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Teen Pregnancy Over seventy-five percent of teens between the ages of fifteen through nineteen become pregnant each year in the United States. Three in ten teen girls get pregnant by the age of twenty in America. .Research from the Guttmatcher Institute states that parenthood is the leading reason that teen girls drop out of high school. Almost half of teen mothers never graduate high school. Some people believe that broken homes causes teen pregnancy also young teens believe that being a teen mother is easy until they experience it there self. Based on statistics and behavior there is evidence that lack of education, parental guidance, and mental stability is causing teen pregnancy. Poverty plays a major role in teen pregnancy. There are many situations where there arent many opportunities for teens who live in poverty it causes teens to go out and have sex because there isnt anything else to do. Luis-Felipe Lpez-Calva, World Bank Lead Economist for Latin America and the Caribbean said The United States has the third highest teen fertility rate in the world and exhibits a slower decline in teenage pregnancies than other regions (The World Bank). Almost all teen mothers are low-income, poorly educated and low-skilled. Sex education and more access to birth control does not make any difference because, in economist speak, early childbearing is a rational choice for poor girls. Teen pregnancy does not cause poverty, but a single mother does limit a poor girls prospects. In todays society teen pregnancy has become a major thing in high school. If a person was to walk in a high school and ask a student if they have a friend that has or is expecting a

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baby the answer is most likely to be yes (Mallory Villanueva). The show Teen Mom causes a major effect on teens because young teens believe that its ok to have a baby at such young age. Teen Mom is not a show to prevent teen pregnancies; statistics shows that when the reality TV show was released, the population of teen pregnancy started to increase in high school and middle school. On the other hand, the show doesnt tell the real background of having a baby; it mostly talks about the easy way out but not the hard struggle. Teens should see the struggle so they can learn from it and dont make the mistake on their own. Most teen believe that it is a trend to get pregnant but they dont know what theyre getting their selves into. Song lyrics does contribute to teen pregnancy, the song Brendas got a baby by Tupac talks about a twelve year old girl who was living with both parents but they didnt care for her so she had to make it on her own. She started to sell drugs then the drugs ran out so she started having sex for money, she got pregnant and the babys father was her cousin. Once he found out she was pregnant he didnt want anything to do with her. This song is based on a true story, which means things like this happens in everyday life but this should teach teens that having a baby is hard and it can happen no matter what type of environment you come from. Statists shows that most teens who become pregnant will raise the child on their own because of absents of the father.

Some people believe that teen pregnancy is a trend because of the high rate of pregnancy. Truth is, most people believe its the parents fault but in most cases, things just happen some teens are unaware of life before and after birth. They are constantly making decisions without knowing the full knowledge of any situation. In order to take into effect we should stop promoting that

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teen pregnancy is a positive thing with in movies and television shows. This will prevent and further mishaps and potential mishaps understanding.

Thirty percent of all teenage girls who drop out of school cite pregnancy and parenthood as key reason (National Conference of State Legislatures). Most teens dont want to take part in their responsibilities of being a teenage mother because they try to depend on the parents but most of the time the parent isnt there to help; this causes a major effect on young adults because they dont have any support. Many teens dont think about how pregnancy at a young age can affect their lives. Needless to say, teens are most likely to have a second child two years after their first birth. Having a baby at such young age can affect the teen emotionally. Research states as a teen mother matures, the hormones and the natural development of her brain can make her feel emotional. This is unhealthy for young teens because they never had a chance to experience life as a child if they have a baby, then its time to move on to adult hood. Also, there can be a high risk that the baby can be unhealthy or the baby cant go full term, which can harm the mother or sometimes kill the baby. But if there are ways to prevent pregnancy, teens should consider. Having sex causes pregnancy, in order to prevent pregnancy at a young age dont have sex. Body image can be one cause, the article on adolescent body image during pregnancy states that pregnant girls have a higher self-esteem. Students who have had an unwanted sexual experience were more likely to report current risk taking behaviors, school problems and being pregnant. In most cases pregnancy can be caused by no parental guidance because if the child isnt getting enough attention at home, they will get it from somewhere else. Some parents dont

