Against Teen Pregnancy Essay

Many adolescents atomic subprogram 18 sexually active forthwith. Whether it personal stopping point or being agonistic into it, adolescentrs atomic number 18 still involved. According to Sue Christensen and Ann Rosen, of those sexually active, only one in five social occasion contraception (Williams). These youngrs who do not use contraception set their selves up for hardships in life. Being sexually active and using contraception as a teenager is a prize that may carry an eye on the respite of your life. Is it really worth it? One major forbiddencome of those sexually active is motherliness, which leads to many sepa localize choices necessitateion, spontaneous abortion, or keeping the child. Pregnancy all lets with talk of sexual performance. According to Ilene Lelchuk, out of 618 California lofty school students, 44 are engaged in some type of sexual activity during the historic period of 2002 2004. These 44 students stimulate had sexual relations by the en d of tenth grade (Lelchuk 1). Statistics from The Family Connection of St. Joseph County, Inc., declared that 56 percent of young women and 73 percent of young men today do had communion by age 18 (Williams 3).Beginning in the 1950s, there are records of teenagers having intercourse and many thrown-away(prenominal) pregnancies. Shockingly, pregnancy leanings from the 1950s to present. According to Christensen and Rosen, the teen birth rate in 1957 was higher than it is today (Williams 1). Although teenage pregnancy has become more socially acceptable in this day and age, so flummox pregnancy terminations and abortions. This meaning the birth rate may impart gone down plainly the pregnancy rate has not. Yet, In 1955only six percent of white teenage childbearing occurred outside of marriage today it is 42 percent (Williams 1). Although a teenager becoming significant was very common in the 1950s, after(prenominal) discovering they were pregnant, it was perceived as the right thing for the father to adopt the woman he impregnated. The father was a outstanding deal forced into marrying the mother of his child. In the eyes of the public, this was a social norm for a teenage equalise soon to have a baby.Even though the couple may not necessarily have been in love with one another, they still followed what was expected of them. in that respectfore, today pregnant teenagers dont marry the father as practically. Prior to the 1970s, demographers and family planners were focused on health aspects of both mother and baby in unplanned pregnancies of middle-aged women. Meanwhile the sexual activity of teenagers was being overlooked and in turn on the rise. With these occurrences, more attention was devoted to teenagers having children. By the mid-1970s, it was common to see teenagers pregnant and carrying an armload of schoolbooks. This seemed to be the start of lesson decay of young men and women as well as our society in believing this trend to be sociall y acceptable. According to Christensen and Rosen, sexual activity was lower in the 1970s than today (Williams 3). These statistics should have directed the educators to target the use of contraception over abstinence, since sexual activity was obviously going to sojourn to increase.Surprisingly, even though sexual activity in teenagers has risen, the birthrate from 1990 to 2005 has decreased according to Sandra M. Alters (Teen Birthrate 1). There are good and bad reasons for this decrease. A positive force was the education of teens in the use of contraception, which get down the likelihood of becoming pregnant. With the legalizing of abortion in 1973, teenagers started relying on abortion as an easy way out of a difficult situation. From 1972 to 1990 the pregnancy rate increased per one thousand women from 95 to 117. As verbalize earlier, the birth rate went down in these same years due to the abortion rate increase from 19 to 41. In their bizarre way of thinking, this may have serve uped their situation but they gave no vox populi to the health and well-being of the unborn child.There are two choices a teenager has before she has the destiny of becoming pregnant. There is the obvious choice of abstinence. Abstinence means that teenagers do not have sexual intercourse. Abstinence protects teenagers from STDs and pregnancy 100 percent. According to the Center for Young Womens Health, more teenagers are choosing abstinence, including those who have already been sexually active. Three out of four teens already sexually active are now choosing abstinence (Why 1). Abstinence may be hard to live by with peer pressuring interfering, but in the end it is the best decision. Although there are many temptations that lure teenagers into sexual activity, they must(prenominal) cohere strong in what they believe and realize the outcome may change their life. There are teenage boys who will say If you love me, youd have sex with me, but girls must remember, if it is really love, they would be willing to wait until marriage (Why 1). Contraception is the second option. Contraception also has a better materialise of reducing the risk of pregnancy. There are many different forms of contraception. One in five teenagers do not use contraception. Those who do not use it, have a 90 percent take place of becoming pregnant (Williams 5).Many schools have tried to have sex education classes teach some the dangers of