Teens

(July 1, 2010)

Your thoughts on teen pregnancy and abortion?

Teenage Pregnancy And Abortion

Teen pregnancy is an increasing problem and comes along with a number of other socio – economic problems that affect the mother’s life to a significant degree. Reuters, the news corporation, recently reported that the teen pregnancy rate in the United States rose in 2006 after a 10 year decline. A breakdown of these statistics showed that there was a 3 percent increase in child births with a 1 percent increase in the number of abortions as well. The more disturbing facts were represented in how young some of these mothers actually were. For example, an excerpt from the survey shows that for every 1 thousand girls between the ages of 15 and 19, 71 of them had been pregnant. Overall, almost one million teenage girls are impregnated on a yearly basis in the United States of America alone and about half of them are below the age of 17. As many as 40% of all young women have been pregnant by the time they turn 20. There are a number of factors that play a substantial role in all of these statistics on a psychological as well as social front.

For example, psychologists have seen a link develop between a person’s self esteem and sexual activity. Girls suffering from low self esteem tend to be more willing to indulge in sexual activity as they see it as a symbol of acceptance. With the increasing stress and pressure on adolescents growing up, most see casual sex as being a great de-stressor and a relaxing activity. Moreover, the increasingly easy availability of alcohol as well as drugs place young teenage girls in a state of inebriation more often than they should, leaving them unable to consciously make decisions not only about participating in intercourse but about protection as well. Psychologists also say that girls who do not have an effective male role model during their early teenage years are very likely to be attracted to older men as they seek ‘fathering’ as much as they crave care and attention- leading them into the likely scenario of sexual activity.

Unfortunately, not many girls are aware of how much their lives will change once they have a baby. While the baby does bring a lot of joy to any household, it also requires a lot of responsibility as well as financial stability to be raised properly. In most cases, this is not available to the mother – prompting her to quit school in order to earn a living to help raise her child. In most cases, the teenage father is unlikely to have the maturity to deal with the situation and is very likely to leave the mother and child.

Submitted by P T on July 1, 2010 at 02:22