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have relationships with their kids, therefore their children will not come to them and let them know they are ready to have sex or help them find ways to prevent pregnancy. Lack of communication among teens and their parents is the leading causes of teen pregnancy. Furthermore, parents should want to become closer with their kids once they become a teenager because there are many opportunities in the world that a child can hope for but the most important thing is a parent. Even though, both parents are there doesnt prove that teens are less likely to get pregnant. Teens can get pregnant from a relative or sometimes there father, anything can happen. Most people blame the child but you cant always blame the child, sometimes the child doesnt have any control. In Mexico a nine year old gave birth to a six pound baby, the father is seven-teen, which news article states that the girl says its her boyfriend; the boy will be put in jail for rape. A nine year old having a baby doesnt seem real but it is, the child is still developing herself so now she has to raise a baby as a baby. Some people say its not the child fault, which is true because she doesnt know better. Lack of education can be another major cause of teen pregnancy. Lack of education in schools has been identified as a major contributory factor to high rate of teenage pregnancy and unsafe abortion in the country (The National Campaign). Statistic shows that most teens that get pregnant are most likely to drop out of school if they dont have any support from the parents. They have to do everything on their own in order to support the baby. Having a child in high school shouldnt happen because of things like this. Abortion shouldnt be an answer because that will affect you in the long run. It can be a cause for not having kids in the future. Each year the dropout rate rises because of teen pregnancy. Lack of sex education in schools has been identified as a major contributory factor to increase the rate of teen pregnancy. Research state

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that with one single school reporting over twenty-five pregnancies cases, education experts says there is urgent need to revive sex education. There are many consequences of teen pregnancy. The mother sometimes cant care for a childlike she wants to because of no support from the father. Teenage births are associated with lower annual income for the mother. Teenage pregnancies are associated with increased rates of alcohol abuse and substances abuse, lower education level and reduced earning potential in teen future. Teenage pregnancy is an important issue today; there are health risks for the baby and a baby born to such young parents. They are more likely to suffer health, social, and emotional problems than children born to older mothers. Also, if young teens become pregnant, there is risk for complications, such as premature labor. In April 2013, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC reported that nearly one in five teen births is a repeat birthmeaning that it's at least the second birth for the teenage mother. Although the repeat teen birth rate in the United States declined by more than 6 percent between 2007 and 2010, it remains highespecially in American Indian/Alaskan Natives 21.6 percent, Hispanics 20.9 percent, and non-Hispanic African Americans 20.4 percent. In Caucasian teens, the repeat birth rate is 14.8 percent (Stanley J Swierzewski III). There is a negative impact of teen child bearing. A child born to adolescents face particular challenges, they are more likely to have poorer educational behavior, and health outcomes throughout their lives compared with children born to older parents. Recent studies associated negative outcomes for parents, children, society and explored strategies to reduce teen childbearing and its. There are strategies such as economic analyses suggest that implementing evidence based teen pregnancy prevention programs, utilizing mass media campaigns to promote

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safe sex may reduce teen pregnancy and save taxpayer dollars and expanding access to Medicaid family planning services. Teens arent enlightened about the different preventions of teen pregnancy. There are condoms, birth control, and abstinence. If teens know about them, then life would be so much better. There are also programs such as Orleans Teens Pregnancy Prevention Project this is a collaborative project facilitated by Louisiana Public Health Institute to prevent teen pregnancy, HIV, and other sexually transmitted infections STD through the implementation of two evidence-based curricula (Broussard, Dickherber 2014). Teens can participate in that will stop them from wanting to get pregnant. She didn't ask to be a mother, she didn't ask to be pregnant, yet she is. What she does ask for is for you to step up and be the loving, caring, responsible father the child deserves (Parks).Based on research, there is evidence that lack of education, parental guidance, and mental stability is not the main cause of teen pregnancy, because anyone can get pregnant and there is a strong possibility that both parents are in the teen life and they can still get pregnant if they are sexuality active.

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Work Sited Page Broussard, Marsha. "Grant Program: Louisiana." N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2014.

<http://www.hhs.gov/ash/oah/oah-initiatives/tpp/grantees/tpp-tier1.pdf>. Hymowitz, Kay S. "Poor Girls Aren't Condemned to Pregnancy, Poverty." CNN. Cable

News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 27 Mar. 2014. <http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/24/opinion/hymowitz-teen-pregnancy-poverty/>. The National Campaign. "Teen Pregnancy and High School Dropout: What Communities

Can Do To Address This Issue." N.p., n.d. Web. Feb.-Mar. 2014. <http://thenationalcampaign.org/sites/default/files/resource-primary-download/teen-preg-hsdropout-summary.pdf>. 2014. <http://www.searchquotes.com/quotation/She_didn%27t_ask_to_be_a_mother%2C_She_didn% 27t_ask_to_be_pregnant%2C_Yet_she_is._What_she_does_ask_for_is_f/380593/>. Swierzewski, III, Stanley J., M.D. "Teen Pregnacy." N.p., 31 Oct. 2000. Web. 15 Mar. Parker, Luke. "Pregnancy Quotes." Search Quotes. Search Quotes, n.d. Web. 27 Mar.

2014. <http://www.healthcommunities.com/teen-pregnancy/children/overview-of-teenpregnancy.shtml>. The World Bank. "News." LAC: Poverty, Poor Education and Lack of Opportunities

Increase Risk of Teenage Pregnancy. The World Bank, 12 Dec. 2013. Web. 15 Mar. 2014. <http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2013/12/12/lac-poverty-education-teenagepregnancy>.