Challenges Faced by Pregnant Teens - Essay
Challenges Faced by Pregnant Teens
11/5/2021
In the 1960’s adolescent pregnancy emerged as a national social problem. Common reasons for teen pregnancy are lack of adequate sex education from schools and parents, the influence of media, poverty, peer pressure and sexual abuse. “Children having children” is a phrase used to describe teen or adolescent pregnancy. Sex education provides knowledge about sex and sexuality, but also builds appropriate conception about role and responsibility of men and woman in marital, family and society. Unfortunately, busy lives keep parents from providing the necessary guidance, support, and care to their young teenagers. A teenager is an important stage from a child to becoming an adult. During this stage the personality and behavior of the teenager is forming.
According to Planned Parenthood, “one in three television programs in America contains a scene devoting primary emphasis to sexual behavior, and one in 10 contains a scene in which intercourse is depicted or strongly implied, yet sexual precautions and the consequences of sexual behavior are rarely depicted.” (Planned Parenthood)
Teen pregnancy is a life-changing situation because when pregnant, teen mothers suffer disruption of learning and often face economic difficulties and more likely to drop out of high school. Giving birth and raising their children is difficult. Pregnancy can be complicated and hard on the health of a young mother because their bodies are still not fully developed. (Crosson-Tower, Exploring Child Welfare : A Practice Perspective)
With their education disrupted, a teenage mother may lack basic job skills, making it tricky for her to find and keep a sustainable job. As a result, the mother may have to depend on public assistance and is more likely to fall into poverty. Teen pregnancy is extremely costly.
Sometimes, teens just have sex because their friends all do it and brag about it, not because they really want or know the consequences of doing so. Unwanted sex is also one of the reasons that teen pregnancies occur. Most teens are sexually abused or raped by boyfriends, family members and even strangers that result in a teen pregnancy.
Programs for teen mothers and their children sometimes called teen-tots programs have three goals: preventing repeat pregnancies while teen mothers complete their education improving the health of mother and child, and improving parenting skills. (Crosson-Tower, Exploring Child Welfare: A Practice Perspective)
Second chance Homes allow pregnant and parenting teen women unable to live with their families due to maltreatment or ither circumstances. (Crosson-Tower, Exploring Child Welfare: A Practice Perspective)
References
Exploring Child Welfare: A Practice Perspective. Pearson, 2018.
Planned Parenthood. “Planned Parenthood.” Plannedparenthood.org, 2000, www.plannedparenthood.org/.