being sexually active as a teenager, yet teens overlook them. Therefore, if adults cannot stop sexual activity in adolescents, they must provide a safer way to decrease the risks of pregnancy. Contraception is a must if teenagers disapprove to stop sexual activity. Teens often make mistakes of ignoring these two options, lede to unwanted pregnancies. Far too often they do not realize the impact it has on themselves and also the family because their parents do not talk to them roughly being sexually active. To reduce these misunderstanding s, parents need to be confident and open with their children, and converse about the risks savoury in sexual activity. According to Olivia Ferguson, Parents, as teens themselves reveal, are the ones who have the most influence on their childrens decisions about sex. jejuners who delay sexual activity have an intact family coordinate, parents disapproval of adolescent sex, teens sniff out of belonging to and satisfaction with their families, parental monitoring, and parent-child communication about teen sex and its consequences.Family structure means the number of parents living in a family along with the relationship they have with their children. Adolescents who live in an intact family structure are less likely to have sexual activity. Adolescents living in a non-intact family tend to begin sexual activity sooner because of the relationship differences between parents and children. For example according to Ferguson in 1960, 88 percent of children lived with their parents in 20 07 only 68 percent lived with parents. With this in mind, in 1960 five percent of births were to unmarried women, in 2006 these numbers increased to 38.5 percent. Therefore with the increase of parent-child communication, there is a decrease in teen sex, leading to a decrease in teen pregnancy. Teenagers have three alternatives after becoming pregnant. Adoption, keeping the baby, and abortion are options pregnant teenagers will have to face. Many parents are unable to have children hence they adopt children. Pregnant teenagers have the wise option of putting their baby up for adoption. Adoption is a great way to constitute the baby a better life. Adoption agencies are very helpful in procedures.They offer financial help and therapy to cope with both the pregnancy and the emotions of giving their baby up for adoption. They help young men and women realize it is the best decision for both the parents and the child. The pregnant mother can rest assured that the baby will be given to p arents that will love the child as oft or more than they could have themselves. Not only will the parents love them, but will give them the life they deserve, a good life. stillbirth is seen more frequent in more successful women because they have a career to pursue. They do not think they have time to take care of a child. Teenage girls who have higher goals and greater ambitions are more likely to seek an abortion sort of than those who have few goals and future plans. spontaneous abortion is also a common choice in terrified teenagers or girls pressured by the father of the child. The words of boyfriends, peers, or parents have a major influence in the choices made about a baby.Abortion is often said to be an easy way out. Abortion is a horrible decision for teenagers. The pregnancy of a teenager is not the babys fault, then the baby should not be punished for the selfish decisions the mother or father make. Why have an abortion when the baby can be put up for adoption? The third option is to keep the baby. Keeping a baby means that young teenagers must learn to become young parents. They must be able to care and provide for another life, other than their own. Keeping a baby is the toughest decision because you must learn the dos and donts of properly raising a child. More than love is take for a baby, but the lifetime of hardships will explain. Teen pregnancy is quite common. According to USA Today, all(prenominal) day more than three thousand teenagers become pregnant.There were 4.31 million babies born in 2007. Of these babies, 23 percent were from teen mothers .39 out of 100 girls at the age of fourteen will get pregnant once before they reach the age of twenty (Jayson 1). Most pregnancies are unintentional, yet it is the teens decision to become sexually active. Teen pregnancy is definitely not worth all the hardships. Teens should make abstinence and completely reduce the risk of becoming pregnant. If pregnancy does occur, of those sexually a ctive, adoption is the greatest choice a teenager can make. Providing the baby with a better life is the most important. Every teenager must ask themselves, is it really worth it?Works citedJayson, Sharon. Teen Pregnancy, Abortion Rates Rise. Teen Pregnancy, Abortion Rates Rise USATODAY.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Aug. 2013.Lelchuk, Ilene. SAN FRANCISCO / UCSF Explores Teens Post-sex Emotions.SFGate. N.p., n.d.Web. 06 Aug. 2013.Why Is Teenage Pregnancy Declining? The Roles of Abstinence, Sexual Activity andContraceptive Use. Why Is Teenage Pregnancy Declining? The Roles of Abstinence,Sexual Activity and Contraceptive Use. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Aug. 2013. Williams, Anna. Teenage Pregnancy-Ann Rosen and Sue Christensen. Teenage Pregnancy-Ann Rosen and Sue Christensen. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Aug. 2013.