hazardous to both the baby and the teen’s life. Other general effects may involve depression, exhaustion and neglect of the baby. “Impact on the child of teen mothers” (Aria 76) in the case where the baby is neglected, the health condition of the baby clearly deteriorates. As such, the babies may end up losing their lives in an avoidable manner. Depression may involve the mother, the parents, family and friends including the teachers of the affected teen. During pregnancy, most others become exhausted and unable to carry out some duties effectively. Berlfein argues, “The solution to teenage pregnancy did not lie with the school or with health providers” (109); it required more than one hand. The most crucial solution or preventive way to go about it is the provision of relevant education to the teens pertaining issues that surround pregnancy at this stage of life. This may include health and sexuality education that involves the parents and teachers at school with the help of mass media and technology. These may look into the best way of advising both the male and female students on the way through which they should carry out themselves. Looking into the progress of teens in understanding what is expected of them in the society becomes a vital tool. Planning on pregnancy prevention programmes can play a crucial role in curbing the problem. From the above analysis, it is made clear that teen pregnancy is caused by avoidable reasons, which otherwise results to various unwanted effects, which may be harmful to both the mother and baby. The parents and friends of the teen mothers may also undergo some level of torture regarding teen pregnancy. Other effects may include dropping out of school at the early stages. All these, however, can be prevented through self-responsibility, which can be enabled by education pertaining pregnancy. It is, therefore, a collective responsibility to the whole community to ensure that such cases are avoided. Work Cited Aria, Lisa. Teenage Pregnancy: The Making and Unmaking of a Problem health and society Series. United Kingdom, UK: The Policy press, 2009. Print. Baker, Philip. Teenage Pregnancy and Reproductive Health. London: RCOG, 2007. Print Berlfein, Judy. Teen pregnancy lucent overview series. Michigan: Lucent Books, 1992. Print. Rozakis, Laurie. Teen Pregnancy: Why Are Kids Having Babies? Issues of our times. Minnesota: Twenty-First Century Books, 1993. Print. Shays, Christopher. Preventing Teen Pregnancy: Coordinating Community Efforts. Darby, PA, U.S.A: DIANE Publishing, 1999. print. Read More